Parshat Vayelech
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

The mitzvah of Hakhel is featured in this week's parshah. The basic fulfillment of Hakhel (literally, "Congregate") is for the king to publicly read the Torah from the beginning of Sefer Devarim through Shema Yisroel and to then read specific other selections, including the Brachos V'kallos (Blessings and Curses). The reading is performed in the Beis Ha-Mikdash on the second day of Sukkos immediately following the Shmitah year, and men, women and children must attend. (See Sefer Ha-Chinuch, mitzvah 612.)

Why does Hakhel appear in Parshas Vayelech rather than in Parshas Behar (which deals with the laws of Shmitah) or Parshas Shoftim (which details the laws of the king)?

The answer is that Parshas Vayelech was uttered by Moshe on the last day of his life (31:2) and was his final testament and exhortation to the Jews to observe the Torah. For Bnei Yisroel, it commenced the last occasion upon which they would hear the word of God from Moshe Rabbeinu, who conveyed Hashem's message directly and with complete clarity, due to Moshe's unique prophetic vision and contact with the Almighty. After Moshe's death, the direct prophetic connection would be forever gone. So, too, was this a time to cherish, as upon entry to Eretz Yisroel, the nation would begin to split up, with the wives and children of the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menasheh to remain on the east side of the Yarden, followed later by each shevet (tribe) occupying its own, separate plots of land. Togetherness such as that at the time of Vayelech was not to be experienced again for quite some time.

This is where Hakhel fits in. Hakhel is the re-creation and reenactment of Moshe's monologue to the entirety of the Jewish nation, all together, before entry to the land. The king - who represents Moshe Rabbeinu (as Moshe had the status of "melech" [king]) - reads to the masses from Mishneh Torah, which is Moshe's final address to the people. The text includes the most core exhortations of Moshe's original speech, and it is addressed to the entire nation, which again assembles together as one body on this rare occasion, just as it was gathered before Moshe's death. In Vayelech, Moshe's words were intended to speak to the people as they were about to conclude their spiritual rendezvous with the Shechinah in the midbar (desert) and enter their lands, fend for their livelihoods (no more mann [manna]), and scatter to individual plots; the king, too, reads to the nation as it exits the Shmitah year, in which had a spiritual existence, focusing on God and Torah rather than on farm work, and as it is about to split up, return to the fields and separate to pursue agrarian life once more. Hakhel is thus a re-enactment of the affairs featured and concluded in Parshas Vayelech, and it therefore appears in Vayelech rather than in Behar or Shoftim.

Hakhel is more than nostalgia; it is real. It addresses the true, deep inner connection which every Jew has with God and with the entire Jewish people.

May we soon again merit to enter the Mikdash and hear the melech read from Mishneh Torah, standing as one nation under God and in affirmation of our eternal bond with Him and our mesorah.

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