וידעתם היום, "and you shall know as of this day, etc." Moses means as of this day after you have reviewed all the proofs it is your duty to know that G'd has performed all these miracles as He did not perform them for your children. If your children who have only heard about all this would deny knowledge of these events this is one thing. You, however, who have witnessed all these events are in no position to deny knowledge of them. There was no need for Moses to define what precisely he meant by the word ידיעה, knowledge. They had seen with their own eyes miracles which proved that G'd is unique, has created the universe and is the supreme Ruler who despises those who disobey His laws and has chosen as His people those who adopt the laws of the Torah.

כל היקום..בקרב כל ישראל, "every substance…in the midst of all Israel." This means that the earth swallowed even the substances belonging to Datan and Aviram which were not in the vicinity of their owners wherever they happened to be at that moment. Bamidbar Rabbah 18,13 claims that even a needle was included in this statement.

ושמרתם את כל המצוה..למען תחזקו "You shall keep all the commandment in order for you to be strong, etc." Moses advances this argument against the people who suggested a temporary neglect of Torah study, something which physically weakens those who pursue it with intensity. The argument was that they had to husband their physical strength in order for them to conquer the Canaanites. Compare Sanhedrin 26 describing Torah study as a physically debilitating experience based on the word תושיה in Isaiah 28,29. I have mentioned previously that whenever Moses uses the expression כל המצוה in the singular he refers to Torah study. The reason Moses used the expression ושמרתם here, an expression associated with the observance of negative commandments is that neglect of Torah study would be considered a violation equal to transgressing a negative commandment. Moses concludes our verse by saying: "in order that you will be strong" to tell you that far from weakening you, Torah study and מצוה-performance will strengthen you in the forthcoming war by G'd. This is also the meaning of Proverbs 8,14: אני בינה לי גבורה, "once I have acquired insight (through Torah study) courage and strength will be mine."

והארק אשר אתם עוברים שמה, "and the land which you are crossing over to, etc." Why does Moses repeat the words: "the land you are crossing over to," having said something almost identical in verse 10 already? I believe we have to understand these two verses as follows. Although the Torah had already extolled the virtues of the land of Canaan, describing it as a land flowing with milk and honey, the Torah had to contrast it with Egypt which is also a land blessed with excellent produce as the Torah had testified in Genesis 13,10: "like a garden of G'd, like the land of Egypt." Moses explains that whereas Egypt receives its bounty only by means of natural means, without special providence by G'd, it has another disadvantage compared to the land of Canaan in that you have to irrigate the land with back-breaking labour, whereas in the land of Canaan the rain does the irrigating.

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך דרש, "which the Lord your G'd enquires after (all the time)." Moses emphasises the word אלוקיך, "your G'd" to remind us that the excellence of this land is conditional on the mutually exclusive relationship between Israel and its G'd. If Israel were to find itself in exile due to its sins, the land would not prove excellent for whoever would dwell in it after Israel would be expelled.

והיה אם שמע תשמעו, "and it will be if you will surely hearken, etc." The meaning of the word והיה is usually that something joyful will occur. Moses tempers this by making the joy conditional on it being due to performance of G'd's commandments. Moses continues with the conditional אם [as opposd to the word כאשר "when," Ed.]. The reason is analogous to what we have learned in Shabbat 30 that the only kind of joy Solomon praised was the joy generated through מצוה-performance. Concerning all other kinds of joy Kohelet 2,2 applies, i.e. ולשמחה מה זה עושה, "and of joy, what does it accomplish?" Moses repeated the word שמע based on a comment in Berachot 55 on Daniel 2,21 "He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledgable." G'd does not grant wisdom unless a person has already acquired a measure of wisdom. When Moses says: "if you will hearken" he means if you already have a wise heart and are mentally prepared to hearken, G'd will grant you more such wisdom so that you will surely hearken to G'd."

