The year of Hakhel. Now, Hakhel, as we will see soon, and I'm sure that everyone knows, is a mitzvah that was done in the time of the Beit HaMikdash only one time, once in seven years. And it was a one-time event. It wasn't something that was done throughout the whole year. Nevertheless, we call it the year of Hakhel. In Hebrew, it's called שנת הקהל, the year of Hakhel. And the simple reason why it's called the year of Hakhel is because this is the year in which Hakhel was done. But the Rebbe said many times that it also means that the whole year should be a year of Hakhel, which means that whatever Hakhel stands for, as I will explain soon, should not be a one-time event, but it should be for the whole year. And then, certainly whatever you could carry on to the next year, but this year, the year of Hakhel should be a year that the meaning of Hakhel should go on throughout the whole year. But let's start from the beginning. What is the mitzvah of Hakhel? And we'll start from the Chumash and then go on to the Rambam, and we'll see what the mitzvah of Hakhel is, and then we'll talk about certain details concerning the mitzvah of Hakhel. It is a very important thing to discuss, because besides the halacha and besides what we find in the Chumash, but the Rebbe, every time that year came around, the Rebbe made a very big fuss about it, and would talk about it, one farbrengen, and another farbrengen, another farbrengen. And the Rebbe guided us that this is what we should talk about, too. We know that whatever the Rebbe taught us is the way we follow, and he taught us that when it comes to the year of Hakhel, the whole year, many times during the year, maybe, I wouldn't say every farbrengen, but almost every farbrengen throughout the year, he would bring up something in connection to Hakhel. So we got to do that, too! So certainly, we have to have this topic and discuss what is the inyan of Hakhel. So let's start from the beginning. The mitzvah of Hakhel is written in Chumash in Parashat Vayelech, which is towards the end of Chumash. Parashat Vayelech was said by Moshe Rabbeinu on the day of his passing. In the beginning of the parasha, it says, וילך משה, משה went, ויאמר אלהם, משה said, בן מאה ועשרים שנה אנכי היום, today I'm becoming 120 years old. And that's the day of ז׳ אדר, the seventh day of the month of Adar, the day that Moshe Rabbeinu passed away. So everything that's written in the parashah from there on into the next parashah till the end of Chumash was said to the Jews by Moshe Rabbeinu on the last day of his life in this world, on ז׳ אדר. And one of the mitzvot he said to them was like this: ויצו משה אותם לאמר, Moshe commanded them saying, מקץ שבע שנים, at the end of seven years, במועד שנת השמטה, during Yom Tov, the year of שמטה, בחג הסוכות, during the month during the holiday of סוכות, בבוא כל ישראל לראות את פני ה׳ אלקיך, when all the Jews will come to see the face of השם, במקום אשר יבחר, in the place that he will choose, תקרא את התורה הזאת נגד כל ישראל באזניהם, you shall read this Torah to all the Yidden in their ears. And the pasuk continues: הקהל את העם, gather the nation, האנשים והנשים והטף, men, women, children, וגרך אשר בשעריך, and the converts that are in your gates, meaning in your cities, למען ישמעו, in order they should hear, ולמען ילמדו, in order they should learn, ויראו את ה׳ אלקיכם, and they shall fear God your God, ושמרו לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת, and they should keep, watch to keep all the words of the תורה, ובניהם אשר לא ידעו, and their children who will not know, people who children who do not understand, ישמעו, they should listen, ולמדו, and they should to learn, ליראה את ה׳ אלקיכם, to fear God your God, כל הימים אשר אתם חיים על האדמה, all the years that you live on this earth, etc., etc. This is what it says in Chumash, basically saying that once in seven years, and the way the pasuk puts it is during the Yom Tov of Sukkot in the year of shemittah. Now, the truth is, it was not done in the year of shemittah. We know that the year of shemittah was the seventh year. This was done in the year right after shemittah, the Sukkot immediately after shemittah. And the pasuk says that that's when the king should gather all the Yidden during the month of Sukkot, during the holiday of Sukkot, when all the Yidden would anyway come up to Yerushalayim. The din is, the din was that when we had a Beit Hamikdash, the three holidays, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, every Jew, all men, had to go up to Yerushalayim. That's why the Yom Tov is called the regel. Regel actually means a foot, because it was aliyah la-regel. They would go up by their foot, they would walk, come up to Yerushalayim. So when the Jews came up to Yerushalayim during the month of Yom Tov of Sukkot, that year, the Sukkot right after shemittah, which is the first of the new cycle of seven, or sometimes it'll be referred to as the eighth, the year right after the seven, all the Yidden had to be gathered, and the king would read for them from the Torah. And the difference between this and just coming up for Yom Tov, because they would come up for Yom Tov anyway, was the mitzvah of aliyah la-regel to come up to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov was only a mitzvah for the men. There was no mitzvah on the women. There