The Mitzvah of Hakhel - Rabbi Menachem Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lemaan Yishme’u,” a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Shalom and blessings to each and every one of you listening. Today, with Hashem’s help, we’ll talk about the central, important subject of the true and complete Geulah—Moshiach is coming any moment now. Studying matters of Geulah and Moshiach is the direct, easy, and swift path to bringing the Geulah. This time, with Hashem’s help, we’ll talk about the Geulah and the mitzvah of Shemittah. More precisely, not Shemittah itself, but the mitzvah that comes right after it: Hakhel, and the year of Hakhel in the true and complete Geulah. First of all, what is this mitzvah? What is Hakhel? We know that the Torah concludes—actually, you could say this is one of the later mitzvos in the Torah. I think that in the count that lists the mitzvos in the order they appear in the Torah, Hakhel is mitzvah number 612. After that, there’s only the mitzvah for each person to write a Torah scroll for himself. Hakhel is one of the mitzvos that appears at the end of the Five Books of the Torah, in Parshas Vayeilech, in Devarim: “Gather the people, the men, the women, the children, and the stranger within your gates, so that they may hear and so that they may learn and fear Hashem their G-d, and observe all the words of this Torah.” The command is directed to the king of Israel. Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands the king to gather all the Jewish people to hear the words of Torah once every seven years, in the year following Shemittah, on Sukkos. During Sukkos, the entire Jewish people come. This is different from the other occasions, because we know that the Jewish people come three times a year: “All your males shall appear before Hashem your G-d.” The Jewish people come to hear the Torah, to see and to be seen—to see Hashem and to be seen by Hakadosh Boruch Hu—on each and

02:25 Speaker 2 every one of the festivals of the year: Sukkos, Pesach, and Shavuos. “All your males shall appear before Hashem your G-d on the Festival of Matzos, on the Festival of Shavuos, and on the Festival of Sukkos.” That’s every year, three times a year. This is what the Jewish people are commanded to do, what they did, and what they will do in the true and complete Geulah. On the festivals, they come to the Beis Hamikdash, and even today there is something along those lines: people come to the Rebbe, come to 770, and receive renewed strength. On every festival, there is the idea of appearing before Hashem your G-d, of coming to greet one’s teacher on the festival. It says that this is something like the mitzvah of coming to the Beis Hamikdash on the festivals. But on all those festivals, the mitzvah to come to the Beis Hamikdash applies only to “all your males.” Who is obligated to come? Only males aged thirteen and older. Anyone else who wants to come certainly can, but the obligation is on the males: “All your males shall appear before Hashem your G-d.” By contrast, on Sukkos in the year after Shemittah, there is a mitzvah: “Gather the people, the men, the women, the children, and the stranger within your gates.” The entire Jewish people leave their work, their affairs, everything they’ve been doing, and come to the Beis Hamikdash—even small children. The Gemara asks about this. The men come to listen. The women study less, but they come to see, at least to witness the occasion. It is a deeply moving occasion, when the entire Jewish people come together to hear the Torah. Some commentators on the mitzvos explain that Hakhel is meant to restore and renew, at least once every seven years, the experience of Matan Torah. Just as at Matan

04:38 Speaker 2 Torah Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke the Torah to the entire Jewish people, and everyone came and heard it from Him, so too, in the year after Shemittah, they come and renew that experience of Matan Torah. It says that the impression left by Hakhel remains throughout the years until the next Hakhel. Why do the children come? It asks: Why do the infants come? The adults come and witness the occasion, which is itself very moving and instills fear of Hashem. But what about the little ones, the small children, the infants? Why do they come? It says: “To give reward to those who bring them.” That, too, is a great virtue. The infants come, and first of all, it affects them. Chassidus always explains the value of bringing young children into holy settings, into matters of holiness. The Rebbe says this about bringing them to shul, too. Some people complain: Why bring them? What does a little child absorb or understand? But no—“to give reward to those who bring them.” There is value in bringing even small children to a holy place, to shul, and connecting them with matters of holiness. It has a very powerful effect on the child, and it gives reward to those who bring them. The person who brings them also receives a reward from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And apparently, part of that reward is the fact that, with Hashem’s help, the children will grow up to be chassidim, G-d-fearing and learned. The experience itself will affect them in a broad way, even very young children. Even infants: “the men, the women, and the children.” So there is great value, even today, in bringing small children along to listen. Of course, if they disturb others or run wild, they need to be taken out, or we need

