The mother
of all Jewish conventions, the septennial hakhel gathering features an
assembly of Jews of all ages. As Devarim 31:12 records Moshe's instruction,
"Gather the nation: men, women, children, and the stranger at your gates."
After every shemitah year, on the second night of Succot, all who call
themselves by the name Israel must assemble and hear sections of the book of
Devarim read aloud. Historically, this reading was done by the king, in an area
of the Beit haMikdash.
The Torah's
demand that children participate in the celebration is unique among our
mitzvot; in no other communal mitzvah does the Torah explicitly require their
participation. The Talmud (Chagigah 3a) is sensitive to this quirk, and it
suggests that the reason to bring the children is "to provide reward for
those who bring them." This seems circular, though; does the Talmud mean
to say that G-d created a mitzvah solely for the sake of rewarding those who
fulfill it?
One might
explain the Talmud to mean that those who bring their children will be rewarded
by the very act of bringing them. For example: Sefer haChinuch (612) contends
that hakhel increases our love of Torah, through the glory of this
gathering. Perhaps, then, having our children at hakhel rewards the
bringers, by inculcating love of Torah into those children.
Alternatively,
Ibn Ezra (Devarim 31:12) sees the benefit of hakhel as educational; those
who attend will be inspired to ask questions, and thereby to learn more
throughout the year. Having our curious children at hakhel will inspire
them to inquire and learn.
However, a
third benefit of bringing children may be linked to the practice of having the
king conduct the public reading. Rambam does not list hakhel as a king's
mitzvah, and indeed the Torah does not identify the reader explicitly. However,
our sages (Sotah 41a) took for granted that this should be the king. [See also
Yereim 233 and 266, Tosafot Yom Tov to Sotah 7:8, and Minchat Chinuch 612:2.] Certainly,
there is added splendour an gravitas when the king leads a ritual, but why this
ritual, in particular?
Every seven
years, during the period of shemitah, the normal rules of society
cease to function: the fences surrounding fields are broken, the tithes that
support the kohanim and leviyim are neglected, the heirarchical relationship
between employer and employee is severed, hardworking farmers become men of
leisure, and loans are forgiven and forgotten. This can constitute a healthy
break for society, and a community's rules can be strengthened by this sort of
periodic vacation. [See Jeffrey Rubenstein, Purim, Liminality and Communitas.]
However, with such a haitus we risk the possibility that the community falls in
love with its lawless vacation, and forgets to return.
This may be
part of the role of hakhel: To remind the Jewish nation that its
existence is still governed by the rules and institutions of the Torah. Thus
the nation reads key biblical passages: the fundamentals of our faith; the
tithes given to the kohanim, the leviyim and the needy; the monarchy; and the
national covenant into which we enter at the end of the book of Devarim.
(Mishnah Sotah 7:8; Tosefta Sotah 7:17) We re-commit ourselves to these
obligations, and to our national structure.
Within this
context, having the king perform the reading is entirely logical; the king is
the heart of the command structure we reiterate with hakhel. And bringing
our children is its own reward, for even children who are too young to
comprehend the reading will realize that the entire community has assembled as
one to hear the instructions of its king, and this will create a lasting
appreciation for the honour of our government and society's institutions.
In less
than one week, we will perform a version of hakhel as we gather to mark
Rosh haShanah. Among the central themes of this day is the coronation of G-d as
King, and this, too, is a necessary reminder. From Yom Kippur to Rosh haShanah
there is very little in our lives that declares to us, "HaShem hu
ha'Elokim!" We can go through much of our year, even while observing
mitzvot, without devoting significant thought to the meaning and implications
of the Divine Throne. So it is that once each year we set aside time to gather
with the explicit aim of coronating our King. May we be personally and
communally impacted by this grand celebration – and may we ensure that our
children participate in the moment, so that they will be impacted as well.
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