was no mitzvah really on the children. And here the pasuk says הקהל את האנשים, הקהל את העם, gather the nation, האנשים, והנשים, והטף, men, women, and children. And according to some commentaries, this means children from 30 days old. Some even say that it started that they had to bring even children that were just born. They had to be brought with their parents to come to hakhel. This is the way it's from Chumash. I would like to read also the halachot of hakhel, the way it's in the Rambam. Now these halachot we will not find in the Shulchan Aruch, because the Shulchan Aruch only writes those halachot that apply nowadays. This is not a halachah that applies nowadays, it's only in the time of the Beit Hamikdash, so the Shulchan Aruch doesn't have it. But the Rambam, we all know, he wrote all the halachot, including those halachot that applied only in the time of the Beit Hamikdash. And the Rambam here in the third chapter of Hilchot Chagigah, the Rambam says like this: מצות עשה להקהיל כל ישראל, I'll just pick some halachos, important halachos, I won't read them all. There was a positive mitzvah to gather all the יידן, אנשים, נשים, וטף, men, women, and children, בכל מוצאי שמיטה, every year right after שמיטה, בעלותם לרגל, when they would go up to, for Yom Tov to ירושלים, ולקרות באזניהם, and to read in their ears, מן התורה, from the Torah, פרשיות, such פרשיות, such chapters of the תורה, שמזרזות אותם במצות, that would help them do the מצות, ומחזקות ידיהם בדת האמת, and would straighten their, strengthen their hands in the, in their true religion, the Torah. And he quotes the pasuk. Then he says, אימתי היו קוראים? When was this done? When was this mitzvah that the king had to read the Torah? במוצאי יום טוב הראשון של חג הסוכות, right after the first day of Sukkos, מוצאי Yom Tov, the beginning, which means the first night of Chol Hamoed, they only had Yom Tov one day, not like we have two days, so right מוצאי the first day of Yom Tov, the first night of חול המועד, שהוא תחילת ימי חולו של מועד של שנה שמינית, which is the beginning of Chol Hamoed of Sukkos of the eighth year. והמלך הוא שיקרא באזניהם, it was the king who read it to them. And he says where they read it, in the עזרת נשים, that was a section in the בית המקדש. And what did they read? So let's, this is important for our further discussion. He says, מהיכן הוא קורא? Where would they read? Which portions of the Torah would they read? מתחילת חומש אלה הדברים, from the beginning of חומש דברים, עד סוף פרשת שמע, which means פרשת דברים and פרשת ואתחנן. And in the middle of ואתחנן we have the פרשה of קריאת שמע, שמע ישראל ה׳ אלקינו... ואהבת את ה׳ אלקיך. The first portion, they would go till there. ומדלג, then he would skip till והיה אם שמוע, and he would skip to פרשת עקב and read והיה אם שמוע, ומדלג, he would skip from there, לעשר תעשר, to פרשה of עשר תעשר, which talks about the mitzvah of taking off תרומה ומעשר, the different presents that you have to give to the kohen, to the Levi, etc., to take off from your crops, and there he would read till the brachot and klalot, this chapter that talks about the blessings and the curses. And it doesn't say here, but he would go on and read the parsha, that portion of the Torah which talks about the king. There is a portion in the Torah that tells us the mitzvah of appointing a king, that was part of it. And then the Rambam explains further: כיצד הוא קורא? How did he read it? And he says how the procedure went. תוקעין בחצוצרות בכל ירושלים, they would blow, before this took place they would go around, and it doesn't say who did it, but it says in Tosefta that the kohanim would go around with trumpets throughout all of Yerushalayim blowing the trumpets כדי להקהיל את העם in order to gather the people. ומביאין בימה גדולה, they would bring a big stage, של עץ היתה, it was made of wood, ומעמידין אותה באמצע עזרת נשים, they would put in the middle of the section in the בית המקדש called עזרת נשים. והמלך עולה ויושב עליה, the king would go up and sit on it כדי שישמעו קריאתו they should hear him saying, reading. וכל ישראל העולים לחג מתקבצין סביביו, all the Yidden who came for Yom Tov would gather around him. And then he goes through which brachot he would make. And then he says further: וגרים שאינם מכירים, and it says it had to be read in lashon kodesh, in Hebrew, the gerim, the converts who wouldn't understand the language, חייבין להבין, להכין לבם, they have to put their, concentrate their hearts, ולהקשיב אזנם and concentrate their ears לשמוע to listen to what the king read, באימה וביראה with fear, בגילה ברעדה they would be happy, but with fear, כיום שניתנה בו בסיני the same as the time when the Torah was given from Har Sinai. Imagine, this they had to feel as if they're standing by Har Sinai. אפילו חכמים גדולים, even great חכמים שיודעים כל התורה כולה that know the whole תורה, חייבים לשמוע בכוונה גדולה, he said, have to listen to it with great kavana, with great intention, with great concentration. ומי שאינו יכול לשמוע, someone who can't hear, and I assume the peshat is can't hear because he's deaf, or can't hear because he stood far away. There were millions of people there. You can imagine there were millions of people, and the king stood without a microphone. They had no microphones then, and he read it as strong as his voice was, but there probably were people who couldn't hear. So those