In the synagogue the Torah is read aloud in a fixed annual cycle of fifty-four weekly portions (parashiyot), one each Shabbat morning, with certain adjacent portions doubled in ordinary years so the sequence fits the calendar. Each portion is named for a distinctive word near its opening and is paired with a haftarah, a reading from the Prophets. The cycle closes and restarts on Simchat Torah. Devarim ('Words', Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) opens the book of Deuteronomy, Moses' long farewell address on the plains of Moab, recalling the journey from Sinai, the appointment of leaders, the episode of the spies, and the conquests east of the Jordan. It is read on the Shabbat before the fast of Tisha b'Av, called Shabbat Chazon.
Devarim opens the book classical Jewish tradition calls Mishneh Torah, a repetition or review of the Torah, since Moses' address largely retells and reframes the preceding books' narrative and law for a new generation that had not itself stood at Sinai, the entire first generation of the Exodus having died in the wilderness over the preceding forty years. Moses' recollection of appointing judges 'wise, understanding and full of knowledge' (Deuteronomy 1:13-15) is read by commentators alongside its earlier telling in Yitro, where the idea originates with Jethro rather than Moses himself, a discrepancy classical commentary reconciles by reading Devarim's version as Moses' own retrospective account emphasising the people's participation in choosing their leaders.