06:27 Speaker 2 to find a way to help them behave so they don’t disturb others. Of course, disturbing others is not desirable. But there is great value in a child, even a small child, being in shul, in a holy place. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos says of one of the Tannaim, “Fortunate is the one who gave birth to him.” It says there that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five students, and of one of them—I think Rabbi Yosi—it says, “Fortunate is the one who gave birth to him.” What does that mean? It is explained that his mother would bring him to shul from a very young age so that he would hear words of Torah and absorb the holiness of the shul. There is great value in that. We should know that it has great value even today. Of course, we need to make sure they don’t disturb others. It says that if children run around and play, it’s better not to bring them to shul, simply so they don’t become accustomed to disrupting a holy place. We need to pay attention to that. But in general, if they can come and sit quietly, it is something great, something wonderful, something especially elevated. That applies to shul in general. With Hakhel, it is a great virtue and a positive mitzvah from the Torah to bring everyone—the men, the women, and the children—to the Beis Hamikdash to hear passages of the Torah. Hearing them from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself was at Matan Torah, of course. Now, in the Beis Hamikdash, they hear them from the king, the king of Israel, who reads the words of the Torah that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave. Which words of Torah does the king read? It says that he reads several passages from Devarim. There are

08:16 Speaker 2 There are different opinions about exactly which passages he reads. He reads Shema and Vehaya Im Shamoa. There is also the passage of the king[?]; he reads the blessings and curses. The Gemara gives an exact list of what the king reads. There are differences of opinion about whether he reads certain additional sections of the book of Devarim. But in general, these are specific passages in Devarim that the king comes and reads himself, without even an interpreter. Yes, he has no interpreter, no one to translate for him. He reads the passages. So it will also be in the true and complete Geulah. Moshiach the King will come and read the Torah, these passages, to all the Jewish people—the men, the women, and the children. Even today, during the exile, we do something along these lines: we come to the Rebbe. The Rebbe shlita, Moshiach the King, has urged us very, very strongly, in this Hakhel year, to come together and also to come to the king, to come to the Rebbe. And each and every person—the Rebbe says that each person also has a king within him—needs to gather as many Jews as possible, to bring together as many Jews as possible, to assemble with as many Jews as possible for matters of Torah, so that they will fear Hashem your G-d. The Rebbe even suggested making Hakhel participation cards, so that everyone would sign up with Hakhel institutions and organizations. In this way we can truly come and inspire others, and be inspired ourselves, with Hashem’s help, in all good matters. This will have an effect throughout all the years ahead, in good matters, in fearing Hashem your G-d and observing all the words of this Torah. Now, there is something very interesting here about the Hakhel year. What is the great step forward from the Shemitah year to the Hakhel year? During Shemitah, too, there is a departure from the usual routine.

10:12 Speaker 2 Until the Shemitah year, everyone goes out to work in the fields—plowing, sowing, harvesting, each person occupied with his own affairs. Then the Shemitah year arrives and they stop working. Shemitah is a Shabbos for Hashem. So what does the Hakhel year add? To understand what it adds, let me first tell a short story. It is told that a woman came to the Frierdiker Rebbe and asked him: What will be different, what will be the great innovation, when Moshiach comes? The Frierdiker Rebbe was working to awaken people to teshuvah and to the Geulah. He called for the message to be publicized in booklets and pamphlets: awaken people to teshuvah, awaken them to the Geulah, do teshuvah—the Geulah is coming. He also published a special periodical, Hakriah Vehakedushah. “What will happen when Moshiach comes?” she asked the Frierdiker Rebbe. So the Frierdiker Rebbe told her this: What happens today? When a person gets up in the morning and does not want to daven, can he choose not to? Technically, he can. Nothing forces him to daven. If he wants to daven, wash his hands, prepare for davening, and do everything he needs to do, he will. But if he does not want to wash his hands, does not want to daven, does not want to fulfill that mitzvah, does not want to put on tefillin or wear tzitzis, he will not wear them or put them on. What can you do? On the other hand, suppose a person wants to walk through a wall. There is a wall here, and he wants to walk through it. Can he walk through it? He cannot. He could break it down, of course, but as it stands, a wall is a wall; he cannot walk through it. The Frierdiker Rebbe said: That is how things are today. So the Frierdiker

