At this time of year we hear, over and over again, that deep inside us we want to do the right thing. This is the thrust of the stories and sermons that pepper this season but what is the source for this idea? The Torah promises that And the LORD your God shall circumcise your

Moses...spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be still and listen, Israel. This day you have become a nation to the LORD your God. What happened on "this day"? Later we are told: Moses wrote this Torah and gave it to the priests...When that happened, the Midrash explains, again the people complained to Moses, saying: we too

You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox falling on the way and ignore them. You shall raise him up, raise him up, with him. Help is offered to those who want to help themselves, explain the rabbis. Therefore the words "with him" teach that only while the donkey's owner is trying to

The Torah instructs the King of Israel to carry a Torah at all times...so that his heart be not haughty over his brothers and so that he swerve not from what is commanded right or left, in order that he may long endure in his kingship...When it comes to observing the commandments, the monarch receives