Our Gemara on Amud Aleph and Beis discusses the dynamic of a Get given on a condition. Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin in Resise Hegyonos (Parashas Re’eh) uses this Gemara to explain a Midrashic comment on the following verses (Devarim 11:26-27):

רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃ 

See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: 

אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ ה

The blessing, if you obey the commandments of your God

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 36:2) comments:

אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר פָּפָּא אַשְׁרַי וְאַשְׁרֵיכֶם כְּשֶׁנִּתְקַיְּמוּ כָּל הַתְּנָאִין הַלָּלוּ שֶׁהִתְנֵיתִי עִמָּכֶם.

Said Rabbi Chanina bar Puppa, (God says, “Fortunate, and fortunate are you (the Jewish people), when you fulfill all the conditions that I have made before you.”

It is not clear what Rabbi Chanina bar Puppa is coming to emphasize and clarify. Rabbi Zevin says that the Hebrew word used here, Ashrei, really means something closer to “established reality“. (Similar to the legal validation on a contract known as “Ashrasa Dedayni”.) Such a term, however, is contradictory to a conditional term, and established reality is not dependent on any contingencies, while a conditional term, by definition, is.

When it comes to conditions similar to the one discussed in our Gemara, Rabbi Zevin says that there are two types of conditions. One is an inclusion clause, and the other is an exclusion clause. For example, if somebody gives a woman a Get stating, “You are divorced so long as you never speak with that man“, such a divorce is immediately valid and will remain valid so long as she does not violate the clause. If she violates the clause, retroactively the Get will be invalidated. On the other hand, if the Get is given stating, “You are divorced so long as you pay me $1000“, the divorce will not be valid until she makes the payment. In the former case, the Get is activated immediately and will remain active so long as the condition is not violated. In the latter case, it is subject to the fulfillment of the condition.

So, according to Rabbi Zevin, the same reasoning applies to the blessings promised to the Jews on the condition of their fulfillment of the Torah. There are commandments and prohibitions. The blessings for the Commandments are contingent upon their fulfillment. They are not fully activated until the Commandments are fulfilled. However, the blessings that are contingent upon negative prohibitions are immediately fulfilled so long as the prohibitions are not violated. Therefore, the language of the Midrash “Fortunate are you, (that is, you have an established reality),” applies to the blessings that will be conferred so long as no violations are made. The other language about conditions applies to the blessings conferred upon fulfillment of the commandments.

This gives us a different way of looking at our relation to commandments versus prohibitions. It would seem that by merely staying away from violations, we already are bringing certain blessings that are promised because we have done nothing to violate the condition. On the other hand, other blessings will remain in suspension so long as we do not actively pursue fulfillment of the Commandments.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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