When God, your Lord, brings you to the Land which you come to inherit, you shall declare the blessing towards Mount Gerizim and the curse towards Mount Eival.

(Devarim 11:29)

This command was fulfilled by the Jews in the following fashion: Six tribes stood on one mountain and six on the other. In between them stood the Holy Ark and the elders of the kohanim and Levites. The latter turned first towards Mount Gerizim and said the words recorded in the Torah in the form of a blessing for those who obey the particular command. The entire nation then answered “Amen.” They then turned around and faced Mount Eival, repeating the same command in the form of a curse for those who disobeyed it, and all answered “Amen.”

We may see in the manner which these blessings and curses were declared a lesson for the nation entering its Promised Land. A man may conduct himself in a manner worthy of blessing, but if he turns away from his responsibilities even momentarily he may be inviting the opposite.

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