"It shall be that if you will listen to the Voice of Hashem, your G-d to keep and perform all of His commandments that I command you this day, then Hashem your G-d will make you supreme over all the nations of earth. All the blessings will come upon you and overtake you. . . . But if you will not listen to the voice of Hashem . . . then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you."
We like to think of G-d as an old man with a big gray beard smiling down on us, giving out gifts to one and all. Nothing can be further from the truth. The G-d of Israel is the Mover of history, Who has an intimate relationship with His people and the entire world: "The eyes of G-d are upon us from the beginning of the year till its end." At times, it may appear that G-d is hidden from us and He is hard to find, but this is only because of our own sins.
In our Torah portion (parsha) this week, we are taught the reality of this world: Blessings for fulfilling G-d's word, and punishment for disobeying. In our everyday lives, most of G-d's actions are hidden from us in order to give us complete free will - the reason the world was created.
But make no mistake; whether we realize it or not, Hashem, in His ultimate wisdom, is constantly 'at work'.
To drive home this message to the Jewish people, that G-d constantly watches and judges over us and that we are not a "Santa Claus religion", we were commanded on the very first day that we entered the Land of Israel, to head over to Mounts Grizim and Ebal to proclaim the blessings and the curses, for "today you have become a people to Hashem, your G-d."
This was more than just a symbolic act; rather, it was to teach the Jewish people for all generations that up until now, outside the Land, they had been individuals, but now that they have entered the Land - "You are a Nation, and the Master of the world has placed His Name upon you".
As we anticipate next week's UN vote on the Palestinian state, we must take into consideration that no matter how nice they try to package it, the vote is in reality a vote against the Jewish state, it is a vote to destroy Israel. It is a way that the nations can say: Let's take apart Israel in stages, without getting our hands dirty.
So is all lost, then? Hardly - far from it! Our rabbis teach us that like the first redemption that we experienced from Egypt, so, too, will be the Final Redemption. Just as king Pharaoh at first gave permission for the Jews to leave, and only afterwards came chasing after us - so, too, in the Final Redemption. The nations in 1948 gave their permission for the Jews to return to their Homeland, and now they are coming to try to take it away.
The stage is set. G-d, the Mover of history, is playing out the final card of Redemption. Each country will vote where they stand - and then they will be judged. The Jews in the Land of Israel will be safe, as G-d loves His people and is returning them to their Homeland - that will not be in jeopardy.
But as we learn in this week's parsha, the exile -the greatest of all curses - will come to an ugly end. From there, the Jew must flee and head home! For as the Torah tells us: "Gaze down from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people Israel and the ground that You gave us, as You swore to our forefathers a land flowing with milk and honey."
The blessing for the Jewish people lies only in the Land of Israel.