לאהבה…ולעבדו…ונתתי, "to love G'd..to serve Him;..and I will give the rain, etc." In view of previous statements to the effect that the reward for מצוה-performance is not paid in this life, Moses assures the people if their service is of a quality that is equivalent to their loving G'd with all their heart then they will also experience compensation in this life. This is the meaning of the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word ונתתי in verse 14. Receiving rainfall at the appropriate time is not the reward for their מצוה-performance but is something additional, i.e. ו, plus. The reward itself is stored up for the Hereafter. Moses also hints that although a good livelihood is one of the three blessings which are within the province of mazzal and not of personal merit as we explained repeatedly (Moed Katan 28), when the nation serves the Lord in the above-mentioned manner Israel as a whole will rise above mazzal and everything which happens to it comes under the scrutiny of the personal providence of G'd.

בכל לבבכם ובכל נפשכם, "with all your hearts and with all your souls." In this instance Moses did not mention מאדכם, "your material assets" as he did in Deut. 6,5. The reason is that the paragraph in Deut. 6 was addressed to the individual Jew whereas this paragraph is addressed to the nation as a whole. Whereas it is possible to find an individual who values his material assets over and above his very life, the Torah had to command that Jew not to do so. Amongst the people collectively it is psychologically impossible to find them value their assets as worth dying for. In such a setting, the rule applies that people will give up all their wealth in order to save their lives. As soon as Moses had told the people that they should love the Lord with all their souls, it went without saying that the same applies to all their material assets.

לא תתן את יבולה, "it will not yield its produce." Although Moses had already said that G'd would lock the heavens he repeated that the earth would not yield its produce to tell the people that even if they were to plant their fields adjacent to rivers and wells the earth would not produce a harvest.

ואבדתם מהוה, "and you will perish quickly, etc." Even if you somehow find a harvest dating back to previous years you will still perish. We have an illustration of this curse in Gittin 56 where the Talmud tells how Jewish zealots deliberately destroyed a 21 year supply of grain owned by a certain Kalba Savua during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.

למען ירבו ימיכם, "that your days may multiply, etc." Why did Moses not write this verse prior to verse 20, i.e. the writing down of this paragraph and attaching it to the doorposts? If that had been the case our verse and the blessing it contains would also be part of the promise in what was to be attached to the doorposts? Perhaps Moses chose this order in order to teach us that the fulfilment of the commandment in verse 20 would bring in its wake the blessing contained in verse 21. This may be what the Talmud (Shabbat 32) had in mind when it stated that "anyone who takes the commandment of the Mezuzah seriously has his lifespan extended." [The only quotation I was able to find on that folio was that neglect of the commandment of Mezuzah may result in premature death. This itself is questionable. Ed.]

כי אם שמר תשמרון, "For if you diligently keep, etc." Why did Moses repeat the word שמר תשמרון? Besides, what kind of observance does Moses speak about here? Perhaps he intended to warn the people to observe the "fences" around the Biblical commandments which were designed to prevent violation of the commandments proper. Moses warns the people not to disregard these "fences."

Moses may also have had in mind to reassure the Israelites that if they indeed observed the "fences" with the same determination as the Biblical injunctions, then G'd would ensure that they would be able to observe all the Biblical commandments. Failure to take the "fences" seriously would result in their observance of the Biblical commandments becomimg slipshod. The classic example is that he who conscientiously observes the Sabbath already a few minutes prior to sunset will be helped to observe the Sabbath in all its ramifications. He who waits with beginning the Sabbath until the last possible minute may find himself violating even Biblical aspects of the Sabbath legislation.

Another thing Moses may have had in mind when repeating the word שמור תשמרון is that one should not only be concerned with personally observing the commandments but should also encourage others to keep them. A person should not say that he has done his duty by observing G'd's commandments and letting others worry about doing their duty. The first word שמור refers to personal observance, whereas the word תשמרון refers to one's encouraging others to do the same. We have been taught in Pessachim 49 that instead of merely reading Deut. 33,4 מורשה, "something to be transmitted by inheritance," we should also read the word as if it had been spelled מאורשה, "betrothed." Just as a person is responsible for the welfare of his bride-to-be, i.e. his ארוסה, so G'd has empowered him by means of the Torah not to let others despise the Torah without protesting this. When possible all legal means have to be employed to ensure that Jews do not violate G'd's law in public just as we would not let such people get away with violence against fellow human beings. Naturally, admonishing trespassers must be done in a manner which does not alienate such people from the Torah. This is why Moses speaks about לעשותה לאהבה, to "perform it lovingly, etc." Yevamot 63 explains that the person who does not only admonish others but demonstrates that he himself demands of himself at least as much as he appears to demand of others is liable to have an impact on his listeners. Something similar is stated in Berachot 6 where the Talmud says: "a truly G'd-fearing person will find that his listeners will respond to him." This is why Moses spoke first of all about לעשותה, i.e. people who had been models to others by themselves performing the commandments. When this is the case such people may plant love for G'd in others. Such people will no longer violate G'd's commandments. This is also the meaning of Midrash Mishley 2,4 that if one succeeds in making words of Torah come forth from the mouth of an uncouth person one has done the equivalent to uttering these words of Torah oneself. Sanhedrin 19 goes further and describes such a person as having created the former.