that can't hear, מכוון לבו, should still concentrate his heart לקריאה זו, to this to pay attention to what they're reading. שלא קבע הכתוב, because the whole purpose what the תורה established this מצוה, אלא לחזק דת האמת, it's not just to hear the the words of the תורה, but this is supposed to strengthen the religion, the תורה, the the the Yiddishkeit. ויראה עצמו, this is a very important statement, a person has to feel himself, see himself, כאילו עתה נצטווה בה, as if now he's being commanded, ומפי הגבורה שומעה, as if he's listening hearing it from השם himself. שהמלך שליח הוא להשמיע דברי האל. Because the king was like a messenger to speak the words of God. So when they stood and heard the words from the king, they really were listening, they're supposed to feel they're listening to Hashem. This is the halachah the way the Rambam puts it. So here we come out with a clear halachah of הקהל, at the end of the year, this Sukkot after shemitah, the beginning of the eighth year, they would have to gather in Eretz Yisrael, in Yerushalayim, from all over, men, women, and children, big ones, all small ones, all kind, everybody had to come and to listen to the reading of the Torah that the king would read. As I said, this mitzvah was told to the Yidden by Moshe Rabbeinu in Parashat Vayelech, right right before he passed away.

And the question that comes up right away is, why did Moshe, and so Hashem too obviously, wait with commanding this mitzvah till the last day of Moshe's life in this world? There are so many mitzvot before, we have 613 mitzvot and men most many of them were commanded right away earlier, many throughout the 40 years in the desert. This mitzvah was told to the Jews right right before Moshe Rabbeinu passed away, why? There must be something special in this mitzvah that came about right before Moshe Rabbeinu passed away. Now, we can't say the reason why he waited was because this mitzvah did not apply anyway till the Jews entered Eretz Yisrael. This was not done while the Jews were in the desert. This is a mitzvah that was only when we had a Beit HaMikdash and the Yidden were in Eretz Yisrael, then the mitzvah took place. So till then, there was no need for this mitzvah, because they were in the desert. It's only now when Moshe Rabbeinu passed was going to pass away and they were going to enter Eretz Yisrael, now he wanted to tell them. Well, that's not true. This is not the reason, this cannot be the reason, because we find many, many more mitzvot in the Torah that did not apply in the desert and did not start till after the Jews entered Eretz Yisrael, and nevertheless they were told about it much earlier. Hashem didn't wait till the last day to tell them all the mitzvot that apply to Eretz Yisrael. There is even a whole a whole group of mitzvot called מצוות התלויות בארץ, mitzvot that depend on the land. Many mitzvot like that. The mitzvah of Shemitah itself, the mitzvah of not working in the land is only a mitzvah in Eretz Yisrael, and Hashem didn't wait with the mitzvah of Shemitah till the last day. Hashem gave them the mitzvah of Shemitah in Parashat Behar! It's even mentioned in Parashat Mishpatim, all the way to go back 40 years earlier! He didn't wait. And this mitzvah, which we see in the pasuk, is connected to being right after Shemitah, it would make sense that Hashem when He commanded us to keep Shemitah would right away say, \"And right after Shemitah do the mitzvah of Hakhel!\" But He waited till then. And it's not because this did not apply till then. Just to give another example: even the famous mitzvah of tefillin, the Jews were told to keep the mitzvah of tefillin all the way in the beginning, before the Torah was given yet! When the Jews just left Mitzrayim, they were already told to keep the mitzvah of tefillin. There's only a question: how did they keep the mitzvah of tefillin when part of the mitzvah of tefillin is to have inside the tefillin the פרשיות, you have the parchment with שמע ישראל and והיה אם שמוע, but the parashah of Shema was not told to the Jews till 40 years later? So many hold that the Jews, even though they heard about the mitzvah of tefillin when they were still in just left Egypt, they didn't do it till 40 years later. But Hashem didn't wait 40 years to tell them. For whatever reason He had, but it wasn't the re- the fact that they didn't have to do it right away was not a reason for Hashem to wait from telling them this mitzvah. We find earlier Hashem gave them the mitzvah of appointing a king. One of the mitzvot is that a king must have two ספרי תורה. Now when we speak about a ספר תורה, a ספר תורה has to have all the parts of the ספר תורה. So they couldn't do the mitzvah then till the Torah was finished. So why didn't Hashem wait to tell the mitzvah of the king till the end? He didn't, whatever reason. But the point I'm trying to make is that the reason that it wasn't applicable at that time is not a good enough reason that that's why Hashem didn't tell it to him in other ways. So we're back to the question: why was the mitzvah of Hakhel not told earlier, and Hashem waited with this mitzvah till the very, very end? And the reason given to this, and the Rabbi explains this, and he says like this: the reason why Hashem waited was because you see, we read in the Rambam before that when a person heard the king reading