P
ARSHAS RE’EH
“See I set before you today a blessing and a curse etc… you shall set the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Eival.” (Devarim 11:26 29)
The gemara in Sotah (32a) explains that six shevatim ascended Har Gerizim and six Har Eival. The Kohanim Leviim and the Aron stood below in the middle… They faced Har Gerizim and began with a blessing; both groups answered “Amen.”
A number of questions arise from this description. Firstly why were the shevatim divided in two? Why weren’t they given the blessings and curses together? Second why does the pasuk use the word “see”? Doesn’t sight refer to a tangible vision not statements of speech?
In addition the grammatical structure of the sentence seems confusing. In the beginning the pasuk uses the verb “see” in singular but concludes with the words “I set before you” and “you” is used in the plural.
