This sidrah contains the stern magnificence of the Ten Commandments, the Shema and the laws determining the fate of the nation. But its name Va'etchanan ("and I pleaded") carries such pain: Moses begins with his personal perspective of loss and recalls pleading with God to be allowed into the Promised Land.

God's response was one of anger and a harsh refusal: blunt in its two words of Hebrew, rav lach, "it is too much for you", followed by a clear instruction to Moses not to speak about this matter any more. A midrash highlights the unusual word va'etchanan, which has the gematria (numerical value) of 515, saying that Moses asked God no less than 515 times to allow him to cross to the Promised Land.

No wonder He puts an end to this exchange. The frustration and wish for continued dialogue can only die on Moses's lips. Sometimes defeat must be admitted.

God finishes His warning to Moses by telling him not to drag the argument on further and instructs him to induct Joshua, the next leader. Perhaps God realises the potential difficulty of leadership handover by telling Moses to "strengthen and encourage him," which Moses does.

The recent political turmoil that we have witnessed reinforces the thought that one measure of a great leader is to create a successor, enable and publicly empower them and have the courage to squash the desire to be in their place that may well accompany that process.

The Book of Devarim contains a great deal of what remains unsaid by Moses against a backdrop of off-text constricted throat- swallowing. According to the midrashic tradition, Moses suffers much private desperation along the lines of "But… please…. You said… I hoped… surely I deserve", all to no avail. His graceful and generous handover, neither undermining nor sabotaging Joshua's future leadership, is a testament of the true greatness of Moses our teacher.