Ramban on Parshat Ki Tavo

Parashat Ki Tavo features a ceremony with the list of curses at Mount Gerizim and Eival.  Ramban seeks to explain the meaning of “yakim” in the final statement in the list which exhorts the people to “establish” the words of the Torah, to do them. Rashi sees “yakim” here to mean “fulfill”—Bnei Yisrael must accept the entire Torah to fulfil it. Ramban, however, views that as superfluous: Bnei Yisrael had already accepted the Torah at Sinai! Rather, the exhortation here is to acknowledge the mitzvoth in one’s heart and accept them as true in one’s own eyes, and to accept the concept of reward and punishment. Ramban brings other interpretations of the word "yakim", and we find a beautiful expression of the internal "upholding" in the Hagbah ritual as part of the synagogue Torah reading ritual today.