Blessings and Curses (Parshas Reeh 5775)

Where were the Levites during the Blessings and Curses?

The Torah writes (Deuteronomy 11:29):

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

The Torah writes later (Deuteronomy 27:12-13) and mentions that the Levites were on Mt. Ebal:

’These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin; and these shall stand upon mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

Later on we find that Levites were not on the mountain (Joshua 8:33):

And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger as the home-born; half of them in front of mount Gerizim and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

The Talmud (Sotah 37a) provides several answers:

We learned that Rabbi Eliezer son of Jacob said: It is impossible to say that the Levites were below for it already said "above". And it is impossible to say "above" for it already said "below". How did it happen?

The elders of the priests and the Levites below, and the rest [of the tribe] were above

Rabi Yoshia said: All that were fit [to carry the Ark - Rashi] were below [near the Ark - Rashi], the rest were above. 

Rabbi said: Those and those [Levites and the Jews] were all standing below, and they turned towards Mt. Gerizim and said the blessings, and turned towards Mt. Ebal and said the curses.

Tosfos (ibid) provides another answer in the name of the Jerusalem Talmud (Sotah 7:4):

"Simon and Levi", just like Simon was entirely above, so Levi was entirely above. How do we satisfy the verse "against the priests and the Levites""? Like Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said - in twenty four places the priests are also called Levites and this is one of such places

Where were Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal Located?

The Torah writes (Deuteronomy 11:30):

Are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the terebinths of Moreh?

The Mishnah (Sotah 7:5) explains this was near Shechem [as cited by Rashi (ibid), also see Talmud (Sotah 33b)]:

The blessings and curses: How so?  Once Israel crossed the Jordan and came to Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal which are in Samaria, next to Shechem which is next to the terebinths of Moreh, as it is said, “Are they not the other side of the Jordan, [beyond the west road that is in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah—near Gilgal, by the terebinths of Moreh] (Deut. 11:30), and elsewhere it says, “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem unto the terebinth of Moreh” (Genesis 12:6)—just as the terebinth of Moreh mentioned in this latter verse is Shechem, so the terebinth of Moreh mentioned in the former verse is Shechem. 

The Daat Mikra Atlas (pp. 130-13) explains that these two mountains were located on each side of Shechem - Mt. Gerizim south of the city, and Mt. Ebal north of the city.

Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim with the city of Nablus / Shechem in between (from Wikipedia Commons)

This as also where Jacob buried the foreign gods brought with his family (Genesis 35:4):

And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.

Tosfos (Chullin 6a) says that this terebinth tree was on Mt. Gerizim:

"Rav Nachman bar Yitzhak said: They [i.e. the Samaritans] found an image of a dove on top of Mt. Gerizim and they worshipped it" - in the Midrash it says that these were the idols that Jacob hid under the oak on the mountain in Shechem

The Rashbam (Genesis 49:10) explains that this tree was famous:

There was open space at Shechem around the famous oak located near Shechem. At that location a mass rally could be held easily. The people would pay homage to the Sanctuary in Shiloh from that vantage point, as it was in their line of vision.

(see also Joshua 24:25-26 and Judges 9:6 which discuss possibly the same tree near Shechem in regards to Joshua and Abimelech; see also Ibn Ezra [Genesis 12:6] that connects this tree with Mamre, a friend of Abraham)

[Published at parshapeople.blogspot.com]