(כו) רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃
(כז) אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
(כח) וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לָלֶ֗כֶת אַחֲרֵ֛י אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃ {ס}
(1) ראה אנכי נתן היום, "Behold, I have given this day, etc." Why did Moses employ the term "seeing," in connection with words, i.e. the words of a blessing? Furthermore, why did he describe himself as אנכי? Moreover, why does Moses address the people in the singular i.e. ראה instead of ראו, although during the whole passage he addresses them in the plural?
(2) I believe that the wording of our verse is connected to the message Moses wants to convey, i.e. that the people should learn to value the blessings which will accrue to them in the Hereafter more than the blessings which accrue to them in this life. In order for the prophet who conveys such teachings to be believable he must possess two qualifications.
1) He must himself have a deep appreciation of the value of the good to be experienced only in the celestial regions.
2) He must have demonstrated that he personally has achieved success in this life and what it has to offer. If the person preaching the values of the Hereafter were not himself blessed with success in this life, his listeners would not believe him thinking that he consoles himself with something in the future because he had been unable to attain it in the here and now.
Moreover, even if someone who has experienced all that this life has to offer praises the Hereafter in exaggerated terms he is not liable to be believed unless he can prove that he has first-hand experience of what goes on in the celestial regions.
This is why Moses felt impelled to apply the term אנכי to himself when he makes it appear as if he is bestowing the blessing. He invites the people to look at him as a personification of the truth of what he is about to tell them.
He had attained all the honor and glory that it is possible to attain in this life. He was king over a mighty nation, was personally wealthy, and physically endowed as a giant as pointed out in Shabbat 92.
דִּילְמָא מֹשֶׁה שָׁאנֵי, דְּאָמַר מָר: אֵין הַשְּׁכִינָה שׁוֹרָה אֶלָּא עַל חָכָם גִּבּוֹר וְעָשִׁיר וּבַעַל קוֹמָה.
Perhaps Moses was different from the other Levites and taller than they were, as the Master said: The Divine Presence only rests upon a person who is wise, mighty, wealthy, and tall. Since the Divine Presence rested on Moses, he had to be tall.
(3) Moses had something else in mind when he said ראה אנכי, "look at me!" Maimonides explains in his treatise Hilchot Teshuvah chapter 5 that every person has the potential to become the equal of Moses. This is precisely what Moses meant. He said: "Take a good look at me! Everything that I have accomplished you are able to accomplish for yourselves!"
(ב) אַל יַעֲבֹר בְּמַחֲשַׁבְתְּךָ דָּבָר זֶה שֶׁאוֹמְרִים טִפְּשֵׁי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם וְרֹב גָּלְמֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא גּוֹזֵר עַל הָאָדָם מִתְּחִלַּת בְּרִיָּתוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק אוֹ רָשָׁע. אֵין הַדָּבָר כֵּן אֶלָּא כָּל אָדָם רָאוּי לוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק כְּמשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ אוֹ רָשָׁע כְּיָרָבְעָם אוֹ חָכָם אוֹ סָכָל אוֹ רַחֲמָן אוֹ אַכְזָרִי אוֹ כִּילַי אוֹ שׁוּעַ וְכֵן שְׁאָר כָּל הַדֵּעוֹת.
(2) Permit not your thought to dwell upon that which ridiculous fools of other peoples and a majority of asinine individuals among the children of Israel say, that the Holy One, blessed is He! decrees at the very embryonic state of every man whether he should be just or wicked. The matter is not so. Every man is capable of being as just as Moses our Master or as wicked as Jeroboam, wise or foolish, merciful or cruel, miser or philanthropist, and so in all other tendencies.
(4) Looking at the moral/ethical dimension of our verse, let us look at a quotation from the Zohar volume three page 273 where we are told that every Torah-observant Jew possesses a spark of Moses within him. There is no need to convince us that the generation who had the good fortune to have Moses in their midst had been spiritually inspired by him.
When Moses said: ראה אנכי, this sounds almost as if he were talking to himself, saying that because the whole of the Jewish people related to him this gave him stature, i.e. it enabled him to view himself as an אנכי, "a somebody."
As a result, when he spoke to the Israelites he felt as if he were speaking to himself seeing his stature was entirely due to them. This would also account for Moses using the singular when addressing the people.
(5) Another allusion to be found in our verse is an allusion to G'd who is in the habit of referring to Himself as אנכי. Accordingly, the meter of our verse is as follows: "look at the One who calls Himself אנכי; He is about to set the blessing before you this day." Moses used the singular ראה because all of the Israelites were as one in knowing that it is G'd who places His blessing before them.
(6) נתן לפניכם היום, "who sets before you this day, etc." The word היום, today, or now, was chosen as only now after 40 years did the people appreciate what their teacher Moses had in mind (compare Avodah Zarah 5).
Thus far the Sifri. According to this interpretation you have to read together the words ברכה וקללה היום, "blessing and curse today," i.e. a blessing which will turn into a curse. Moses refers to the peaceful lives the wicked lead in this world which is short lived considered only one day long as explained on Deut. 7,11 based on Eyruvin 22.
(8) Another way of looking at what Moses wanted to say in our verse is also based on Sifri. The author explains that Moses offered the people two choices, two paths in life; one appeared well paved intially but would turn progressively rougher, the other the reverse, starting out unpaved, full of holes, etc. He advised the people of the nature of these paths asking them not to be misled by what their eyes saw at the moment. This is what is meant by the words נתן לפניכם, "what I am placing in front of you."
Moses meant that there are two kinds of blessings each accompanied also by a curse. The path of the wicked commences with blessings only to end in curses. The path of the righteous begins with what appears like a curse only to end in blessing. He continues with the word את הברכה in verse 27 to show that the true blessing is the path which began in such an inauspicious manner.
He exhorts the people אשר תשמעון, encouraging them to hearken to his advice in spite of the initial difficulties they would experience on that path. At the same time he warns the wicked in verse 28 that what they considered the blessed path is in fact a curse because they do not hearken to the commandments of the Torah.
(9) There is yet another way to explain Moses' emphasis on the word היום. At the end of Parshat Eykev (11,24) Moses assured the people that every place in the land they would set foot on would become theirs. This was not part of the oath to Abraham and the other patriarchs. Hence Moses adds that there is a new dimension to the blessing they would receive as of "this day." He adds the words ברכה וקללה, to make it plain that this is a two edged blessing, it contains advantages and disadvantages.
If the people will hearken to G'd the promise would prove to be a blessing. If not, this very promise and its fulfilment would turn into a curse as they would find that other nations would envy them and would cause them terrible losses by avenging the Canaanites whom the Israelites had wiped out. Even while they would enjoy the fact that they had conquered the land they would find that G'd would punish them for their sins immediately, thus turning the blessing into a curse.