VAYELECH_DEUTERONOMY XXI:1-30
After energizing Yehoshua with the expression of Chazak Ve’emats, the aspiration that his leadership over the people be strong and persistent, Moshe instructs that at the conclusion of the Shemita period, the annual rest of the earth after 7 years, the people should be gathered for the public reading of the Tora. The timing will be propitious to emphasize that the Sabbat year of Shemita is not only for the purpose of the “rest of the lands.” It had to be a period of reflection and study, of spiritual growth that will be crowned with a public reading, which in turn can be regarded as a renewed commitment to the Tora. Listening to its content must produce a mobilization and renewal of the Brit, the covenant, assumed in Har Sinai: God is committed to watching over the well-being of the people and the people are committed to fulfilling the Mitzvot, to obey the Divine Will.
The one who was to carry out the public reading was the king, the administrative rector of the people, as a sign that the Tora had a public message; its norms were to govern the behavior of society in all its manifestations. Both adults and children, the elderly and young had to listen to this reading. This meeting was called Hakhel, whose root is Kahal, the collective, the whole of the Hebrew people.
With the establishment of the State of Israel, attempts were made to renew this activity. In this sense, Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog wrote a Teshuva, a response, in his book Heichal Yitzchak, where he suggests that even in the absence of the Beit HaMikdash Zecher leHakhel, a memory of this activity, can be celebrated and that the Head of State could direct this public reading of the Tora. ´
As a historical note, it is worth mentioning that it was a son of this great rabbi, General Yaacov Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, who in a famous speech in November 1975 replied to the adoption of the infamous General Assembly document that made an equivalence between Zionism and racism. While the Tora is a document of coexistence of great ethical content, the UN document had the function of promoting hatred, an expression of the immorality of its content that constituted a historical misrepresentation of the Zionist movement. Yaacov Herzog ended his brilliant speech by publicly breaking the paper on which this resolution was written.
Some time ago, at a public press conference, another Israeli general, son of Yaacov Herzog, during a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of that infamous resolution, spoke about his historical injustice and, again, before the television cameras, broke the document. Notably, the UN General Assembly subsequently resolved to overturn the original decision, in a fair amendment to an earlier regrettable decision.
Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog had suggested a mass meeting at the Kotel for the Tora reading, which was to be preceded by the sound of the Shofar. According to many exegetes, Sefer Devarim, the last Book of the Torah, should be read at that time. It can also be mentioned as a fact of interest that, years ago, a synagogue in New York scheduled the public reading of the Tanach and invited different public personalities to participate in this event. The audience received copies of the Tanach while from the podium the reading was done, chapter by chapter.
Hakhel is a further demonstration of the centrality of Tora’s study for all sectors of society. The presence of the children emphasizes that from childhood the love for the Torah and study must be instilled, and this is a decisive factor for the survival of the Jewish people.
MITSVA: TORA ORDINANCE IN THIS PARSHA
CONTAINS 2 POSITIVE MITSVOT
- Deuteronomy 31:12 Gather all the people to hear the Reading of the Tora after the Sabbath Year
- Deuteronomy 31:12 Every Jew must write a Tora for himself