the Torah, he was supposed to feel as if he's standing by Har Sinai, as if he's standing at Mount Sinai receiving the Torah as it was then. This is the whole goal of the mitzvah of Hakhel: to make the Jews relive Matan Torah. And therefore, as long as they were in the desert, the place where the Torah was given, as long as Moshe Rabbeinu was alive, Moshe Rabbeinu who was the one that received the Torah and brought it to the Yidden, as long as he was alive, the feeling of Matan Torah was still there. It was only now that Moshe Rabbeinu was about to pass away when the whole concept of this mitzvah was needed. Now that they will not see Moshe Rabbeinu, which means they will not have the person who actually brought them the Torah, they will not see him anymore, now we are worried, Hashem was worried, that the feeling of Matan Torah will wear off, God forbid. The truth is we have a mitzvah to remember Matan Torah every day. We know there are שש זכירות. There are six things that we have to remember every day. We daven, at the end of davening we say the שש זכירות. Six things we have to remember every day. One of the six things we have to remember every day is we have to remember the day we stood by Har Sinai. So we have to remember it every day. Nevertheless, it's only remembering. We have a rule: אינה דומה שמיעה לראיה. Hearing and understanding is not the same as seeing. So we could remember מתן תורה, we could think about it, but we don't see it. The whole concept of מתן תורה was to see. It says, אתה הראת לדעת, which refers to מתן תורה. By מתן תורה השם made us to see to know that Hashem is one, etc., etc. So by מתן תורה we saw it. The pasuk says, וכל העם רואים את הקולות, all the people saw the voices. When the Yidden stood by מתן תורה, they saw. And seeing is believing; seeing is real. When you hear or when you understand, as as strong as it is, it's not really real in your mind. But when you see something, that's real. So till Moshe passed away, they saw. They were still in the feeling of seeing, even though the people who were there, the Yidden at that time was the second generation already. But they saw their fathers, mainly they still saw Moshe Rabbeinu, they were still in the desert, they were able to point, yeah, yeah, right here the Torah was given. And Moshe Rabbeinu here, here is the man that gave us the Torah, they saw it. So the feeling of מתן תורה was still there. Now that Moshe Rabbeinu was going to pass away, the feeling of מתן תורה was going to wear off. So Hashem said, I don't want that to happen. So now he decided, I don't know if he decided then, I can't say decided, but now was the time when he said, I will give you something that will make you see מתן תורה over again. Therefore he says, once in every seven years I want this event to take place, and by doing that, you will see מתן תורה. You will stand there, you will come to Yerushalayim, you'll have all the Yidden there, the king who's the representative of Hashem, who's basically in the place of Moshe Rabbeinu, and you will relive מתן תורה again. That's why Hashem gave the mitzvah of Hakhel. This is what the mitzvah of Hakhel is all about. Which is interesting, there is another mitzvah which Hashem waited to tell the Jews till the very, very end. I mentioned before that the mitzvah of a king holding two having two Sifrei Torah was given to them earlier. But the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah, because there is a mitzvah that every Jew must write a Sefer Torah, must have a Sefer Torah written for him or must write, that nowadays by buying sefarim we fulfill the mitzvah, but the idea is that there is a mitzvah of having Torah written, that's a mitzvah. Where do we find that mitzvah? In Parashat Vayelech. And the question is, same question, why did Hashem wait with giving the Jews the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah till the very, very end? And we can't say because till then they couldn't write the whole Sefer Torah, so therefore there was no use, as I said before, that's not an answer. Many things were given to the Jews before even though there was no use at that time. So what is the reason, why did Hashem give them the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah then? For the same reason. If you look in the Rambam, in Hilchot Sefer Torah, in the laws that talks about a Sefer Torah, the Rambam writes that when you write a Sefer Torah, or you have a Sefer Torah written for you, it is as if you received the Torah yourself from Har Sinai. And it's the same thing. Because they were ready to leave the desert, and Moshe Rabbeinu was going to pass away, Hashem was worried that now they will be missing Matan Torah, they will be missing what we call מעמד הר סיני. So Hashem said, \"I'm giving you the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah, and when you do that, you feel, you get this feeling as if you were standing by Har Sinai.