Curses Rooted In Torah

במדרש מוסר ה' בני אל תמאס

The Midrash expounds on the verse, "The mussar of Hashem, my son, do not despise" (Mishlei 3:11).

The piece opens with the Midrash's teaching on the verse that one must not despise the chastisement of Hashem, framing suffering as something to be received rather than rejected.

דכתי' מקודם כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ה"א מיסרך

For it is written just before, "As a man chastises his son, so does Hashem your God chastise you" (Devarim 8:5).

The preceding verse establishes the principle directly: Hashem chastises Bnei Yisrael the way a loving father disciplines his son, for their benefit.

כי כל היסורים העוברים על בנ"י הכל לטובה להיטיבך באחריתך

For all the suffering that passes over Bnei Yisrael is entirely for the good, to do you good in your end (see Devarim 8:16).

Every hardship that befalls Bnei Yisrael is ultimately for their good, intended to bring them to a good outcome in the end.

וכמו שהיו יסורי המדבר הכנה לא"י כמו כן כל יסורי הגלות

And just as the suffering of the wilderness was a preparation for Eretz Yisrael, so too is all the suffering of galus a preparation.

Just as the trials of the forty years in the wilderness readied Bnei Yisrael to enter Eretz Yisrael, so the hardships of galus are themselves a preparation for what is to come.

ז"ש אנכי נותן לפניכם כי גם הקללות הם בכח התורה שנק' טוב והם לטובה

This is the meaning of "I set before you" (Devarim 11:26) — that even the curses lie within the power of the Torah, which is called "good" (Mishlei 4:2), and they too are for the good.

When Moshe Rabbeinu says "I set before you" blessing and curse, even the curses are rooted in the power of the Torah, which is called "good" — so the curses too serve a good purpose.

וע"ז רמזו בספרי שיש דרך שתחילתו קוצים וסופו מישור

And to this the Sifri alluded, that there is a path whose beginning is thorns but whose end is smooth and level.

The Sifri hints at this with the image of a road that begins among thorns but opens onto smooth, level ground at its end.

כי בוודאי הברכה הוא כולו מישור כמ"ש ברכת ה' כו' ולא יוסיף עצב עמה

For certainly the blessing is entirely level and smooth, as it is written, "The blessing of Hashem, it makes rich, and He adds no pain along with it" (Mishlei 10:22).

The blessing is smooth from beginning to end, as the pasuk teaches that Hashem's blessing brings no pain mixed in with it.

רק אפי' הקללות הם סופן מישור כמ"ש מה דעבדין מן שמי' לטב

But even the curses — their end is level and smooth, as it is said, "Whatever the Heavens do is for the good."

Even the curses ultimately arrive at a smooth, level end, since whatever Heaven sends is for the good.

מן שמים הוא הבא בכח התורה

"From the Heavens" — this is that which comes through the power of the Torah.

The phrase "from the Heavens" refers specifically to that which flows through the power of the Torah, the channel through which even hardship becomes good.

ולכן אין מפסיקין בקללות

And therefore one does not pause in the midst of reading the curses.

For this reason the Torah reading of the curses is not interrupted with a pause, treating them as one unbroken unit.

א"ת קוצין

Do not read it as "thorns" (kotzin).

The Sfas Emes reads a hint in the word, that it should not be read as "thorns."

שלא להפרידן מן כח האחדות שהם מוסר ה' בכח התורה כנ"ל:

So as not to separate them from the power of unity, for they are the mussar of Hashem through the power of the Torah, as explained above.

The point is not to sever the curses from the power of unity, since they too are Hashem's loving chastisement working through the power of the Torah.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the Midrash's teaching that one must not despise the mussar of Hashem, since all the suffering that comes upon Bnei Yisrael is a father's loving chastisement, entirely for their ultimate good. Just as the trials of the wilderness prepared Bnei Yisrael for Eretz Yisrael, so too the hardships of galus are a preparation, and even the curses that Moshe Rabbeinu set before them are rooted in the power of the Torah, which is called "good." He brings the image from the Sifri of a road that begins in thorns yet ends on smooth, level ground: the blessing is smooth throughout, while even the curses arrive at a level end, for whatever Heaven sends is for the good. This is why the reading of the curses is not interrupted with a pause — so as not to separate them from the underlying unity, since they too are the mussar of Hashem flowing through the power of the Torah.