Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
רְאֵה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָה׃
אֶת הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֺת ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם׃
וְהַקְּלָלָה אִם לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֺת ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם וְסַרְתֶּם מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ…
See, this day I set before you blessing and curse:
Blessing, if (asher) you obey the mitzvot of God your Lord that I command you this day;
And curse, if (im) you do not obey the mitzvot of God your Lord, but turn away from the path…
Notice the bold words?
Why does the Torah use two different words to mean “if”?
If (asher) we obey → we get blessed.
If (im) we disobey → we get cursed.
Here are explanations from two פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators).
"אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְעוּ" - עַל מְנָת אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁמְעוּ.
“Blessing, if (asher) you obey”—(the blessing comes) in order that you should obey.
According to Rashi, “asher” tells us that we are blessed even before we obey. Then the blessing helps us by motivating us to do the right thing.
(But the curse is different because it only kicks in “im” - if - we actually disobey!)
שֶׁתִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֹת ה' - הוּא הַבְּרָכָה.
וְלֹא תַּחְשְׁבוּ שֶׁהַשָּׂכָר וְהָעֹנֶשׁ שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הוּא דָּבָר שֶׁחוּץ מֵהַמַּעֲשֶׂה.
Listening to God’s mitzvot—that itself is the blessing.
Don’t think that reward and punishment in this world is something different from your action itself.
According to Malbim, asher means something closer to “that,” and the pasuk means:
Blessings are that you obey the mitzvot…
In other words, obeying the mitzvot IS the blessing!
- Think about Malbim: What’s an example of when doing a mitzvah can feel like a blessing?
- Think about Rashi: What kinds of blessings help you do mitzvot? If we use our blessings to do mitzvot, does that change the way we think or feel about those blessings?
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