Feeling the Torah Revelation: 6 Facts About the Hakhel Commandment

1. The Hakhel commandment is a rare mitzvah: once every seven years, all of Israel was commanded to gather together.

2. The time for this commandment is on the second day of Sukkot, at the conclusion of the Sabbatical year.

3. In the Temple, the people who made the pilgrimage would hear the words of Torah from the king. When the time for the Hakhel commandment arrived, the priests would blow trumpets, and all the people—men, women, and children—would gather in Jerusalem at the Temple. There, a large wooden platform was built in the women's courtyard, where the king would sit and read selected passages from the Book of Deuteronomy.

4. According to Maimonides and the Sefer HaChinuch, the purpose of the Hakhel commandment is to encourage the people in the commandmentsand to strengthen in their hearts the recognition of faith and the desire to fulfill the Torah's commandments with great impression.

5. Those obligated in this mitzvah are men, women, children, and converts. The Talmud in Tractate Chagigah explains the reason: "Men come to learn, women come to listen, but why do children come? To give reward to those who bring them."

6. The explanation for bringing even young infants to the Hakhel ceremony is understood as follows:

The Talmud tells about Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah, whose mother would bring his cradle to the study hall "so that his ears would absorb the words of Torah." For this, he was praised by his teacher, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, who said, "Fortunate is she who gave birth to him."

The question arises—what influence does being in the study hall have on a young child? Surely an infant cannot understand or grasp the intricate discussions of Torah, so what benefit is there in placing his cradle among the learners?

The answer to why the mother took the trouble to bring her son's cradle to the study halls is because even an infant can sense the holiness around him. This is why they said that a generation that has Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah is not an orphaned generation, and "fortunate are you, Abraham our father," that Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah came from your descendants. This is because he embodied the characteristic of Abraham, about whom it is said: "For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice..."

During the Hakhel ceremony, the same experience that occurred at Mount Sinai was repeated, when the Israelites merited hearing from Hashem directly, "I am Hashem your God." Similarly, when the king read from the Torah in the Temple, the Israelites experienced the same awe as at the giving of the Torah.

When we allow an infant, even a day-old baby, or even a child at the level of understanding of an infant, to experience the giving of the Torah, this is the greatest reward for parents. This is the central point of Hakhel, which also applies to young children. About this it is said: "From the mouths of babes and sucklings You have established strength."

In this matter, it is important to remember that there is a strong influence of holy words on young children, and the importance of avoiding exposing them to impure sights and speech.

May it be His will that we merit to make the pilgrimage and fulfill the commandment of Hakhel in the Third Temple in the rebuilt Jerusalem this year.

Rabbi Boaz Shalom, in his enlightening lecture, answers the following questions: It is said: "Gather the men, women, and children," but what benefit is there in bringing someone to a lesson who doesn't understand it? If Torah is studied in the Garden of Eden, what do women do there? And how did Rabbi Aryeh Levin explain "provoking the evil inclination against the good inclination"? And is there any point in attending a class if I'm just going to fall asleep anyway?