At the end of Parshas Ki Savo, HaShem makes a covenant with the Jewish people. A covenant is an agreement, and a promise to keep that agreement. Does this remind you of Mattan Torah, when the Jewish people said "Na'aseh v'Nishmah," agreeing to do everything HaShem commands? So why did the Jewish people need another covenant?

The first words of the parshah help us answer this question. The parshah begins Vihayah ki savo el ha'eretz - "When you will come into the Land." The events described in this parshah happened 40 years after that first covenant at Sinai, and at a very special time in history.

The Jewish people would no longer be wanderers in the desert. But life in Eretz Yisrael was going to be very different from life in the desert, and harder too. So HaShem wanted the Jews to promise that they would keep His mitzvos in Eretz Yisrael also. That's what this covenant is all about.

In the desert, HaShem performed many miracles for the Jewish people. For 40 years, He supplied them with food, water and clothing in wondrous ways. Throughout their years of wandering, the Jewish people were led by these miracles.

But in Eretz Yisrael, life would be different. HaShem would take care of His beloved nation, but not through miracles. And that's why HaShem wanted a new covenant.

When we see a miracle, it's easy to believe in HaShem and want to do His mitzvos. Without miracles, we have to work hard to earn a living, and everything looks like it's controlled by nature. So it's much harder to know that HaShem is helping.

But it really isn't that hard. HaShem told the people: "I have given you a knowing heart and eyes that see. For 40 years, you have seen Me perform miracles, so you know I am with you. Even if life in Eretz Yisrael is not as full of miracles as before, since you were shown My hand for so long, you will be able to recognize it even when it is no longer so obvious."

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XIV, Parshas Ki Savo)