This is the final Torah reading before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins on Monday evening. In it, Moses reiterates the terms of the covenant, as well as the blessings and the curses which may follow from obeying it, or not, respectively.

There is a difficult passage in which Moses advises people against making their own, private, moral compromises: "And it will be, when he [such a person] hears the words of this oath, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I will have peace, even if I follow my heart's desires,' in order to add the [punishment for the] unintentional sins [of this man] to that of [his] intentional sins. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him; rather, then, the Lord's fury and His zeal will fume against that man, and the entire curse written in this book will rest upon him, and the Lord will obliterate his name from beneath the heavens." (29:18-19)

This is a caution against hypocrisy; it is also, in a way, a warning against addiction. The Sages of the Talmud advise that the danger of sin is that it may become addictive, such that one leads to another, increasing a person's tolerance for sin until he or she no longer feels any pang of conscience about it.

But what about the sort of compromises everyday life demands? Are we to feel guilty about things which seem beyond our control?

The Torah answers: "For this commandment which I command you this day, is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?' Rather,[this] thing is very close to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it." (30:11-14)

So even overcoming addictions is not beyond us. And often, the answer to whatever feeling compels us to sin is closer at hand than we may think.