\" But the question is, so why do we need two such mitzvot? Here we're saying there's the mitzvah of Hakhel, which is a substitute for Har Sinai, which is a continuation of Har Sinai. And here we say we have the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah, which is to make you feel like you received the Torah from Har Sinai. The answer is very simple: When Hashem gave us the Torah by Har Sinai, there were two aspects up to this day. There is the Torah to learn, ללמוד, and there are the mitzvot to do. They're two separate things. There's one thing to study Torah. By Har Sinai, Hashem gave us the Torah so we will have the Torah to study. And by Har Sinai, Hashem gave us the Torah so we have the mitzvot to keep. And it's for both of these things that we need to continue the feeling of Matan Torah. And that's why Hashem gave us these two mitzvot. The mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah, that's connected to the learning. In order for us to continue the feeling of מתן תורה in the concept of learning Torah, so we have the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah, which gives us the feeling of מתן תורה over again in connection to the learning, to the Torah. הקהל was not made for learning, even though the king would read certain portions of the Torah, but the purpose was, like we said before, even if someone didn't hear, the purpose was to get Yirat Shamayim, to get feeling to keep the mitzvot, like the Rambam says. So we need a separate mitzvah that we should relive מתן תורה in connection to the mitzvot. That's why He gave us these two. So we have הקהל to relive מתן תורה in connection to keeping the mitzvot, we have the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah in connection to reliving מתן תורה in connection to the learning of the Torah. And it's interesting, we see the two things. The mitzvah of הקהל is not a mitzvah on every individual. It's a mitzvah on the tzibbur, on the community. It's a communal mitzvah. Every person who's part of the community had to participate in this mitzvah, but there's no mitzvah on each individual that he is supposed to go to Yerushalayim. The pasuk says הקהל means the community, the king who represents the whole community, he had a mitzvah of gathering the people together. It doesn't say in the Torah every Jew should come up to Yerushalayim for this and this time. That was the mitzvah of going up for Yom Tov, but הקהל is a mitzvah that the tzibbur, the community, represented by the king, has a mitzvah to gather. But the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah is a mitzvah on every individual. And the difference is because, as we said before, the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah is connected to learning תורה. The mitzvah of הקהל is connected to keeping the mitzvot. When it comes to learning, everyone is different. Everyone understands the תורה different, everyone has a different head, so every individual is a an entity in itself. The truth is, even as far as the mitzvah, the obligation of studying תורה, not everyone is the same. Some people have an obligation to study תורה 24 hours a day, some people have an obligation to study 10 minutes a day, some people, as says the Shulchan Aruch, yotzei the mitzvah of learning תורה just with one pasuk a day, one in the morning, one in the evening. So everyone is different when it comes to תורה. When it comes to mitzvot, is no difference. Every person does a mitzvah the same way. Some people do with more kavana, some with less kavana. But the mitzvah itself, the the simplest Jew puts on the same tefillin and does the mitzvah the same way as Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu had better kavanot, greater kavanot, but the mitzvah itself, every Jew is the same. And therefore, the mitzvah of הקהל, which is to bring to the Yidden the feeling of Matan Torah and connection to mitzvot, it's one mitzvah for everybody, because we're all one in this. We're all the same. The mitzvah of writing Sefer Torah, which is to give us the feeling of Matan Torah and connection to studying תורה, there everyone is different. There everyone has his own individual mitzvah, because when it comes to study תורה, everyone is is individual. But basically, when it comes out from here, that the mitzvah of הקהל, what I'm trying to explain is the mitzvah of הקהל was to relive Matan Torah, and to get the feeling of Yirat Shamayim, to instill within ourselves the feeling of Yirat Shamayim in order to keep the mitzvot much better.

To understand in more detail what is actually the true meaning, what's behind the mitzvah of הקהל, so the first thing we see is the Torah said, when do you do the mitzvah of hakhel? Right after שמיטה. Now, at first glance, one might think that this is just to tell you when to do it. It has nothing to do with שמיטה. We're after שמיטה, it's just to give you the sign, to give you the siman, like a calendar to show you, to point you, when should we do it, so it's right after שמיטה. But it's not that, it's much more than that. It's obviously connected to שמיטה. It comes right after שמיטה because hakhel, the concept of hakhel is to take what שמיטה stands for and to continue it further on after שמיטה. שמיטה stands for something special. We know during the year of שמיטה you weren't allowed to work on the land. Most Jews in those years were occupied in working on land. A year that they were not allowed to work on the land, what did they do? So we know the yeshivot were full, everyone studied Torah, everyone was involved in spiritual matters. When שמיטה was over, everyone went back to their normal occupations. And it's possible that all the things that he gained during the year of שמיטה should be forgotten. So