Deutéronome 27:15

Six tribes shall stand on Mount Gerezim, and six on Mount Ebal; and the ark, the priests, and Levites in the midst. In blessing they shall turn their faces towards Mount Gerezim, and say: Blessed shall be the man who maketh not an image or form, or any similitude which is an abomination before the Lord, the work of the craftsman’s hand, and who placeth not such in concealment. In cursing, they shall turn their faces toward Mount Ebal, and say: Accursed be the man who maketh an image, figure, or any similitude which is an abomination before the Lord, the work of the craftsman’s hand, or who placeth such in concealment. And all of them shall respond together, and say, Amen.

These eleven transgressions are specifically mentioned, because they are sins that are committed in private (note the qualifier, and sets it up in secret — since he would be liable for the death penalty if he had done it in public [there is no source in Talmudic literature for this assertion — Translator]; note also, “he who injures his neighbor in secret” [: 24]). Scripture starts with the basis of everything, the relationship toward one’s Maker, and then proceeds to discuss the relationship toward one’s parents (for who would know, if someone insulted his parents?).

ושם בסתר, there are a total of 12 “curses” corresponding to the 12 tribes, all of the sins mentioned in them being of the type that one commits in private, when one is unobserved and no witnesses are present. I will explain all of them. There are only two of these which are sometimes committed in private and sometimes in public. These are idolatry and striking one’s fellow Jew. This is the reason that the Torah mentions the word בסתר specifically in connection with thee two sins that are listed here. The reason is that for sins committed in public there is no need to utter a curse as people sinning in public are not frightened of the curses either. Not only that, the court has a chance to deal with crimes/sins committed in public. This is the message in 29,28 הנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, we are forever obligated to deal with publicly committed offenses. Only when crimes are committed in secret do we leave punishment of the sinners to G’d, i.e. הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “secretly committed sins are left to G’d to avenge.” (same verse) This includes the whole range of punishments to which the sinner had made himself liable, not only for sins carrying the death penalty.
You will note that the Torah does not write ארור שוכב עם אשת רעהו, as normally when one enters another’s house this does not go unobserved. Sleeping with one’s mother-in-law, however, is different, as both parties usually dwell in the same house. (verse 23). Insulting father or mother (verse 16) is something normally done in one’s parents’ home, where strangers are not present. The same is true of someone moving boundaries in the field; (verse 17) it is done at night away from prying eyes. If the one doing it were to do it in full view of his neighbour, surely he would be challenged. The same applies to misdirecting the blind, (verse 18) or someone sleeping with a beast (verse 21). Naturally, all forbidden sexual unions are naturally performed by consenting adults, each one making sure he or she is unobserved.
Verse 20 speaking of someone sleeping with his father’s wife (former, not his mother) is also something which normally occurs in the male’s home, the place he grew up in, where he is not an intruder. Intercourse with animals clearly occurs in the privacy of the home or the animal’s pen, no one wanting to take a chance at being found out in such depraved behaviour. All other incestuous couplings are presumed to take place at home and with consent of the second party.

ארור האיש, all of the “cursed be” mentioned here had first been intoned as a blessing for all the people refraining from becoming guilty of the sins that are mentioned here. (compare Sotah 32) This is also the reason why the Torah commences the paragraph with the words אלה יעמדו לברך את העם, “these are the people who take up position to bless the people.” The principal reason for these lines is to curse the sinners who violate these commandments, so that they alone will bear the burden of their guilt, the people at large not sharing in that responsibility. The reason is that the sinners referred to were in the main the leaders of the people, so that the ordinary Israelite did not have the power to protest the carrying’s on of their leaders. This thought has been stated clearly by Ezekiel 22,6-7 “every one of the princes of Israel in their midst used his strength for the shedding of blood, etc. etc.” In that same chapter the prophet specifically singled out most of the (12) sins listed in our paragraph here. These obscenities were all carried out in Jerusalem; however, this does not mean that all the inhabitants of the city were guilty of these iniquities, mostly it was the highly placed members of society who were guilty of them. When the sins of the population at large are mentioned, these sins are generally attributed to the city in which these sins have been carried out. Compare verse 8 in that chapter of Ezekiel. [the reference to the “city “ as the place where all this had taken place is found in verse 3 of that chapter. Ed.]

ארור האיש אשר יעשה פסל וגו, “cursed be the man who will construct a cast image, etc.” In the Talmud in tractate Sotah folio 37 the question is raised since when does making an idol only carry a curse as a penalty, and nothing harsher? The answer given here that the “man” mentioned here is a man who had incestuous relations which resulted in a son being born for him, who then left the fold and served the idols of whichever religion he adopted. The Torah curses the father and mother of such a son who are directly responsible for their son having left the fold as a result of their committing incest. Rashi explains that we face a list of eleven sins the punishment for which is introduced with the word: “cursed be;” they correspond to the eleven sons of Yaakov who had received his blessing. Shimon had not received such a blessing, and it was not Moses’ intention to bless that tribe in the manner in which he blessed all the other tribes. [Our editions of Rashi do not have this commentary on this verse, so I will not dwell on it further. Ed.] If you were to ask what makes the eleven sins subject to a curse for the sinner different from violating any of the other of G–d’s commandments, one answer may be that all these commandments when violated are known only to the sinner and the Creator. No human being can take the sinner to court for something he had not witnessed and warned the offender not to commit. [some of the eleven, of course, were committed by consent with one’s partner in sin, so that they too could not be brought to court. Ed.] According to a statement in the midrash שוחר טוב, the person subject to these curses is the one who had studied the laws in question, had taught them observed them personally, and had been in a position to protest these sins from being committed, but had failed to make use of his ability to prevent these sins from being committed. This is why at the end of the paragraph, the Torah concludes with cursing people who had been in a position to see to it that others keep the ordinances of the Torah, and had failed to make his weight felt. On the other hand, if someone had not learned the laws, had not taught them, had not observed them, say because he had sat in jail and could not do this, but had seized an opportunity to protest other people violating Torah laws, and had done so, he is included in all the people that Moses describes as being blessed for “keeping the Torah laws,” as he had demonstrated that only his physical inability to perform many of them had stopped him from doing so.