T he central themes that run through this week's Torah portion have to do with seeing and hearing. The broader context of the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole is a group of discourses, addressed by Moses to the Israelites prior to his death and their entering the Promised Land. In the course of this particular address, Moses appeals to the people to consult their experience, what they have seen and what they have heard, to derive conclusions about who they are distinctively, what they stand for and what God expects from them. Neither wishes to change one thing about the other. Or so it is in fairy tales.
Fairy tales end with the first kiss.
In real life, that's when the relationship, and the work of love, begins. They are about to enter the Land of Israel and start their life there in a covenantal relationship with the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt. But this relationship has already been bumpy. The relationship portrayed here isn't balanced. The Israelites have been unfaithful to God.