 The first closed portion (, "setumah") spans the first four readings (, "aliyot"), the fifth reading (, "aliyah") contains the next three closed portions (, "setumah"), and the final closed portion (, "setumah") spans the sixth and seventh readings (, "aliyot").The first reading (, "aliyah") tells how, in the 40th year after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses addressed the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan River, recounting the instructions that God had given them.When the Israelites were at Horeb — Mount Sinai — God told them that they had stayed long enough at that mountain, and it was time for them to make their way to the hill country of Canaan and take possession of the land that God swore to assign to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their heirs after them.