“See! I give before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Devarim, 11:26) Everything is from God. In times of trouble it is the man’s nature to shout and cry out to God, “what have You done to me?” Yet at the time when God bestows His goodness man’s eye is clouded from seeing that it is from God. Then he says, “my power and the strength of my hand has made me this wealth [Devarim, 8:17],” therefore God shows him, “See! I give before you,” meaning that everything is from God.

“See! I give before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Devarim, 11:26) This means that each time the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows goodness to man, He dresses it in a garment where it appears on the outside to be the opposite from that goodness. (This is explained in the Mei HaShiloach in Parshat Korach, on the verse, “and I put my word in his mouth.”) In this way man may refine himself by his actions and bring to light the goodness that is at the depths. Then it will be called “the work of his hands.”

“The blessing, if you follow .…” (Devarim, 11:27) If man receives good, then he clearly knows that he has fulfilled God’s will. If the opposite befalls him, God forbid, then he knows that surely he has transgressed the mitzvot of God, even if it does not seem so on the surface.

“Be careful lest you offer your sacrifices in any place that you see. Only in the place that God will choose .…” (Devarim, 12:13) The language of warning is doubled here, saying “be careful,” and then “lest.” This is because the sacrifice mentioned is an olah, a burnt offering, and it signifies a place where man receives no benefit whatsoever from his action. An olah is given completely to God (it is burnt in its entirety), and no benefit is left for the one who offers it. It is forbidden to use (anything similar to an olah, devoted entirely to God,) in any other capacity, only for God alone.

“Only in the place that God shall choose .…” (Devarim, 12:14) From this we learn the way of prayer, how to pray to God, as it is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 28b), “direct your heart to the house of the Holy of Holies.” When you want to pray, see to it that from the outset that the matter that you want to pray for is God’s will. This is the meaning of “direct your heart to the house of the Holy of Holies.” We understand this by saying that if you then have the desire to pray and your lips are filled with its bounty (i.e, the prayer comes naturally), you can then know that it is God’s will, and you will understand that the entire matter is from God. This is explained in the Mei HaShiloach in Parshat Va’etchanan. In this way King David said (Divrei haYamim 1, 17:25), “You have uncovered the ear of Your servant [to hear Your command] … therefore Your servant has found it possible to pray.”

“When God shall enlarge your borders … and you will say, ‘I shall eat meat’ … you shall eat meat according to the desire of your soul .…” (Devarim, 12:20) It is not said that they will go outside of their borders, but only that their borders will become enlarged. In truth, God’s name, Hava’ye (YHVH, called the Tetragrammaton) signifies that from God’s perspective He has chosen Israel, He has no borders, and thus He permits one to extend freely in all the goodness that God gives. However, from the name Adon-ai, signifying man’s understanding and the limit of his apprehension, we derive all borders, knowing that “until here it is permitted to expand” and “from here on it is forbidden.” This means that according to the amount of strength one finds to serve God may he extend himself in God’s goodness. This is the meaning of “when God shall enlarge your borders.” That is, when one first enters into avodat Hashem (service of God) it is forbidden to extend himself freely, for if he goes too far he may, God forbid, remove himself from the fear of God. Yet when his strength for avodat Hashem increases, and with it his fear of God, then he may extend himself further than his level of avodah. This is the meaning of “when God shall enlarge your borders,” meaning that He will give you such great strength for avodah until all (previously constricted) borders will be removed from you to the extent that you may also eat meat without surpassing your boundaries.

“Don’t keep anything of that which has been banned [the property of a town that served idols that is to be destroyed] in order that God may turn from His wrath, and give you compassion, and be compassionate with you, and increase you, as He promised to your forefathers.” (Devarim, 13:18) In the discussion of the town condemned for serving idolatry we are commanded to kill the entire city. This bears the appearance of extreme cruelty. Therefore it says, “and give you compassion, and be compassionate with you,” for regardless of the cruelty, by means of fulfilling the commandment of God you will come to internalize the attribute of compassion, and you will show compassion in a place where compassion is due.

“You shall surely tithe all the produce of your seed, that which comes out of the field from year to year. And you shall eat before Hashem your God in the place where He chooses for His name to dwell, the tithes of your grain, corn, and oil, and the firstlings of your cattle and sheep, in order that you shall learn to fear Hashem your God for all time.” (Devarim, 14:22-23) By eating before God, the fear of God will come to man’s heart. A man’s mind is at repose when he is in his own place, but when he is in a foreign place his mind is unsettled. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, warns against making any separation or difference in a man’s mind, but only to be drawn after God’s will in every place, with his complete consciousness.

“Count for yourself seven weeks, from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn shall you begin to count seven weeks.” (Devarim, 16:9) “From the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn.” That is to say, at a time when man begins to march on towards victory he must possess a settled mind and make careful deliberations, for seven weeks represents great refinement. This is as it is written (Tehilim, 12:7), “seven times refined.”

“And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God, you and sons and daughters and servants, and the Levi who is within your gates, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow who are among you, in the place that Hashem your God chooses to cause his name to dwell there.” (Devarim, 16:11) With all the other festivals it is written, “within your gates,” (Devarim 16:5, 14) and here, with Shevuot, the verse adds the words “who are among you.” This is because with Shevuot and the giving of the Torah, it is said (Nedarim, 81a), “be careful regarding the poor, for from them shall go forth the Torah.”