“Do not be hasty to leave his presence; do not stand before him in an evil matter, as he does whatever pleases him” (Ecclesiastes 8:3). “Do not be hasty to leave his presence.” Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Gamda began: “My son, do not despise the admonition of the Lord” (Proverbs 3:11). It is taught: The one who begins, begins with a positive matter, and the one who concludes, concludes with a positive matter.18The reference is to the beginning and end of each of the aliyot in the Torah reading.
It is taught: In the blessings, one reads and stops, in the curses, one does not stop; rather one person reads them all.19The reference is to the blessings and curses in Leviticus chap. 26 and in Deuteronomy chap. 28. “Do not despise the admonition of the Lord…”20Rather than interrupting the portions of curses, as though one despises them, one person should read the entire portion. Due to: “I am with him in times of trouble” (Psalms 91:15), the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘My children are cursed; am I to be blessed?’21Consequently, the blessings for the end of one aliya and the beginning of the next are not to be recited in the middle of the reading of the curses.
“And do not loathe His rebuke” (Proverbs 3:11) – do not turn the rebuke of the Holy One blessed be He into multiple fragments. Rabbi Levi ben Panti read the curses before Rabbi Huna and he stammered in [reading] them. [Rabbi Huna] said to him: ‘Sound your voice, as these are not curses, these are rebukes; “do not despise the admonition of the Lord and do not loathe His rebuke.”’