After the Torah enumerates all the curses that will befall the Jews if they do not keep the Torah & mitzvos, the chapter ends by saying, אלה דברי הברית אשר צוה ה את משה לכרת את בני ישראל, These are the words of the covenant that Hashem commanded Moshe to forge with the Bnei Yisroel. Rashi interprets "to forge with Bnei Yisroel" that they accepted upon themselves with a curse & an oath.
Asks רב שמואל לנדא, why did Hashem have to make us accept the Torah & mitzvos with an oath which either way we are required to fulfill? Does a master who acquires a slave have to make him swear to do his commands? Does a king have to make his country swear to uphold his laws? They are required to do so without it so why make them swear?
Before the Torah lists the curses, it tells us of all the blessings we will get if we keep the Torah & mitzvos. One of them is ברוך אתה בעיר וברוך אתה בשדה , blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. The Meged Yerachim says that this beracha has a lesson attached to it too. There are people who have two different standards of behavior, one for the shul & one for the home. Those who observe this person in shul will think that he\'s the paragon of piety while his behavior at home leaves much to be desired. The shul which is בשדה has no similarity to his home which is בעיר.
The beracha is that one who follows Hashem’s mitzvos will have his mundane affairs positively affected by his spiritual ones & the same level of piety displayed in shul will come home with him. People might act differently in shul and in public because sometimes people are embarrassed to openly display their commitment to Torah & mitzvos for fear of being called old fashioned; so the Torah is saying if you want to be blessed you must remain loyal to the Torah even in the public eye. However, sometimes people find that hard to do. How can we motivate ourselves to remain loyal no matter where we are?
Perhaps we can answer our original question with the answer to this. The reason we had to accept the Torah & mitzvos with an oath is to help us when we are out in the city. We know that there are times when we don't want to do things & can rationalize not doing them. However if you also promised someone to do it, then even your rationalization won’t help because of your promise.
Maybe here too, there are times when one is out in the city where one can rationalize not staying committed to mitzvos & the Torah. However, having sworn to keep them might be the push needed to ensure that one keeps the commandments even when one is out of one's comfort zone & in return merit the blessings of Hashem no matter where one is!
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