Commento su Deuteronomio 11:26

ראה אנכי ... ברכה וקללה BEHOLD I [SET BEFORE YOU THIS DAY] A BLESSING AND A CURSE — those which are later to be recited on Mount Gerizim and on Mount Ebal respectively (cf. v. 29).

Look, I place before you today. “See” is singular. “Before you” is plural. This is what our Sages teach us: A person must always view things as if the entire world is half righteous and half wicked. If he performs a single mitzvah he tips himself and the entire world to the side of merit. Therefore Moshe spoke to every individual, “See” that he should see in his thought that every single action affects all of them.

ראה אנכי נתן היום, "Behold, I have given this day, etc." Why did Moses employ the term "seeing," in connection with words, i.e. the words of a blessing? Furthermore, why did he describe himself as אנכי? Moreover, why does Moses address the people in the singular i.e. ראה instead of ראו, although during the whole passage he addresses them in the plural [with the exception of verse 29, Ed.]?

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום, the commandments

ראה, pay good attention so that you will not be like the nations of the world who relate to everything half-heartedly, always trying to find middle ground. Remember that אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה, I present you this day with the choice of two extremes, opposites. The ברכה is an extreme in that it provides you with more than you need, whereas the קללה is another extreme making sure that you have less than your basic needs. You have the choice of both before you; all you have to do is make a choice.

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה, “See, I present before you this day, a blessing and a curse.” According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, the reason why Moses suddenly switches to the singular mode when addressing the whole people, is that he is addressing each one of them as individuals. Some commentators feel that Moses’ words, in this instance, were addressed to Joshua, and that he charged Joshua with blessing the people when they would cross the Jordan. Still other commentators feel that all the blessings and curses in the Book of Deuteronomy are expressed in singular mode, there is therefore nothing unusual here. A different approach altogether, concentrating on the choice of the introductory word ראה, “See!” describes the different manner between how Moses approaches the Israelites’ choice of their fate to that of the nations at large. When one engages in drawing lots for something, one exercises extreme caution to ensure that neither of the lots is visible to the parties participating in the draw. Moses, in outlining the choices before the Jewish people, makes sure that they can see clearly the choices at each one’s disposal. He therefore urges them to choose “life,” which is equated with “blessing.” He, so to speak, invites the people to let him place his hands on “blessing,” by their choosing to opt for performance of G’d’s commandments. He underlines this even more by not phrasing their choice as “iffy,” i.e. with the word אם, i.e. “if you do so and so you will receive a blessing,” but as something definitive, i.e. אשר תשמעון, “that you will hearken, etc.” The term אשר is also reminiscent of the word אשרי, “hail to.” Moses implies that he already hails them for having chosen correctly.

To be pronounced at Mount Gerizim, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The curses have already been stated above in Parshas Bechukosai (Vayikra 26:14) and below in Parshas Ki Savo (Devarim 28:15) [but not here]! Rashi answers: “To be pronounced at Mount Gerizim, etc.” And “place” means, “to arrange before you today.”

V. 26. ראה usw. Es ist dies der Schluss des einleitenden Rückblicks und Übergang zu dem Gesetzeskompendium für das Geschlecht der Landesbesitznahme. ראה nicht auf Treu und Glauben eines andern aufzunehmende Lehre, aus allem, was du bis jetzt selbst erfahren und was dir in dem bisherigen Rückblick wieder ins Bewusstsein gerufen worden, schöpfest du die Selbstüberzeugung, dass Gott deine segensreich oder fluchvoll zu gestaltende Zukunft durch sein dir durch Mosche überbrachtes Gesetz vollkommen in deine eigene Hand gelegt hat.

ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם, “Behold, anochee set before you, etc.” Moses is asking the Israelites to choose that which Hashem had said to them in Exodus 20,2 when He identified Himself as their G–d Who had taken them out of Egypt. Hence the repetition here of Moses quoting the אנכי attribute of that G–d. An alternate interpretation of our verse: “Behold it is I Who gave goodness, therefore I am different from anyone else, Moses not having been aware that when he descended from Mount Sinai that his forehead radiated light.

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם, “Behold, I set before you;” up until now Moses had concentrated on the need to revere the Lord; from now on he concentrates on spelling out specific commandments.

ברכה וקללה, as explained later in verse 29, that the “blessing” would be recited toward the tribes standing on Mount Gerizim, whereas the curse would be addressed to the tribes standing on Mount Eyvol. (compare author on 27,12-14)

I believe that the wording of our verse is connected to the message Moses wants to convey, i.e. that the people should learn to set more store by the blessings which will accrue to them in the Hereafter than the blessings which accrue to them in this life. In order for the prophet who conveys such teachings to be believable he must possess two qualifications. 1) He must himself have a deep appreciation of the value of the good to be experienced only in the celestial regions. 2) He must have demonstrated that he personally has achieved success in this life and what it has to offer. If the person preaching the values of the Hereafter were not himself blessed with success in this life, his listeners would not believe him thinking that he consoles himself with something in the future because he had been unable to attain it in the here and now. Moreover, even if someone who has experienced all that this life has to offer praises the Hereafter in exaggerated terms he is not liable to be believed unless he can prove that he has first-hand experience of what goes on in the celestial regions. This is why Moses felt impelled to apply the term אנכי to himself when he makes it appear as if he is bestowing the blessing. He invites the people to look at him as a personification of the truth of what he is about to tell them. He had attained all the honour and glory that it is possible to attain in this life. He was king over a mighty nation, was personally wealthy, and physically endowed as a giant as pointed out in Shabbat 92. In addition, he had ascended to heaven and had experienced a taste of what is in store there. After having explained all this to the people Moses mentions the message he had for the people as I shall explain. He used the words ראה אנכי in the singular to remind the people that whatever is perceived by means of the sense of sight is experienced equally by all the people although their perceptions by means of the other four senses may vary in depth. Each one of the Israelites had seen Moses' stature with his own eyes and had been aware of Moses having spent time in the heavens [returning with his skin radiating light. Ed.].

