דברים, פרק י״א, פסוק כ״ט

As the Israelites transitioned from wandering in the desert to settling in the Land of Israel, they needed a public national ceremony to formally accept the Torah as the condition for their new lives. In the desert, they were simply presented with a choice, but entering the land required them to actively take on the covenant under oath [אלשיך]. This commitment had to happen immediately upon crossing the Jordan River, before they could become distracted by building houses or planting vineyards. The goal was to imprint their duty to the Torah into their national memory through a powerful visual and auditory experience. This striking event would protect them from forgetting their spiritual purpose once they settled into a routine of material life [שפתי כהן, רלב״ג, תורה תמימה, אדרת אליהו].

Since a blessing is not a physical object that can be handed over or placed down, commentators explore how the people were supposed to deliver it. One approach suggests that the blessing was delivered verbally, much like the symbolic placement of sins upon the scapegoat [אבן עזרא, רמב״ן, שד״ל, חזקוני]. The primary approach among commentators, however, is that the command referred to positioning the blessers themselves, namely the Levites, to bless the nation [רש״י, מזרחי, משכיל לדוד]. Even though the Levites were the ones actually speaking, the instruction is directed at the entire nation. The Levites acted as messengers for the people, and when the Israelites answered "Amen," it was considered as if every single person had spoken the words themselves [הכתב והקבלה, גור אריה].

The ceremony was highly organized and precise. The speaking Levites did not stand on the mountain peaks, but rather in the valley between them, while half of the tribes stood on Mount Gerizim and the other half on Mount Ebal [רש״י, מזרחי, רבנו בחיי]. Mount Gerizim was situated to the south, representing the right side, while Mount Ebal was to the north, traditionally viewed as the direction from which misfortune originates [רמב״ן]. Speaking loudly in the holy tongue, the Levites did not read a continuous list of blessings followed by a list of curses. Instead, they alternated, always beginning with a merit. They would state a blessing, turn their faces toward Mount Gerizim, and wait for the people to answer "Amen." Immediately after, they would turn toward Mount Ebal to declare the corresponding curse, continuing this pattern throughout the ceremony [רש״י, רלב״ג, תורה תמימה, בכור שור].

The choice of these specific mountains carried deep symbolic meaning. Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal stand right next to each other, drawing from the exact same soil and receiving the same rainfall. Despite sharing these natural resources, Mount Gerizim is fertile, green, and lush with orchards, whereas Mount Ebal is a hard, barren, and desolate rock. This stark visual contrast powerfully showed the Israelites that blessings and curses do not depend on nature or environmental conditions. Rather, they depend entirely on a person's moral choices and their willingness to keep God's commandments [שד״ל, רש ר הירש].