12:12 Speaker 2 Rebbe asked her: But what is the logic in that? Logically, it should be exactly the opposite. After all, the Torah and mitzvos are the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the entire world, made every human being, and made everything that happens in the world. He wants a Jew to get up and daven, fulfill mitzvos, and do everything he needs to do. He wants non-Jews, too, to do everything they need to do, and every created being in the world to fulfill its purpose. So how can a person do otherwise? A person should—automatically, he should act in accordance with that will. By contrast, whether someone walks through a wall or not is not specified. It does not say in the Torah that Hakadosh Boruch Hu specifically wants people to walk through walls or not to walk through them. So the Rebbe said: In the future, this is what will happen. A person will get up in the morning and automatically daven, automatically wash his hands, automatically put on tefillin, automatically wear tzitzis, automatically do everything he needs to do. Why? What do you mean—how could it be otherwise? That is the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. So how could anyone do otherwise? Of course the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be realized in actual practice. On the other hand, the Frierdiker Rebbe said, it will be possible to walk through a wall. That will not be a problem. Why? Because, with the miracles and wonders of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the constraints of the world will no longer carry weight. What will matter? The will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So His will is what will be revealed; that is what will prevail in the world. Physical circumstances, the limitations of nature—nature will change. And that, in essence, is the great innovation of the Hakhel year. That is its central idea. In the Shemitah year, we do leave

13:59 Speaker 2 the work of the land. It is analogous to the first period, when the world continues in its usual way and everything remains ordinary. But what happens? We observe Torah and mitzvos, leave worldly affairs for the moment, set aside the world and the fields, and go study Torah. Yet we still deal with those things too. We study Torah, but we still deal with grain, still sell grain and fruit—not Shemitah produce, but we still have to deal with physical matters. What do we do during Shemitah? Even then, we generally deal with physical matters for a considerable part of the time. Although the goal of the Shemitah year is a Shabbos for Hashem, this is still an initial stage: leaving worldly affairs behind, so to speak. We still deal somewhat with physical things. The Hakhel year, by contrast, is on another level. It is like the second period of the days of Moshiach. At that stage, the constraints of nature are no longer there. Everyone comes to the Beis Hamikdash. Everyone reaches a spiritual level where holiness—Hakadosh Boruch Hu—is in charge. He is in charge; He determines and decides. The will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is what is revealed here, what matters here. Worldly concerns carry no weight; they are of no interest at all. It is not just that you leave worldly affairs behind. You reach another level. You reach the state of the Hakhel year. In other words, your whole being is devoted to coming together “so that they will hear, so that they will learn and fear Hashem their G-d, all the days that they live upon the earth.” This is an ascent to another level, an ascent toward the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want? What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu

15:47 Speaker 2 Says? That’s what determines things; that’s what runs the whole show here. This actually parallels two stages in the days of Moshiach. In the first stage, everyone will observe Torah and mitzvos, but the world will continue in its natural course. People will still deal with matters of nature; the world will continue in its natural course. As the Rambam says, the verse “The wolf will dwell with the lamb” is a parable and a riddle. The nations of the world will come and conduct themselves as they should; they won’t interfere with the Jewish people. The Jewish people will do what they need to do, the Beis Hamikdash will be built, and so on. But the world will continue in its natural course. The natural order of the world will remain. That’s one stage. The second stage is the second era in the days of Moshiach. The first stage corresponds to the Shemitah year. We’re already leaving worldly matters behind, but the world still continues in its natural course. And what is the Shemitah year? It’s along the lines of the second era in the days of Moshiach. What is that second era? It’s when there will be a revelation of G-dliness above the natural order. It will no longer be a revelation of nature alone. It’s like the story we mentioned about the Frierdiker Rebbe: what will govern the world will be the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants—that’s what will determine things in this world. Matters of nature will be less important. According to Chassidus, too, when the light of sovev kol almin, which transcends all worlds, is revealed, people will understand that as well. They won’t need to marvel at every single thing that’s above nature. It’s simply the light of sovev kol almin, a light above the worlds, and so the Divine will is what matters. If Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants something, that’s what will determine things. In other words, today what we see more clearly is the natural order, and we conduct ourselves accordingly. There’s also Hashem’s will—fine, Hakadosh Boruch Hu also

17:31 Speaker 2 wants us to learn Torah and observe it. Let’s see; hopefully we’ll manage somehow. Some people manage better, some less well. But in the Geulah it’s exactly the opposite. In the second era of Melech HaMoshiach, it’s exactly the opposite. What will be revealed in the world is the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants is what will determine things. That’s what will guide our lives. Matters of nature will matter less. It will even be possible to pass through a wall. That won’t stand in the way. If it’s needed, if that’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, then worldly matters will no longer interfere, and we’ll see openly how worldly matters help. It’s not that the world will cease to exist. The world, too, has a great virtue and great importance, but its entire purpose is to help and assist in carrying out the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is its role and purpose. The second era is along the lines of the year of Hakhel, when everyone comes: all the Jewish people—men, women, and children—leave everything behind and arrive at a different level of holiness. They come to the Beis Hamikdash to hear the Torah from the king, and in the future, from Melech HaMoshiach, immediately, right now. In addition, of course, there’s another connection. The year of Hakhel also reminds us of one of the promises of the Geulah and one of the tasks of Melech HaMoshiach. As the Rambam says, Melech HaMoshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its former state, to its original sovereignty; he will build the Beis Hamikdash and gather the dispersed of Israel. Gathering the dispersed of Israel is also along the lines of Hakhel. “And Moshe assembled”—the gathering of all the Jewish people to holy Jerusalem, to the Third Beis Hamikdash, very soon. That, too, is connected to Hakhel: uniting and gathering the Jewish people, men, women, and children, all of them