Hashem gave us one mitzvah that this mitzvah would be the link that would close the gap between שמיטה and the years after שמיטה, and this would bring what a Yid is supposed to gain during the year of שמיטה, gain connection to Hashem much more than he did before, this would bring that that feeling should continue into the years after שמיטה. And to go into more details, so let's understand what שמיטה stands for, and then we'll see what hakhel does to continue what שמיטה stands for. שמיטה basically has three points to it. During the year of שמיטה, the people were not allowed to work in the fields. There was a din, because on the gavra, on the person, there was a issur, a prohibition on the person from working in the fields. Number two, the fields were not allowed to be worked on. The fields had to rest, which is besides, they come together, if you don't work and the field rests, but there are two separate mitzvot. There's one mitzvah that a person cannot allow is not allowed to work in the field, and then there's another mitzvah that the field has to have a rest. And then there's a third part to שמיטה, that all the fruit, the crop that does grow somehow during שמיטה is hefker, is ownerless. You were supposed to open your gates, and anybody who wants to take it, that's what Hashem says. Your ownership doesn't apply during the year of שמיטה. Now, it says in sefarim that these three points of שמיטה are three stages or three levels in the feeling of a Jew of how Hashem is the true baal habayit, is the one that's really in control. The first part, which is the fact that a Yid is not allowed to work, that shows, the first point, that a Yid recognizes that his baal habayit is Hashem. Hashem says, don't work, and by not working in the fields, he shows that he is not in his own control, Hashem is in control, and Hashem says don't work, I can't work. So by accepting the first part of Shemitah, not to work in the fields, shows that the Yid recognizes that Hashem is אדון הכל, Hashem is a boss over him, and his, he is not in control, but Hashem is in control. The second part of Shemitah, that the field has to take a rest, that the earth, ושבתה הארץ, the earth has to rest, gives the Yid the feeling that Hashem is in control over all his possessions. He is not in control of his possessions. It's his land, and he can't work. The first thing is something that has to do with the person, that the person feels, I can't do anything that Hashem doesn't want me to do, so he's the boss over me. Now we're saying another thing: not only is he boss over me, he's the boss over everything that I own. The land has to rest because Hashem wants it to rest. That's the second thing. And Hashem is in this shows Hashem is in control over nature, because the way the Torah says that even though they didn't work in the year of Shemitah, but it grew anyway. Usually, if you don't plant, it doesn't grow. If it would grow anyway, this would show that Hashem is in control over everything that's there in the world, and He's in control over nature, that even though naturally this shouldn't grow, it grows. That's the second step. So the first step, He's in control over the person; the second step, He's in control over everything that belongs to the person. Then comes the third thing, which means, which says that all the fruit is hefker because of the mitzvah of Shemitah. This comes to show another point, that even after Hashem gave me whatever He gave me, He's still in control. See, one a person might think, one might think, true, everything comes from Hashem. Hashem is in control over me, Hashem is in control over nature, He's the boss, so whatever I have, He gives me. But after He gave it to me, now it's mine. Now He's not in control anymore, now it's mine. And there are some people who even realize that I am obligated to utilize everything He gave me to serve Him. Everything He gave me I'm supposed to use for the sake of Hashem. But they think that I'm supposed to use that which is mine for the sake of Hashem. Which means they start feeling that it's mine. Hashem is in control, it's His. He gave it to me, now it's mine. Now, I have an obligation to use my possessions to serve God. That's false. It's not mine. Even after He gave it to me, it's His. And that we see through this third point of Shemitah. The fact that the food that grows after I did not work on the field is hefker, belongs not to me, belongs to to everybody as Hashem wants. That's the third point of Shemitah. These three points, which are very, very fundamental ideas in Yiddishkeit, and during the year of Shemitah an Yid would be absorbed with this feeling because of these three points, when Shemitah was over and he started working in the fields again, it was possible for an Yid to forget. It wears off. So Hashem gave us the mitzvah of Hakhel, that through reading those special portions in the Torah that we have, that brings out the same idea. And it's not in the year of Shemitah, so it's supposed to take those ideas and continue it into the year after. Let's look through. What did they what did the king read during the year of shemitah? So, I'll repeat again what I said before in the Rambam. He read from the beginning of chumash through Shema. Then he read the parshah of והיה אם שמוע. Then he read the parshah of the עשר תעשר, which talks about