(רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה(11:26
וְנָתַתָּ֤ה אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה֙ עַל־הַ֣ר גְּרִזִ֔ים וְאֶת־הַקְּלָלָ֖ה עַל־הַ֥ר עֵיבָֽל׃(11:29
It's fascinating that Hashem tells us at the beginning of our parsha that we will be getting a bracha/klala, but the bracha/klala does not actually appear here in our parsha. You have to wait until Parshas Ki Tavo (27:12 and onward) for the bracha/klala to be spelled out. We are in effect being told here, "Heads up and get ready -- here's what's coming." The word "re'ei" usually means not just to look at something, but to contemplate (e.g. see Shmos 31:2 and Seforno, Netziv there). There is a mitzvah of talmud torah to learn and pay attention to every parsha, but apparently with respect to the parsha of bracha/klala there is a demand for extra hisboninus.
The Midrash at the beginning of the parsha presents a mashal:
משל לזקן שהיה יושב על הדרך, והיו לפניו שתי דרכים: אחת תחילתה קוצים וסופה מישור, ואחת תחילתה מישור וסופה קוצים, והיה יושב בראש שתיהן ומזהיר העוברים, ואומר להם: אף על פי שאתם רואים תחילתה של זו קוצים, לכו בה, שסופה מישור.
וכל מי שהיה חכם שומע לו והיה מהלך בה ומתייגע קמעא. הלך בשלום ובא בשלום.
אבל אותן שלא היו שומעין לו, היו הולכים ונכשלין בסוף.
כך היה משה, פירש לבני ישראל ואמר להם: הרי דרך החיים ודרך המות, ברכה וקללה, ובחרת בחיים למען תחיה אתה וזרעך:
What in the parsha is the Midrash trying to clarify?
In the mashal, there are two paths: one that appears overgrown with thorns, but which down the road will become clear and easy to travel; one that appears easy to travel, but will lead to an impassable, thorn covered end.
There is no path that is thorn free.
The choice we have in life is not bracha OR klala -- the parsha does not say "bracha OH klala," but rather "bracha U'klala" -- even the path of bracha has thorns in the road. Life is not meant to be easy. Even if you make the right choices, you might suffer scratches. That's part of life in olam ha'zeh -- "asher anochi nosein lifneichem HA'YOM."
The Ishbitzer goes a step further and writes:
ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. היינו בכל מקום שהקב"ה ינחיל טובה לאדם ילבישה בלבוש הנראה כפי ראות העין הפך מהטובה, (וכמו שנתבאר בפ' קרח בפסוק ואשים דברי בפיך), בכדי שעל ידי פעולות האדם שיברר א"ע ויוציא לאור את הטוב מעומק, ועי"ז יקרא יגיע כפיך
Whenever Hashem wants to give a person something good, a bracha, it comes wrapped in a package that looks like klala, the exact opposite. Bracha U'klala. Why? Because the biggest tovah is one that is earned, not received as a free gift. Everything Hashem gives us is l'tovah, but we have to do the work of recognizing it and seeing it as such. That's the avodah of "re'ei" -- seeing the tovah at the end of the road in what looks like just another path of thorns. That's the chiddush of our parsha and why just giving us the bracha/klala in Ki Tavo is not sufficient.
-- "'Heads up and get ready -- here's what's coming.'"
ReplyDeleteis the fourfold progression-- the indication here in re'eh, "11:29"; the stage directions/script, at "27:12"-:26; the enactment in Yehoshua, 8:33; all rated behavior thereafter --a kabbalistic one: emanation > creation > formation > action?
-- the blessing of man, >tzelem Elokim<, standing center stage in Bereishis 1:28, opposes the curse of the man for his secretly standing >to'avas Hashem*< (27:15) **
-- the first curse of a man, Bereishis 4:11, is late-listed at 27:24***...
* 'can you affirm even a single word of mine?' Hashem asks the object, but it cannot answer...but the people can! 'amein!' (27:15)
**man cannot successfully [blessedly] pass his tzelem off to a thing, and leave it at that
***ba'saser? ba'sadeh, in a field