19:13 Speaker 2 to know and fear Hashem. That’s connected to Melech HaMoshiach’s task of gathering the dispersed of Israel. Now let’s talk for a moment about exactly when Hakhel takes place, the date of the Hakhel gathering. We know that the Rebbe says the entire year is the year of Hakhel. It’s ongoing, not just at one particular time. The whole year is especially suited to inspiring the entire Jewish people to gather and come together around Torah and yiras Shamayim, with Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. What could be better than that? That applies throughout the entire year. But now let’s talk about the mitzvah itself, which, with Hashem’s help, we’re going to fulfill in the coming year of Hakhel. All of us together will come to the Third Beis Hamikdash with Melech HaMoshiach, with the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, at our head. He comes and gathers all the Jewish people. Everyone arrives. From every corner of the earth come the men, women, and children, “and the stranger within your gates,” so that “they may hear,” so that “they may learn to fear Hashem your G-d.” When exactly do we do this? There are two opinions. What are the two opinions? It’s clear that it takes place during Sukkos. The question is whether it takes place on the first day of Sukkos or on the second day—that is, on the first day of Chol Hamoed. Why? What’s the difference? Rashi says in Tractate Sotah—there’s a whole discussion there about the king’s reading, several pages on the reading at the Hakhel gathering and exactly how it was done. That will also help us better understand the difference, the disagreement here between Rashi and Tosafos. There is a disagreement between Rashi

21:12 Speaker 2 and Tosafos about the proper date for the Hakhel gathering. What did they actually do? They erected a large platform in the courtyard, a large platform, and the king stood on it with the Torah scroll and read the passages of Hakhel to the Jewish people. He read all the passages to them. As we said, they include Shema and Vehayah im shamoa; there are several passages. He read them while standing on the platform, with all the Jewish people around him listening. Now the Gemara says that if they were to build the platform before Yom Tov—more precisely, before the festival—there would be a problem: it would crowd the courtyard. What does that mean? It would become very crowded there. If they needed to build it without causing overcrowding, they might say, “Wait, we didn’t manage to build it before the festival because it was crowded. People had arrived, and there wasn’t enough room to build it beforehand without making things too crowded during the festival.” So what would they do? Build it during the festival itself. Then people might say, “Well, building it is subject to a rabbinic restriction, but perhaps rabbinic restrictions don’t apply in the Beis Hamikdash.” They would start suggesting all kinds of leniencies, all kinds of ways to build the platform—doing it in an unusual manner or in other ways that aren’t the proper approach. Although rabbinic restrictions do not apply in the Beis Hamikdash, one does not build a platform there during the festival. It’s forbidden. So to avoid problems, they said to do it after the first day of Yom Tov. Once the first day is over, they can come and build the platform without any problem, and then they can come and build it, and then

23:06 Speaker 2 The king will also come and deliver the words of Torah to the Jewish people from the platform on the first day of Chol Hamoed. That is how Rashi explains it. According to this, the reason is only that one may not build the platform on Yom Tov. But in the future, there will be no yetzer hara and no concern that someone might come to do something forbidden, G-d forbid. So it will be possible to build the platform before Yom Tov, and the king will deliver the words of Torah on Yom Tov itself. That is according to Rashi. It follows that the reading will take place on the first day of Sukkos. Tosafos, on the other hand, say no: the time for the reading is specifically after the first Yom Tov of the festival—on 16 Tishrei, not 15 Tishrei. They say that, according to the Torah, the original time for Hakhel is 16 Tishrei. In other words, that is what the Torah means when it says Hakhel takes place during Sukkos: it does not say before the festival or on its first day, but during the festival. So according to Tosafos, they would continue to read on the first Yom Tov. According to Rashi, once all the decrees no longer apply and there is no concern that people might transgress a prohibition, the reading will take place on Yom Tov itself, on 15 Tishrei. According to Tosafos, by contrast, Hakhel will be read—the gathering of Hakhel will take place—on 16 Tishrei. Well, this is not the place to go into the subject at length.

25:08 Speaker 2 This was just to become familiar with the different opinions on the matter. The main thing is that we should merit to fulfill the mitzvah of Hakhel properly, in actual practice, in the Third Beis Hamikdash, immediately.