כי לא את בניכם, “that it was not your children;” Moses warns his own generation that it was they who would be punished for ignoring the laws of the Torah, as it was they who had witnessed G–d’s miracles for them, not their children who had been born in the desert.

למען תחזקו ”in order that you be strong;” Moses does not tell the people to observe G–d’s laws in order that they will become strong (physically), for if that were the reason they would be fulfilling the Torah for the sake of the reward in store for them. This is not the proper motive. (Compare Ethics of our fathers chapter 1, mishnah 3) The interpretation of this line is as follows: “perform the commandments out of a feeling of love for the Lord.” The word למען, here does not mean: “in order that,” just as it does not mean “in order that” in verse 21 of our chapter where we read: למען יאריכון ימיך, in the Ten Commandments in chapter 5,16. It means that the reason you must be strong is in order that you can fulfill the commandment required of you. The word is not linked to what follows, but describes a requisite for successful performance of the Torah being not fear of G–d but love of G–d.

לא כארץ מצרים, “not like the land of Egypt; that land is a flat land lacking mountains and therefore enables its inhabitants to draw water from the Nile river through digging canals to the land surrounding the river. The Jewish people when in their ancestral land, by contrast, will have to depend on the rain to irrigate their land. As a result they will realise the need for their G–d being well disposed towards them as else He might withhold the required rainfall at the appropriate time for securing their success in the fields. Your fulfilling His commandments at the appropriate times, will insure that He grants rain at the appropriate time in the appropriate quantities.

ארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך דורש אותה תמיד, “a land which the Lord your G–d looks after constantly;” He does so with a view to examine its inhabitants’ way of life as they will be judged according to their actions and the frequency with which the perform the commandments. This is why we recite twice daily the second paragraph of the kriyat sh’ma, commencing with the words: “it will be as a result of your observing My Commandments ........ that I will give the required amount of rain at the proper time, etc.” (verse 17 in our chapter) Also the sages in the Talmud, tractate Rosh Hashanah folio 17, explain our verse in the following sense. Concerning the word: בעתו, “at its appropriate time,” our sages say that rainfall may occur as a blessing or as a curse, depending on the condition of the growing crops at the time when it descends. If at the time of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish people were in a state of disgrace due to non observance, G–d may supply only a little rainfall; this may spur them to engage in repentance. It will not make sense to suddenly increase the rainfall, as the decree had already been sealed and executed. If they had been in good standing at the beginning of the year, and G–d therefore had provided the required amount of rain, but they subsequently became corrupted, how would G–d be able to retract the rain that had already descended? Therefore, Rosh Hashanah is the time at which G–d decrees the required amount of rainfall for the year at that time, but lets it descend on the part of the land that requires it if the conduct of the people deserves it, and on a different part of the land where it goes to waste, if the conduct of the people is such that it had forfeited this blessing.

מרשית שנה, “from the beginning of the year.” Why has the word ראשית, spelled defectively, without the letter א after the letter ר? Rabbi Yitzchok, on folio 16 in the above quoted tractate of the Talmud, claims that any year which commences apparently poorly, will by the time it comes to its end have become much better. If Moses added the word: עד אחרית “until the end,” this is proof that the year will have an end for those who doubted that at its beginning. The meaning of the word: רשה, i.e. ראשית, without the letter א, is: that the year started poorly so that its people would becoming humble and deserve better by the end of it.

יורה, “the first quarter of the year, when the early rains are due.” It descends during the moth of Marcheshvan, and “teaches” people to tend to their gardens. Alternatively, it describes the rain hitting the ground like an arrow, “shooting.”

ומלקוש, “and the late rain,” in the month of Nissan The word is related to קש, straw, the season when the stalks turn hard as straw.

ואספת דגנך, “you will gather in your corn.” Once you have gathered in your corn there will no longer be any rainfall during the remainder of the season. Rain during harvest season is considered a bad omen as we know from Samuel I 12,17, where the prophet in calling upon G–d to produce a thunderstorm points out that the miracle will be that it will occur during the harvesting season when there is no rainfall expected. In the Talmud, tractate B’rachot folio 35, the word ואספת is questioned, as it implies that the farmer will have to do the ingathering by himself without assistance, whereas in Isaiah 61,5, we are told that the Israelites will have gentiles guarding their sheep and aliens will be their plowmen. The answer given is that when the Israelites all observe the Torah, they will have gentile servants to do the heavy work for them, When this is not the case, they will have to do it for themselves. This answer is difficult as our paragraph deals with the assumption that the Israelites bring in a successful harvest as a result of having obeyed the commandments of the Lord. Our author leaves the question open.

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.

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.

את הברכה, אשר תשמעו את מצות ה'.......ואת הקללה אם לא תשמעו אל מצות ה', “and the curse if you will not hearken to the commandments of the Lord;” our author feels the need to explain this by a parable. An old man sat at a parting of a path. One of the parts continues smoothly but will soon become covered with thorns and thistles making progress almost impossible. The other is strewn with thorns and thistle already immediately, but will become smooth later on. This is what the old man explains to anyone asking him which path to take. The old man, naturally advises a traveler to take the path that has thorns and thistles only initially. Some travelers, seeing that the man is old, do not take his advice, and pay for it dearly as it is most difficult to go back to the junction once one has become embroiled in the thorns and thistles, People who commit trespasses against the Torah in their youth, i.e. in this world, because they choose ease and comfort, will find it almost impossible to retrace their steps once they have become caught in thorns and thistles. People who accept the challenge of Torah laws in their youth, will find it progressively easier, and in the end, their path will ensure that they experience the coming of the Messiah in due course. (Tanchuma section 3 on our portion)