Moses then began to encourage the Jewish people to uphold their covenant with G‑d that was forged at the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. In return for keeping the covenant, G‑d would hold them especially dear, above His love for all other people.
What It Means to be Set Apart
וַיהֹוָה הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה וגו':
(דברים כו:יח)
[Moses told the Jewish people,] “G‑d has set you apart today, to be His treasured people.”
Deuteronomy 26:18
G‑d has “set us apart” from evil and wrongdoing. Our Divine nature and true inner self render us totally above any involvement with evil, and therefore, inherently incapable of wrongdoing.
Therefore, when we do something that distances us from G‑d, we can always return to Him. When we are motivated to return to G‑d out of passionate love for Him, not only can we forsake negative behavior and habits at any instant (thereby defying the natural forces of inertia and habituation); we can even convert past deliberate wrongdoings into motivations for positive behavior.1
In general it's a very wise and compassionate statement. However even among Jews there can be some people who do some things that no human could reasonably forgive (My understanding is that Jeffrey Epstein was a Jew, and so was Jack the Ripper). Any theories or insights as to how G-D can forgive them? I mean I know that G-D is inscrutable, but surely people ask G-D why evil exists eve. among Jewish people.