giving תרומה ומעשר, and then it continues with the ברכות and the קללות, and then the parshah of the king. The parshah of Shema shows that Hashem is my boss. שמע ישראל השם אלקינו השם אחד means, I have to remember Hashem is one. ואהבת את השם אלקיך, I love Hashem. So, that is the continuation of the first point of shemitah, which is to realize that Hashem is my boss. I'm not in my own I'm not the baal habayit, I'm not in control, Hashem is in control over me. That's what the first parshah of Kriat Shema says. So, that's parallel to the first part of shemitah. Till פרשת שמע is an introduction to פרשת שמע. But the main thing was the parshah of Shema, that is the continuation of that first part of shemitah. The next part that they read was the parshah of והיה אם שמוע. What does it say in the parshah of והיה אם שמוע? It says very clearly there that only if we keep the mitzvot, Hashem will give us our parnasah. והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי, if you listen to the mitzvot, then ואספת דגנך, you will gather your grain, etc., etc. What does that show? That Hashem is not only in control over me, He is in control over nature. When will things grow? Things will only grow if I listen to Hashem. So, that shows that Hashem is in control over nature. So, that's the second point, that not only is He in control over me, He's in control over my possessions, He's in control over everything that's in the world. Then comes the third part that they read, עשר תעשר, etc., which talks about giving תרומה ומעשר, taking off parts of the food, the crop that I gathered, which came to me because I behaved properly, I listened to the mitzvot, I got food. So the Torah says, no, still not yours. Take off from, I want you to give this to the כהן, give this to the לוי, give this to the poor man, to do this, this is holy, all these different things. That's the next פרשה that they read. That's supposed to be parallel to the third part, which is the part showing that even after I have it, I'm not in control, it's all Hashem's. And that's with Hakhel. The next part was the ברכות and the קללות, that Hashem we read the part that if we do everything that we mentioned before, you will be blessed. And then finally, the last thing they read was the פרשה of the king, because who had this power of instilling within the Yidden this feeling was the king. It's a mitzvah, I mentioned that earlier, there's a מצוה מינוי מלך, שום תשים עליך מלך, make a king. And the mitzvah was not in order to have a ruler to run the country. The reason Hashem wanted us to have king a king, is because the king was supposed to be the greatest tzadik, and he would be the one to help the Jews get close to Hashem. He would be the one to instill within the Jews the yirat shamayim. As we always explain the concept of what the function of a Rebbe is, the function of a Rebbe is that he, being so close to Hashem, is able to help us to get close to Hashem. Since he is so batel, he's so nullified to Hashem, he's able to teach us, and by us being close to him, he brings us up higher, makes us close to Hashem. And I'll mention again what I mentioned many times, by in halacha of Shemoneh Esrei it says that when we daven Shemoneh Esrei, the Amidah, there are certain places that we have to bend down, and then we get up. It says in Gemara that when the king would daven Shemoneh Esrei, he would start off Shemoneh Esrei by bending down, and he was supposed to stay that way throughout the whole Shemoneh Esrei. Why? Because bending down shows that he was batel, bowing down to Hashem. His level was so great, he was so batel, so nullified to Hashem that he the whole Shemoneh Esrei he was supposed to daven that way. So the king is the one that instills in the Jews this feeling. And these are the different פרשיות that the king read. The whole purpose was to take what Shemita stood for and to make sure that we don't forget it, and to bring it into the year after, and that's how it will continue, and that's why they read these four פרשיות. But the bottom line of it all is one thing, is to instill the proper feeling of yirat shamayim and kabbalat ol and acceptance of the yoke of Hashem in all these details, but that was the main point. That's why the Rambam said, even if someone didn't even hear the words, the מעמד, the מעמד the, I don't even know what English word is, the the the situation at the time of Hakhel itself, the fact that you had all the Yidden there together, the king stood there, was reading the Torah, the מעמד itself made the Yidden feel that they're standing by Har Sinai, and this instilled with them the feeling of yirat shamayim.