ברך) ברכה, verwandt mit פרך durchbrechen, abteilen, פרק entladen, auf ein anderes überladen, daher מפרקת ,פרק, Gelenk, ברק Blitz als Entladung oder nach seiner Form, ברך das Kniegelenk, die wesentliche Hebelverbindung der Fortbewegung, ברכה Wasserleitung): der Zustand der ungehemmten Fortentwicklung, des fortschreitenden Gedeihens, und קללה: nicht nur kontradiktorischer Gegensatz des fortschrittlosen, isoliert bleibenden Nichtgedeihens, welches ארר wäre, sondern der konträre Gegensatz des Selbstinhaltlos- und Gehaltloßwerdens (von קל ,קלל, leicht, völlig gewichtlos). Die Alternative zwischen beiden Gegensätzen ist durch Gottes Gesetz "vor uns hingeben", es hängt von uns ab, uns das eine oder das andere zu schaffen.

נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה, “am placing before you blessing and curse.” In this lower world there exists a mixture of blessing and curse; in the world after the arrival of the Messiah there will be only blessing.

Moses had something else in mind when he said ראה אנכי, "look at me!" Maimonides explains in his treatise Hilchot Teshuvah chapter 5 that every person has the potential to become the equal of Moses. This is precisely what Moses meant. He said: "Take a good look at me! Everything that I have accomplished you are able to accomplish for yourselves!" Whenever a person aspires to serve the Lord he is not to look at people who have been under-achievers compared to himself and to use such a comparison in order to pat himself on the back on his relative accomplishment, but he is to train his sights on those who have achieved more than he himself and use this as a challenge to set his spiritual sights ever higher.

Looking at the moral/ethical dimension of our verse, let us look at a quotation from the Zohar volume three page 273 where we are told that every Torah-observant Jew possesses a spark of Moses within him. There is no need to convince us that the generation who had the good fortune to have Moses in their midst had been spiritually inspired by him. When Moses said: ראה אנכי, this sounds almost as if he were talking to himself, saying that because the whole of the Jewish people related to him this gave him stature, i.e. it enabled him to view himself as an אנכי, "a somebody." As a result, when he spoke to the Israelites he felt as if he were speaking to himself seeing his stature was entirely due to them. This would also account for Moses using the singular when addressing the people.

Another allusion to be found in our verse is an allusion to G'd who is in the habit of referring to Himself as אנכי. Accordingly, the meter of our verse is as follows: "look at the One who calls Himself אנכי; He is about to set the blessing before you this day." Moses used the singular ראה because all of the Israelites were as one in knowing that it is G'd who places His blessing before them.

נתן לפניכם היום, "who sets before you this day, etc." The word היום, today, or now, was chosen as only now after 40 years did the people appreciate what their teacher Moses had in mind (compare Avodah Zarah 5).

Why did Moses speak of ברכה וקללה, "blessing and curse" in this verse seeing he commences verse 27 by introducing the blessing and verse 28 by introducing the curse? Why mention all this twice? We have to fall back on Sifri who describes Moses as pointing to the apparently successful wicked people and explaining to them that such "success" will last only two or three days (life on this earth) whereas in the end they will get their due. Thus far the Sifri. According to this interpretation you have to read together the words ברכה וקללה היום, "blessing and curse today," i.e. a blessing which will turn into a curse. Moses refers to the peaceful lives the wicked lead in this world which is shortlived considered only one day long as explained on Deut. 7,11 based on Eyruvin 22. Moses placed the word היום next to the word ברכה, to hint how very shortlived that blessing will be. As a result of all this Moses indicates that success in this life diminishes progressivley and turns into a curse for the people in question.

Another way of looking at what Moses wanted to say in our verse is also based on Sifri. The author explains that Moses offered the people two choices, two paths in life; one appeared well paved intially but would turn progressively rougher, the other the reverse, starting out unpaved, full of holes, etc. He advised the people of the nature of these paths asking them not to be misled by what their eyes saw at the moment. This is what is meant by the words נתן לפניכם, "what I am placing in front of you." Moses meant that there are two kinds of blessings each accompanied also by a curse. The path of the wicked commences with blessings only to end in curses. The path of the righteous begins with what appears like a curse only to end in blessing. He continues with the word את הברכה in verse 27 to show that the true blessing is the path which began in such an inauspicious manner. He exhorts the people אשר תשמעון, encouraging them to hearken to his advice in spite of the initial difficulties they would experience on that path. At the same time he warns the wicked in verse 28 that what they considered the blessed path is in fact a curse because they do not hearken to the commandments of the Torah.

There is yet another way to explain Moses' emphasis on the word היום. At the end of Parshat Eykev (11,24) Moses assured the people that every place in the land they would set foot on would become theirs. This was not part of the oath to Abraham and the other patriarchs. Hence Moses adds that there is a new dimension to the blessing they would receive as of "this day." He adds the words ברכה וקללה, to make it plain that this is a two edged blessing, it contains advantages and disadvantages. If the people will hearken to G'd the promise would prove to be a blessing. If not, this very promise and its fulfilment would turn into a curse as they would find that other nations would envy them and would cause them terrible losses by avenging the Canaanites whom the Israelites had wiped out. Even while they would enjoy the fact that they had conquered the land they would find that G'd would punish them for their sins immediately, thus turning the blessing into a curse.