(26) See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: (27) blessing, if you obey the commandments of the ETERNAL your God that I enjoin upon you this day; (28) and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the ETERNAL your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.

the blessing,

[provided] that you hearken to the commandments of YHWH your God that I command you today,

(FOX)

(1) את הברכה [I SET BEFORE YOU] THE BLESSING — with the condition that you should obey (אשר תשמעו‎).

(1) THE BLESSING, IF YE SHALL HEARKEN. For if you hearken, behold, you are blessed. A blessing means an addition of the good. A curse means a diminution. The word kelalah (curse) is related to the word kallah (light).

(2) Ben Azzai said: Be quick in performing a minor commandment as in the case of a major one, and flee from transgression; For one commandment leads to another commandment, and transgression leads to another transgression; For the reward for performing a commandment is another commandment and the reward for committing a transgression is a transgression.

(3) Antigonus a man of Socho received [the oral tradition] from Shimon the Righteous. He used to say: do not be like servants who serve the master in the expectation of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without the expectation of receiving a reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.

If God would decree for a person to be righteous or wicked, or if something existed in a person’s nature that would pull him to a certain path, or to a certain opinion, or to a certain characteristic, or to a certain action, like the stupid astrologers make up, how could God command us through the Prophets, “Do this and don’t do that,” “Improve your ways and do not follow your wickedness,” when from the beginning of his creation it was already decreed for him, or his nature pulls him toward something that he can not escape? And what place would there be for the entire Torah?

And according to what justice and what law could God punish the wicked or reward the tzaddik, Will the Judge of all the earth not do justice (Genesis 18:25)? But do not wonder and ask, how is it that a person can do whatever he wants and all of his deeds are given over to him, and could a person do anything in the world against his Creator’s will and desire, when the verse says, Whatever the LORD desires, He has done in Heaven and on Earth (Psalm 135:6)? Know that everything is done according to God’s desire, even though our actions are given over to us. How is that? Just as the Creator desires that Fire and Air rise above while Water and Earth go down below and the wheel turns in a circle, and so too all of the other creations in the world follow their laws that God desired for them, so also God desired that a person should have free will and everything be given over to him, and that there should be no one to force or pull, but he of his own will and awareness – which God has given him – should do whatever a person can do.

Therefore we judge a person according to his actions: if he did Good we do well by him, and if he did Evil we do poorly by him, as the Prophet said, This is from your own doing (Malakhi 1:9), they have chosen their own ways (Isaiah 66:3). And on this subject [King] Solomon said, Rejoice, young man, in your youth... but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment (Ecclesiastes 11:9), which is to say: know that you have the power to act and in the future you will be called to judgment.

Therefore a person needs to see himself all year long as if he is half innocent and half guilty, and also [see] the whole world - half innocent and half guilty. If he sins one sin - he has tilted herself and the whole world to the side of guilt and caused its destruction. If he does one mitzvah - he has tilted herself and the whole world to the side of innocence and caused redemption and rescue, as it says, the righteous are the foundation of the world (Proverbs 10:25).

The Sages taught the following with regard to the verse: “And do not impurify yourselves with them, so that you should not be thereby impurified”; a person who impurifies himself a bit, they impurify him greatly. If a person impurifies himself of his own volition below, on earth, they impurify him even more so above, in Heaven. If a person impurifies himself in this world, they impurify him in the World-to-Come.Conversely, the Sages taught the following with regard to the verse: “Sanctify yourselves and you will be sanctified” (Leviticus 11:44); a person who sanctifies himself a bit, they sanctify him and assist him greatly. If a person sanctifies himself below, they sanctify him above. If a person sanctifies himself in this world, they sanctify him in the World-to-Come.

(1)To not break a bone from the Pesach sacrifice: To not break any from all of the bones of the Pesach sacrifice, as it is stated (Exodus 12:46), “and a bone of it, you shall not break.”

(2) From the roots of the commandment is to remember the miracles of Egypt, as we have written in the other [related commandments]. And this is also a trunk from the root mentioned: For it is not honorable for the sons of kings and the advisers of the land to drag the bones and break them like dogs. Except for the impoverished among the people and the starving, it is not a proper thing to do this.

And therefore, as we began to become the chosen of all nations, “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” — and in each and every year at that time — it is fitting for us to do acts that show within us the great stature which we achieved at that time. And in the act and reenactment that we do, this thing is placed in our souls for eternity.

My son, do not think to pounce upon my words and say, “Why would God, may He be blessed, command us to do all of these commandments to commemorate that miracle; would we not remember it with one commemoration, [such that] it not be forgotten from the mouth of our offspring?” You must know that it is not from wisdom that you would [question] me about this, and it is your youthful thoughts that lead you to this. And now, my son, “If you have understanding,” “incline your ear and hear,” and I will teach you to benefit from Torah and the commandments:

You must know, that a man is acted upon according to his actions; and his heart and all his thoughts always follow after the actions that he does — whether good or bad. And even he who in his heart is a complete sinner and all the desires of his heart are only for evil; if his spirit shall be enlightened and he will put his efforts and actions to persist in Torah and commandments — even if not for the sake of Heaven — he shall immediately incline towards the good. And from that which is not for its own sake comes that which is for its own sake [as opposed to being for personal gain]; for the hearts are drawn after the actions.

And even if a man is perfectly righteous and his heart is straight and innocent, desiring of Torah and the commandments; if he shall constantly deal with improper things, you could compare it to someone who was forced by the king to work a wicked craft — if he constantly works in that wicked craft — eventually, from his righteousness, he shall have become completely evil. For it is known and true that every man is acted upon according to his actions, as we have said. And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said about this (Makkot 23b), “God wanted to grant merits to Israel, therefore he gave them many laws and commandments,” to occupy all of our thoughts and all our deeds, to benefit us at our end [i.e. in the world to come]. Because from the good actions we are acted upon to be good and merit eternal life. ...