Chevre, this week’s parsha is Devarim (דברים). The book of Deuteronomy (I had to check twice that I spelled that write) is the final book of the Torah. The bible still has many more books after this. In rabbinic literature, Devarim is called Mishnah Torah (this is way before The Mishnah Torah of the Rambam) or the repeating of the Torah. We are at the end of Moshe’s life and he retells and repeats many things from the journey of Am Yisrael.

This week coming up also has Tisha BeAv. This is the day when both The First and Second Temples were destroyed (by the Babylonians and by the Romans). This is a major fast day, a day of mourning, we don’t learn Torah, we sit low (like we are mourners) and we fast for 25 hours. Unlike Yom Kippur, which is considered a happy day since we repent for our sins, this is a very heavy day.

There is a rabbinic idea in Pirkei Avot 2:16 “It is not your obligation to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from it.” This could be said about many things. This week we think about it in relation to the building The Temple or doing good deeds to lay the foundation that The Temple could be built on.

At work, we often have difficult tasks. We break the jobs down into smaller tasks and work task by task one at a time until we make progress. At work, Deliver Results is important, so don’t use me as an excuse to not finish. I know in the summer, hot days, in some parts of the world their’s bad air from fires, it’s hard to get motivated. We can use this precept to start the obligation. Get the AI working on something and from that, I find that I often re-engage and make progress.

In the same vane, sometimes we look at things like rebuilding The Temple or Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) as major, huge obstacles. Ask yourself, what can I do to make my corner of the world better today? And strive to be the best self that you can be. For me, this is how we bring Ahavat Hinam (unconditional love) to the world.

Shabbat Shalom.