Two approaches to the curses of Devarim 27

Hmmmmm.

It turns out that my chart doesn't transfer very well into a blog. And since I don't know how to make it look the way I wanted it to look, I present the material in a format that is easy to understand, even if it isn't as fun as it should be through the chart.

Each "curse" will begin with text of the curse/warning, and will be followed by the comment of the Maskil L'David, followed by that of Abravanel.

1 - 'Cursed is the person who makes a sculptured or cast idol, which is repulsive to God your Lord even if it is a piece of fine sculpture, and places it in a hidden place.' All the people shall respond and say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Refers to Levi – since they did not err with the Golden Calf. The hope is they will continue to uphold this tradition and never submit to idolatry.

Abravanel - Refers to the tribe of Shimon who were the main group responsible for the sin of Baal Peor (the Pinchas story). Thousands died on their account, most (most likely) from their tribe

2 - 'Cursed is he who shows disrespect for his father and mother.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Refers to Yehuda, who disrespected his father when he said “הכר נא” and was forced to embarrass himself when the same words were used to force him to admit his wrongdoing with Tamar.

Abravanel - Refers to Levi (who is eternally grouped with Shimon, above) who did not consider the repercussions to his father’s reputation when he, along with Shimon, wiped out the city of Sh’chem.

3 - 'Cursed is he who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Encroachment refers to Yissachar, who went ahead with his korban in a way others did not in the chapter of the offerings of the princes (Bamidbar 7).

Abravanel - Refers to the tribe of Gad (based on Devarim 33:20), who jumped the gun to inherit their tribe’s land, by asking for their inheritance on the east of the Jordan River.

4 - 'Cursed is he who misdirects the blind on the way.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Giving false advice refers to Yosef, who had the opportunity to give false advice to Paroh. He did not have to say there would be seven years of famine after the plenty. But he did – so we curse those who would not follow that path.

Abravanel - Refers to Yissachar, the ones who set up courts and yeshivas all over the land (based on Bamidbar rabba 13). Does not refer to the actual blind, but those who are blind about a subject – Yissachar had the opportunity, as the scholars, to guide people incorrectly.

5 - 'Cursed is he who perverts justice for the foreigner, orphan and widow.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Perverting justice for the foreigner refers to Binyamin who gave the city of Jericho to the children of Yitro, and thus did not pervert justice.

Abravanel - Refers to Yehuda, the tribe of the kingship, to remind him not to pervert justice, in particular to the poor souls mentioned here.

6 - 'Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, thus violating his father's privacy.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David and Abravanel agree - Sleeps with his father’s wife refers to Reuven – as mentioned before this box chart – Bereshit 35:22

7 - 'Cursed is he who lies with any animal.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Sleeping with an animal refers to Gad who would have been most warned about Y’fat To’ar (Devarim 21:10-14). Since sleeping with a gentile woman is prohibited just as is sleeping with an animal, they who were on the front lines were given this personal directive.

Abravanel - Refers to Dan, whose representative judge, Samson, married a non-Jewish woman. (Not that a non-Jewish woman is an animal, but that the prohibition is the same for a Jew. See ML’D to the left)

8 - 'Cursed is he who lies with his sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or of his mother.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Sleeping with one’s sister refers to Asher, whose women were known not to have hymenal blood. As such the brothers did not need to be careful to preserve their sisters’ virginity as they were not expected to have hymenal blood from their “first” union in either case.

Abravanel - Refers to Naftali, based on Bereshit 49:21 (“delivers words of beauty”). Since he is more apt to be around his sister

9 - 'Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.' (חותנתו) All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Sleeping with one’s mother in law refers to Zevulun who is on the road more. Moshe says “Zevulun rejoices when he goes out” because it gives him an opportunity to have an affair away from his wife..

Abravanel - Defines the word חותנתו to mean “with his fiancé.” Now it refers to Binyamin, the tribe responsible for the Pilegesh B’Givah story (concubine in Gibah), which rounds out the last few chapters of the Book of Judges (שופטים).

10 - 'Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Hitting one’s friend in secret is done through Lashon Hara (slander) and therefore refers to Dan, who would bring bad tales of his brothers to Yosef, who reported them to their father.

Abravanel - Refers to Hoshea ben Eilah, a king from the tribe of Zevulun, who killed Pekach ben Re’malyahu in order to succeed his throne.

11 - 'Cursed is he who takes a bribe to put an innocent man to death.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - Taking bribes to kill someone is Naftali who avoided such a task when Yehuda told him to run around Egypt to see how many marketplaces they would have to wipe out to defeat Yosef, the Viceroy of Egypt.

Abravanel - Refers to Pekach ben Re’malyahu who was from Asher, who took bribes from R’tzin king of Aram, to come up to Jerusalem and to destroy it.

12 - 'Cursed is he who does not uphold and keep this entire Torah.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Maskil L’David - [As he comments on Rashi’s words, it follows that this is a general statement. Shimon, as per Rashi, is left out of this list.]

Abravanel - Refers to Yosef, whose descendant was Y'ravam ben Nevat, who sinned and caused others to sin.

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Be a little creative. Make up your own list or chart and see if you can come up with your own parallels of the warnings mentioned in Devarim 27 and parallel them to the individual tribes or their descendants.