We read this week the Tochacha, the Admonition, the series of ‘curses’ that will befall our nation if we fail to live up to our obligations. On the other hand, in preface to these curses, the Torah first promises miraculous blessings of peace and prosperity if we adhere carefully to G-d’s directive.

But there seems to be an imbalance. The curses are enumerated over a spread of thirty three verses, while the blessings are expressed within a mere eleven verses.

The Midrash Tanchuma notes that one who delves into the matter will discover that the blessings actually incorporate much more than the curses. The blessings begin with an א, Aleph, אם בחקתי תלכו, If you will follow my decrees, and conclude with a ת, Tav, ואלך אתכם קוממיות, I led you upright. The curses however, begin with the letter ו, Vov, ואם לא תשמעו, But if you will not listen, ending with the letter ה, Hey,ביד משה, Through Moshe.(מדרש תנחומא ראה אות ד)

The implication here is that the blessings are all inclusive as evidenced in their being contained within the full Aleph Bais, from beginning to end, whereas the curses are expressed within two adjacent letters that are out of order and thus no gap between them.

How does this observation reconcile the obvious discrepancy between the size of curses and that of the blessings?

At the very end of these blessings G-d assures us that just as He freed us from Egypt having ‘broken the staves of your yoke’, and אולך אתכם קוממיות (ויקרא כו יג), having ‘led you upright’, so too will He bring us into the Promised Land ‘upright’ once again.

Indeed, we echo this hoped for promise every day, when we pray in the morning, ותוליכנו מהרה קוממיות לארצנו (ברכות ק"ש שחרית), and lead us, speedily, upright to our land.

What is this wish to be led ‘upright’ that is so significant and seemingly the pinnacle of all the blessings that await one who fulfills G-d’s statutes?

Rashi teaches that it more specifically relates to our קומה זקופה, literally ‘erect stance’, which often refers to a prideful stature, a gait indicative of privilege and greatness.

Is that our goal, to simply walk with our heads up?

Elsewhere the Talmud (קידושין לא.) teaches that one may not walk even four cubits בקומה זקופה, with an aura of self-confidence, rather one must walk with one’s head bent in submissiveness to the Divine Presence which is ever-present. This is even recorded in the second chapter of the Code of Jewish Law where it states clearly: אסור לילך בקומה זקופה (או"ח סי' ב סעיף ו), It is prohibited to walk with an erect stance, because it is as if one is ‘pushing aside the feet of the Divine Presence’.

Although anthropologists may ponder Homo Erectus, the ‘development’ of the family of hominids and the ‘evolution’ of bipedalism, Rabbeinu Tam reveals that Man, since creation, walked with an erect stance so that his head would be appropriately ‘in the clouds’, evidence of the spiritual realm that defines our essence, and whence we stem from. Animals, on the other hand, instinctively direct their heads earthward, for therein lies their roots.(ספר הישר שער חמישי)

Of course one must walk humbly acknowledging the presence of G-d, but one must always remain cognizant, proud and inspired by the reality of our elevated stature, infused with a Tzelem Elokim, the Divine Image.

Rav Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich Hy”d, a great rabbinic figure in Hungary who perished in the Holocaust, makes a fascinating observation regarding the blessings mentioned here. (אבן שלמה)

There seems to be three varied situations being described here.

If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them,

I will give your rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit.

Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your land.

And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you]; I will remove wild beasts from the Land, and no army will pass through your land;

These verses indicate an idyllic existence, plentiful crops, and peace with our enemies, and even the violent nature of the beast will be stilled. However, in the next series of verses war will be prevalent, though we will be victorious.

You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you;

Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

I will turn towards you, and I will make you fruitful and increase you, and I will set up My covenant with you.

You will eat very old [produce], and you will clear out the old from before the new.

Where has all the peace and solace gone? Why must we suddenly face the distraction of, and engagement with, enemies at all?

Finally the Torah goes on to talk about a time when G-d promises he won’t ‘reject’ us.

And I will place My dwelling in your midst, and My Spirit will not reject you;

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt from being slaves to them; and I broke the pegs of your yoke and led you upright.

Weren’t we just experiencing the rewards of our loyal commitment to His word? Why would G-d need to now assure us that He wouldn’t scorn us? Haven’t we already successfully shirked the yoke of the nations? Why does G-d conjure the imagery of our freedom from Egypt as a portent for what awaits us?

The great Gaon suggests that the three scenarios laid out here reflect the level of success we have in the ultimate battle with our Yetzer Hora, the Evil Inclination.

Those who have succeeded in extinguishing the power of their evil inclination will merit in kind to live peacefully without confrontation.

But those who have not yet eradicated its force and still engage in fierce battle with their evil inclination but nevertheless constantly overcome its mighty assault will likewise overtake their physical enemies causing them to flee and fall in defeat.

And then there are those who although they may succumb, are terribly pained and frustrated by their failure yet refuse to give up the fight. G-d promises never to reject them. To these heroes who pine for His closeness even in setback, G-d encourages:

והתהלכתי בתוככם,  I will walk among you, and acknowledge your deepest desire to fear Me...

והיית לכם לאל-הים, I will be G-d unto you, since I see that although I relate to you as Elokim, in My, at times stern, Attribute of Justice, nevertheless...

ואתם תהיו לי לעם, you (still choose to) remain a (loyal) people unto Me, struggling to overcome.

May I add to this holy martyr’s uplifting words with the following sequel:

G-d concludes by intimating that just as He freed us from the bondage in Egypt so are we destined to be redeemed again:

ואשבר מטת עלכם ואולך אתכם קוממיות, I broke / will break the staves of your yoke and led / will lead you erect.

What distinguishes this erect stance from the type the Talmud prohibits is that here G-d is ‘leading’ whereas the Talmud speaks of one who ‘walks upright’.

One who permits G-d entry to his life and sees G-d as the force that leads him, even in the moments of failure, will be inspired to sense his own inherent worth and ‘uprightness’ he so longs for, not permitting himself to ever despair in defeat, and will ultimately recommit to continuing the battle until it is finally won.

As long as we continue to be engaged in the process of growth, no matter how many times we fall, G-d will break the staves that secure the painful yoke of challenge and tests, permitting us to release ourselves from its weight by giving us the strength to keep on fighting until we succeed.

Perhaps that is the notion of the blessings being couched in the Aleph through Tav, to accentuate the process of healthy and methodical growth we are each engaged in as we head up the ladder of Avodas Hashem, serving G-d. There is no greater blessing than the ability to be connected even if we sin.

The curses are bracketed between the letters of ו and ה. These letters in their proper order ה"ו represent one of G-d’s names. It is a manifestation of His presence when hidden, similar to the word הוא, him, an indirect reference to someone. The reversing of this name indicates the worst of curses, living without G-d, an unwillingness to accept His attention and loving interest amidst times of darkness and failure.

May we always proudly keep our heads in the clouds, never burying our heads in the sand even when the going gets tough!

May we never forget our inherent nobility and G-d’s faith in us even when we are sullied by sin.

May we always keep our heads directed on high for G-d to lead us towards our greatness, and never fall into despair.

באהבה,

צבי טייכמאן