blessing and curse

“The Return to G-d”

Our rabbis declare that in the place where the penitents stand, even the most righteous cannot stand. Why should G-d feel closer to the penitent than to one who has never sinned?

"A Tale of Two Mountains"

In parashat Re'eh, we encounter the two mountains that surround the city of Shechem (Nablus), Gerizim and Ebal. Eventually, it was on Mount Gerizim that blessings were recited while the curses were pronounced on Mount Ebal. G-d's message, however, is communicated not only through the blessings and the curses, but through the very nature of the mountains themselves.