Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L
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Blessings and Curses
Before Moshe passed away, he blessed eleven of the tribes and each of these blessings had a related curse attached to it, as if an admonishment to them. As if to say, if they do the will of G-d, they will be blessed, and if not, they shall be cursed.
Shimon was the only tribe who wasn't worthy of receiving an individual blessing/curse because of the incident at Shittim where a leader of tribe of Shimon had illicit relations with a Midianite princess.
Moshe told the nation that when they cross the Jordan, six of the tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim: Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Yissaschar, Yosef and Binyamin and then the six other tribes (Reuven, Gad, Asher, Zevulun, Dan and Naftali) are to stand on Mount Ebal and the Kohanim and Levites would stand below in the middle of the two mountains.
The Levites below would alternate between phrasing various ordinances as blessings or as curses, facing Mount Gerizim when phrased as a blessing and facing Mount Ebal when phrased as a curse. After each blessing or curse, all of the 12 tribes would respond "Amen!"
The curses are said first, followed by their corresponding blessings and relate to the following ordinances:
Making graven or molten images
Disrespecting parents
Moving back one's neighbor's landmark and thus stealing their land.
Misguiding a figurative "blind" person, i.e knowingly giving an ignorant or inexperienced person bad advice.
Perverting the judgement of a convert, orphan or widow
Having intimate relations with one's father's wife
Having intimate relations with an animal
Having intimate relations with one's sister, paternal or maternal
Having intimate relations with one's mother in law
Causing harm to someone through slander, or alternatively striking someone in secret
Taking a bribe to put an innocent person to death
And then finally, Moshe gives a general blessing/curse regarding not upholding the Torah, which included observing the entire Torah.
If they obey all of G-d's commandments, G-d will place them above all the other nations and those other nations will attach themselves to Israel.
They will be blessed in both the city and field - the offspring from their cattle and sheep.
And their fruits (or alternatively, liquids which are strained through baskets), and dry goods (which would not flow through such a basket) will be blessed.
Moshe concludes this aliya with a blessing for them that they should be blessed when they leave the world to be as free from sin as when they entered the world.
Ki Tavo, 5th Aliya