Mt. Eival
Mt. EivalGuarding Eternity Organization

Parashat Re'eh opens with an admonition:(11:26-28)’See, I present you today with a blessing and a curse. The blessing: that you hearken to the commandments..And the curse: if you do not hearken to the commandments’.

Sforno expounds:’’See: pay heed that you are not like the nations of the world who relate to everything half-heartedly, always trying to find the middle ground.

‘Remember that the ‘blessing and the curse that I present to you today’is to choose between two extremities, two opposites.

‘The blessing is an extreme in that it provides you with mpre than you need; the curse is another extreme, as it leadsto you having less than your basic needs.

‘You have the choice ‘before you’; all that you have to do, is to make a choice.’

The Ktav Sofer comments:’See’: contemplate this matter, that ‘I present you today with a blessing and a curse’- either a blessing or a curse, not a middle path: the blessing is ‘that you hearken’, and the curse is ‘if you do not hearken’.

‘Know that whilst the entry into the Land is a blessing, as it is a place replete with all that is needed to serve Hashem, and to learn Torah; but, as against this, also be aware that the people might not behave rightly there, as the Torah warns:’And your heart will become haughty, and you come to forget Hashem- then your entry into the Land will be a curse, and it would be better that you do not enter the Land.

‘This is the meaning of: ‘I present before you today a blessing and a curse’: I give you one thing which is both a blessing and a curse: the blessing that ‘you hearken’: the gift of the Land is so that you hearken, and serve Hashen, as then it will be a blessing; ‘and the curse if you do not hearken’, the curse then being that it would be better if you did not enter the Land, if by entering it you come to reject Hashem’s Torah’.

The Abarbanel adds:’These Mitzvot that Hashem presents them with ‘this day’, are as if He gives them a blessing and a curse, but how could the one thing in itself be both a blessing and a curse, two opposites, and self-contradictory?

‘Not in the manner that the Torah here expounds:They are a blessing if they hearken to them, but a curse should they not hearken to them.

‘The reason for this, is that the Mitzvot in themselves are good, but according to the recipients, at times they can be a blessing, when the people hearken to them, or a curse, when they don’t hearken to them.

‘This can be understood by likening the Mitzvot to good food- bread, meat or wine - which in itself is good, when the person who eats it is himself healthy and well; yet, the very same food, if eaten by a person who is unwell, may well be harmful to him- the nature of the eater determines the outcome.

‘Similarly, in spiritual matters, though Hashem’s present of the Mitzvot is good in itself, the nature of the recipient, will determine whether for him it is a blessing or a curse.’

The Malbi’m offers a beautiful exposition of our passuk:’’See’: the blessing and the curse which I present before you ‘today’, is visible to your eyes; you can see that the blessings, or, the contrary, the curses, which befall you, are not in the ‘natural order of things’, but, as the Torah states, a direct result of your obedience, or disobedience, to Hashem.

‘There is a direct correlation between your conduct, and what occurs in the world. The ‘big’ world and the ‘little world’- man -have the relationship of two musical instruments; the music that the ‘big harp’ - representing the ‘big world’ - whether it be happy or tragic, is totally dependent on the ‘music’ that the smaller harp, makes, on whether it is the sweet sounds of Mitzvot, or, the somber sounds of transgressions.

‘This is what Hashem is here relating in saying ‘See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse’: whether there is blessing or curse in the world, depends solely, on your conduct.

‘If you hearken to My Mitzvot, then the world will be blessed; if you do not hearken to them, the world will be cursed. Do not think that reward and punishment are independent of your actions; rather it may be likened to the doctor telling the patient: if you observe my prescription, you will be healthy; If you should not do so, then you will die- it is totally intertwined with your actions, which is the meaning of: ‘the blessing: that you hearken’’.

Rabeinu Bahya sums up succintly:’Our passuk makes clear that the permission and the choice is entirely in the hands of man. If he wishes to go on the right path, or if he elects to follow the path that is not right, is given to his choice.

‘Were this not the case, there would be no place for reward and punishment in the Torah, and this is a foundation of our Emunah.

‘This is what is said here:’See I present before you today a blessing and a curse’.’

A concluding thought from the Alshich Hakadosh:’When a servant performs the orders of a human ruler, his reward is for his obedience, but the labor itself does not confer on him any pleasure or benefit of itself.

‘Not so the performance of Mitzvot; each of Hashem’s Mitzvot that a person performs, as we state in the preceding bracha, ‘sanctifies’ the person- the Mitzvot in themselves sanctify the observer.

‘This is why the Torah here says:’The blessing that you hearken’, lest you err and think that the reward is independent of the Mitzvah- and likewise in the event should you not hearken.

‘Rather, ‘that you hearken’ is itself the blessing- and not hearkening, the curse - for the Mitzvah itself refines and elevates the person.

‘This is why the Torah chose ‘blessing’- and ‘curse’ - and not ‘good’ and ‘bad’, to teach that the hearkening is itself a blessing, and not hearkening, is itself a ‘curse’.’

לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.