Reverse the Curse

Torah Thoughts on Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech by Rabbi Moshe Schecter

"אַתֶּם נִצָבִים הַיוֹם כֻּלְכֶם לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל"  דְבָרִים כ''ט:ט'

“You are standing today, all of you, before God, your Lord: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers – all the men of Israel.”  Devarim 29:9

Rashi famously quotes the Midrash which explains this pasuk in connection with the קְלָלוֹת – the curses or admonitions from last week’s parashah. The Midrash states  that since the Jews heard one hundred curses minus two, their faces turned green, and they said: “Who can stand all of these?”  Moshe calmed them down by saying: “You are all here today, despite not being perfect, and you will continue to stand.”

Why did the Midrash say “100 קְלָלוֹת minus two”, and not simply “98 קְלָלוֹת”? The Ksav Sofer explains that truthfully there were 100 קְלָלוֹת, not 98, because in last week’s parashah (28:61) the Torah writes "גַם כָּל חֳלִי וְכָל מַכָּה" – “Also any sickness and any punishments that are not written here will be brought upon you.” This means that there were two more punishments that were not even written, which brings the total to 100. This is why Rashi say “100 minus 2”, because there were two that they didn’t even hear. Furthermore, these two caused the greatest anguish. From the fact that they were not written, the Jews understood that it was because they were so severe.

Although the 100 curses are frightening, there is a great message in the fact that we received 100 of them, because in that number lies the secret of how to be spared from them. That is by saying 100 brachos a day. The 100 brachos protect us from the 100 curses. This is because when a person is constantly grateful to Hashem it can change any curse into blessings. This is hinted in the word "קְלָלָה" itself. How so? Since we want to “reverse the curse”, we need to “reverse” the word "קְלָלָה". When the word is read backwards we get the words " 'הַלֵל-ק" – “praise 100 times”, since the gematria of the letter "ק" is 100.

As Rosh HaShanah approaches, and we are looking for merits for a year full of בְּרָכָה. The key is: “be grateful”. Thank Hashem for all the prosperity and brachah that we have received in the past year. This in turn will bring much brachah for the new year בע''ה.