ולדבקה בו, "and to cleave to Him." We have already explained on several occasions that all the Jewish souls are hewn from the same celestial "quarry." This is why they are considered part of G'd and all cleave to G'd as per Deut. 4.4. Violations of G'd's commandments however, result in this bond being shattered. When man repents he has to re-establish this bond. When Moses mentions "and to cleave to Him," he speaks of people who have to re-establish this bond, this cleaving to G'd.

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.]?

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.].

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.

את הברכה אשר תשמעון, "The blessing if you will hearken, etc." The word את which frequently means "with" means here that in addition to the blessing which is the result of walking in G'd's paths there would be a bonus, i.e. they would hearken to G'd's commandments. Hearkening to G'd's commandments is perceived as a pleasurable experience by itself. It helps the soul to feel "alive" as we know from Isaiah 55,4: שמעו ותהי נפשכם, "hearken and your souls will come alive." Whenever someone who studies Torah gains an understanding of what the Torah has in mind he experiences a physical and spiritual sense of wellbeing. He owes G'd a debt of gratitude for affording him such pleasure. There is no need to add that such a person cannot demand a reward from G'd for having allowed him to experience such joy.

There is yet another aspect to the words את הברכה. We have been taught in Kidushin 40 that the reward for מצוה-performance is divided into "capital and dividends." When Moses uses the word את he refers to the "dividend" aspect of the blessing which is the reward. The word הברכה refers to the world in which the capital is payable, whereas the word את refers to our world in which the dividends of this capital are paid out.

Moses was careful to say אשר. Had he used the customary word אם this would have had a connotation of "if," i.e. that the payment of such dividends was somehow subject to doubt. By saying instead אשר, Moses made sure that this dividend would be perceived as something absolute, not subject to doubt or additional conditions. The Torah made this whole blessing dependent on "listening" rather than on performance of a deed or deeds with one's limbs as it wanted to convey the idea that anyone who listens to the living G'd and His Torah becomes imbued with the elixir of life, something which is guaranteed to bring him back to the fold in case he had strayed (compare introduction of Eychah Rabbati).

והקללה אם לא תשמעו, "And the curse in case you will fail to hearken, etc." Moses means that anyone who prevents himself from hearkening to the voice of G'd has already cursed himself. This is why the word והקללה appears before the words "if you will not hearken." Moses adds that in addition you will have demonstrated that you depart from the normal path of life by preparing for yourselves alternate but leaking water cisterns. In effect this is what the words: "you will depart from the way and follow alien deities" are all about.

ושמרתם לעשות, "And you will observe to carry out, etc." Inasmuch as the commandments which Moses is about to convey are all of the kind that can be performed only in ארץ ישראל, Moses applies the term שמירה [usually reserved for the avoidance of violating negative commandments, Ed.] much as we read in Genesis 37,11 that ואביו שמר את הדבר, "his father remained aware of the matter" (Joseph's dream about the brothers and his father and mother bowing down to him). Moses meant by this word that the Israelites should constantly look forward to the opportunity to carry out these commandments although at the time he spoke to them they had no opportunity to fulfil these מצות. He concluded by saying אלה החוקים "these are the statutes." Commandments such as the one to wipe out locations where the Canaanites had worshiped idols, he called "statutes," as they applied only once the Israelites were in that country. They could not carry out this commandment until they had conquered the land.