Parashat Vayeilech

The shortest portion in the Torah, thirty verses. Moses, one hundred and twenty years old, tells the people he can no longer go out and come in, and that Joshua will lead them across the Jordan. He calls Joshua before all Israel and says, "Be strong and courageous." He writes the Torah and gives it to the priests and elders with the command of Hakhel: every seventh year, at Sukkot, the whole people, men, women and children, are to gather and hear it read. God tells Moses that after his death the people will stray, and commands him to write down a song as a witness. The scroll is placed beside the Ark.