Living Torah Archives

The stories related in the Torah are more than historical events. They offer guidance and direction for the way we live our lives. When we find ourselves in a year of hakhel, it’s not enough to merely recall how it was marked in the Holy Temple, we must search for ways to make it relevant in our lives, today.

Experience has shown us that whenever Jews gather for a holy purpose, something good is bound to come out of it.

Soldiers spend most of their time training and carrying out missions. Periodically, they assemble at a parade, where their performance is checked, and medals are awarded.

During a year of hakhel, the Rebbe addresses participants in one of his first meetings with members of the Machne Israel Development Fund.

Rabbi Chaim Benyamini established and headed the Yeshiva in Petropolis, Brazil, for over 30 years. He shares a perplexing encounter with the Rebbe that left him with a penetrating lesson about just how “hakhel-conscious” a Jew can be. (1987)

The Rebbe points out that every one of us must be a clarion call for gathering, just like every priest was to herald Hakhel in the Temple.

The Rebbe takes part in a rally for children returning from summer camp, just before the end of the year of hakhel.

Distribution of dollars after a general audience for guests who had arrived to spend the month of Tishrei with the Rebbe.

When Rabbi Tuvia Blau told the Rebbe that he hoped that his wife and children would have the experience of meeting him, the Rebbe suggested that he bring his family in for hakhel. This was not an easy feat for a family of seven from Israel, in the 1970s

When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, every seven years all Jewish men women and children would ascend the Temple Mount to hear the king of Israel read the Torah in fulfillment of the verse, “Assemble the people, men, women, and children… in order that they learn to fear G-d and do all the words of his Torah.”

The Rebbe distributes wine from the cup of the After-blessing. “Much success in fulfilling the special mission of this year of Hakhel — to gather and unite every Jewish man, woman and child.”

An address to children on Sukkos in the year of Hakhel: During the year of Hakhel, Jews make every effort to assemble together. Jewish children are specifically included in this Mitzvah in the Torah, and you must serve as an example to others. Even though the Holy Temple is not yet rebuilt, you must prepare yourselves in similar fashion, gathering to hear words of Torah and resolving to implement Torah's teachings.