The sefer תכלת מרדכי asks, why does the posuk say לראש ולא לזנב as a head and not a tail which is an analogy to animals instead of using the phrase as a head and not a heel which would be more appropriate for people?
Additionally, asks the חיד"א, when discussing the curses, the Torah states, הגר אשר בקרבך יעלה עליך מעלה מעלה ואתה תרד מטה מטה, the stranger who is among you will ascend above you higher and higher, while you descend lower and lower. Why, when discussing the brachos, the Torah only states that you will be למעלה, above, but when it’s giving the power to our enemies, it says יעלה עליך מעלה מעלה that they will rise way above. Why, when we’re good, don't we get that beracha of מעלה מעלה?
The מר"ך answers as follows. When a person reaches the highest level, it is very probable that he will fall. However, if he just comes close but doesn't actually reach the highest level, it’s much less likely for him to fall. Conversely, when it comes to a person going downhill, the further he falls the better for him, for once a person hits rock bottom, the rebound back will come much quicker and stronger.
Therefore, by the brachos it says רק למעלה; only that you will go up but not all the way up so that ולא תהיה למטה, you won't go down. By not going all the way up, there is less chance that you will fall. Whereas by our enemies it says that they will rise all the way up so that they will eventually fall. However by the curses the Torah said that you will go all the way down, so that you will come back stronger.
Perhaps that is why the Torah uses the analogy to an animal to recognize that when a person falls and goes down, it’s better that he falls all the way down to animal level so that the way up will be that much quicker and everlasting.
There's a story told about ר' אליעזר אשכנזי that illustrates this point that when you get too high, it’s dangerous. He was one of the advisers to the king of Egypt who was so close to the king that he gave him a very exquisite ring to show his love for him. On the king’s birthday, ר' אליעזר was going to the palace to give the king a blessing. On the way, one of the king’s other advisers asked ר' אליעזר if he had forgotten the ring at home. When ר' אליעזר showed him that he was wearing the ring, the advisor hit his hand so that the ring fell into the river below.
By some miracle, he was able to find the ring and continue on to the king. When he arrived at the party, he was accorded much more honor than all the other advisers. When he got home, he was troubled for he felt that he had reached the highest level possible and said to himself לפני שבר גאון, before brokenness is grandeur. He thought that after the great honor he got, there was nowhere left to go but down. So he took his precious stones and gold coins and got on a boat and headed out to sea. It is said that a wise man is better than a prophet.
That very night, people conspired to tell lies about him to the king. When they did so, the king sent officers to go grab him and put him in prison!
We have to take this lesson and do things in moderation. Don't try to bite off more that you can chew for then you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Be careful when you climb so high that there's nowhere else to go. The Torah is teaching us here to always leave room to improve!
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