Torah Straightens Crooked Paths
במדרש אל תקוץ בתוכחתו
The Midrash teaches: "Do not be repulsed by His rebuke" (Mishlei 3:11).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash's reading of the verse in Mishlei, that one should not recoil from Hashem's rebuke. This sets up the question of how curses can be for our benefit.
אין מפסיקין בקללות לא לרעתך נתתי לך ברכות וקללות כו'
We do not break up the reading of the curses, for [Hashem says,] "It was not to harm you that I gave you blessings and curses, etc."
The custom is to read the section of curses without pausing, because Hashem assures us that both blessings and curses were given for our good, not to harm us.
כמ"ש במ"א כי העולם נברא בב' לשון ברכה הלואי שיתקיים כמ"ש שם במד'
As I have explained elsewhere, that the world was created with the letter beis, the language of berachah (blessing) — "Would that it endure!" — as is stated there in the Midrash.
The Sfas Emes recalls his teaching that the physical world was created with the letter beis, which begins the word berachah, and the world's continued existence is itself a kind of hopeful blessing.
אבל התורה התחילה בא' אנכי
But the Torah began with the letter aleph: "Anochi" ("I am") (Shemos 20:2).
In contrast to creation, the Torah begins with the letter aleph in the word "Anochi." This distinction becomes the key to the whole piece.
והוא הדרך שבה יוכל אדם לתקן גם כל מה שקילקל כמ"ש תורת ה' תמימה לכן משיבת נפש
And this is the path by which a person is able to repair even all that he has ruined, as it is written, "The Torah of Hashem is perfect, therefore it restores the soul" (Tehillim 19:8).
The Torah is the path through which a person can repair whatever he has damaged, because it is "perfect" and therefore "restores the soul."
פי' כי הכל מתקיים בכח התורה א"כ לעולם יכולין לתקן עצמו ע"י התורה
The meaning is that everything is sustained through the power of the Torah; therefore one can always repair himself by means of the Torah.
Since the entire world is held up by the power of the Torah, a person always has the means to rebuild himself through the Torah.
ואפי' כשאדם נופל בחטאו ובכ"מ שהוא
And even when a person falls into his sin, and wherever he may be,
No matter how low a person falls through sin, and no matter what state he is in,
מ"מ הלא לעולם יש משפט ע"פ התורה מה לעשות ובזה משיב נפשו
nevertheless, there is always a ruling according to the Torah as to what he should do, and through this he restores his own soul.
the Torah always provides a ruling for what to do to set things right, and following that ruling revives his soul.
וכמו שמצינו בעזרא כשחטאו בנשים נכריות התחזקו ואמרו יש מקוה לישראל כו' וכתורה יעשה
Just as we find regarding Ezra, that when [Bnei Yisrael] sinned with foreign women, they strengthened themselves and said, "There is yet hope for Yisrael, etc., and it shall be done according to the Torah" (Ezra 10:2-3).
The Sfas Emes brings the example of the generation of Ezra, who, after sinning by marrying foreign women, took courage in the Torah and declared there was still hope for Bnei Yisrael.
וז"ש אנכי נותן בחי' התורה שהתחיל בה אנכי
And this is the meaning of "Anochi nosein" ("I give") — the aspect of the Torah, which began with "Anochi."
The phrase "Anochi nosein" hints at the Torah itself, since the Torah was given beginning with the word "Anochi."
וזה תיקון לברכה וקללה
And this is the rectification for blessing and curse.
This power of the Torah is precisely the repair for the system of blessing and curse — it gives a way back even from the curse.
וז"ש בספרי משל לדרך שתחילתו קוצים וסופו מישור ע"ש
And this is what is stated in the Sifri: a parable to a path whose beginning is thorns and whose end is level ground — see there.
The Sfas Emes cites the Sifri's parable comparing this to a road that begins with thorns but ends on smooth, level ground.
והלא התורה דרכי' דרכי נועם וחלילה שיהי' תחילתה קוצים
But surely the Torah's "ways are ways of pleasantness" (Mishlei 3:17), and Heaven forbid that its beginning should be thorns!
He raises a difficulty: the Torah's ways are pleasant, so how could its beginning be "thorns"?
אך הרבותא שהתורה יכולה לתקן
Rather, the novel point is that the Torah is able to repair —
He answers that the point of the parable is the Torah's power to repair, not that the Torah itself is thorny.
אפי' מי שבא לעקמומית
even one who has come to crookedness,
Even a person who has become crooked through his deeds,
התורה מיישרת דרכיו
the Torah straightens his ways.
the Torah has the power to straighten out his ways and set him on the level path.
כמ"ש בכל דרכיך דעהו פי' עשה כתורה
As it is written, "In all your ways know Him" (Mishlei 3:6) — meaning, act according to the Torah,
He supports this from the verse "In all your ways know Him," which he reads as a command to conduct all one's affairs according to the Torah.
והוא הדעת
and that is the daas (true knowing),
Acting according to the Torah is itself the true daas, the knowing of Hashem referred to in the verse.
והוא יישר אורחותיך
and "He will straighten your paths" (ibid.).
And the promise follows that Hashem "will straighten your paths" — the Torah does the straightening.
ולכן כתיב בברכה אשר תשמעו ולא אם תשמעו
Therefore it is written regarding the blessing, "that you shall listen" (Devarim 11:27), and not "if you shall listen" —
The Sfas Emes notes the precise wording in the blessing: "that you shall listen" rather than "if you shall listen."
לומר שלעולם אפי' שכבר לא שמעת ח"ו מ"מ עתה שמעו ותחי נפשכם
to teach that always, even if you have already, Heaven forbid, not listened, nevertheless now listen, and your souls shall live.
This wording teaches that even one who has failed to listen until now can always begin listening from this moment and thereby live.
וז"ש בפ' והי' א"ש אחר כל העונשים ושמתם כו' דברי אלה כו' ובזה תוכלו לחזור לברכה
And this is what is stated in Parshas "Vehayah im shamoa" (Devarim 11:13), after all the punishments: "And you shall place these words of Mine, etc." — and through this you will be able to return to the blessing.
He shows the same idea in "Vehayah im shamoa": even after all the punishments are listed, the Torah says to place its words upon the heart, providing the way back to blessing.
ולכן אין מפסיקין בקללות רק להיות סופו מישור ולטובתך נתתי כמ"ש:
Therefore we do not break up the reading of the curses, only so that its end shall be level ground; "and it is for your good that I gave [them]," as is stated.
This is why the curses are read without interruption — to express that their end is smooth, level ground, since Hashem gave them entirely for our good.
Summary: The Sfas Emes asks why we read the section of curses without pausing, and answers from the assurance that Hashem gave both blessings and curses for our benefit. The world was created with the letter beis of berachah, but the Torah begins with the aleph of "Anochi," and this Torah is the path through which a person can always repair whatever he has ruined and restore his soul, as we see from the generation of Ezra. Citing the Sifri's parable of a road that begins with thorns but ends on level ground, he explains that the curses are like that beginning: the novel power of the Torah is that it straightens even one who has become crooked. This is hinted in "In all your ways know Him" and in the wording "that you shall listen" rather than "if you shall listen" — teaching that one can always begin anew. Therefore the curses are read without interruption, for their end is level ground and they too were given for our good.