And I want to mention another point: the idea of gaining yirat shamayim through the mitzvah of Hakhel is not a result of Hakhel, it is the mitzvah itself. I don't want to get too complicated, there are certain things, certain mitzvot that we have that there is the act of the mitzvah, and then there is the purpose of the mitzvah. There is a kavana in the mitzvah, you're supposed to have something in mind, and this is supposed to accomplish something, it's supposed to make you feel something. We have two parts: we have the mitzvah itself, like for instance the mitzvah of tefillin, let's use that as an example. We know what the mitzvah of tefillin is, you take the tefillin, you put it on, and you wear it, that's the mitzvah of tefillin. What is it supposed to do? So we know that the kavana of the mitzvah of tefillin is לשעבד המוח והלב, it's supposed to make a Yid feel that he is giving over his heart and his mind and his hands, all to Hashem. So it's put on top of his head next to his heart, on his hands, and the meaning of tefillin is that he's giving himself over to Hashem. This is the purpose of the mitzvah of tefillin, but nevertheless, no one's going to say that the mitzvah of tefillin is this, giving yourself over to Hashem. That's the result of the mitzvah of tefillin, but we have the mitzvah in itself. By Hakhel we can't say that there is a mitzvah of gathering together, the result of the mitzvah will be you will get more yirat shamayim, that's not it. The getting yirat shamayim this is the mitzvah itself. The mitzvah is to stand there and get yirat shamayim, this is something that many most mitzvot don't have. This is what the mitzvah of Hakhel is. And the Rebbe has all kinds of proofs from the Rambam, that this is according to the Rambam the mitzvah of Hakhel. See some people think the mitzvah of Hakhel is to gather the people together, the mitzvah of Hakhel is that the king reads for them, then what will you gain? You will gain that people will have yirat shamayim. That's not so, this is the mitzvah itself. And because this is the mitzvah itself, we can understand that even though nowadays We don't have the mitzvah of Hakhel, but we are able to fulfill the mitzvah of Hakhel like they used to in the time of the Beit Hamikdash. You see, let me explain it. Many things that they used to do in the time of the Beit Hamikdash we don't do now. Korbanot, all kinds of things we don't do now. Nevertheless, we know that spiritually we are able to fulfill this mitzvah. Take for instance korbanot, we don't bring sacrifices. We know תפלות במקום קרבנות, davenen in the place of korbanot. We know that learning about the korbanot is in place of korbanot. We know every person has a spiritual Beit Hamikdash within him, and certain things that a person could do, when you do teshuvah it's like bringing a korban, etc., etc. But still, we are not fulfilling the physical mitzvah of the korban. The spiritual part of the korban we will be doing. By Hakhel, because the whole mitzvah was the instillment of yirat shamayim, we are able now to fulfill that mitzvah of Hakhel the same way they did then. We just can't do it in the same form as they did then. The form, the shape was then that they had to physically walk to Yerushalayim, physically be in the Beit Hamikdash, physically have the king. So that's the form of how the mitzvah was done. But the mitzvah itself is able to be done now also. See, in korbanot we could only do the spiritual part, we cannot do the mitzvah itself, but by Hakhel we could. And therefore, even though nowadays we don't have Hakhel, as a matter of fact Hakhel happens to be a mitzvah that we don't even do anything as a zecher, as a remembrance, which is a very strange thing, and the Rebbe himself at one point asked the question and didn't give an answer. Because he wonders, we find so many things that we do zecher l'Mikdash, as a remembrance of the Beis Hamikdash. Just as an example, why do we have the mitzvah of etrog and lulav seven days during Sukkos, and the Torah it says you should do it the first day and that's it? In the Beis Hamikdash they used to do it seven days, because it says in the Torah seven days in the Beis Hamikdash. As a zecher l'Mikdash we do it seven days. Why do we shlag hoshanos, why do we go around hoshanos on Sukkos? Zecher l'Mikdash. Why do we eat Pesach night what we call the Hallel sandwich, Korech? Zecher l'Mikdash, because in the Beis Hamikdash that's how they used to do it. Even though it doesn't apply truthfully, but it's a zecher to the Mikdash. Why don't we have a zecher to the Mikdash of the mitzvah of Hakhel? Good question. I don't know the answer. But on the other hand, we don't have a zecher, but we are able to fulfill the mitzvah much more than any other thing that we do a zecher. When we do the zecher by eating the Hallel sandwich, we don't do the mitzvah that they did in the Beis Hamikdash. We do something which reminds us of what used to be done in the Beis Hamikdash, but we don't do the same mitzvah. But Hakhel, being that Hakhel, not the purpose, but the mitzvah itself is the instillment of yirat shamayim, so when we talk about yirat shamayim, especially during the time of Hakhel, and especially during the year of Hakhel, because since the whole year is called Hakhel, whatever Hakhel stands for is supposed to be strengthened throughout the whole year, we are actually fulfilling the mitzvah of Hakhel. In other words, by us standing right here now and talking about Hakhel, and understanding that this is supposed to instill yirat shamayim, it's not only we're talking about Hakhel, it's not only we're making a zecher to the mitzvah of Hakhel, we are actually fulfilling what Hakhel is. It's not at the same time then, it was Sukkos night, not the same place, but the mitzvah is being done, because the mitzvah of Hakhel is this instillment of yirat shamayim. And let me add one more point. I quoted from the Rambam before that the kohanim before Hakhel would go out and blow trumpets and gather all the people together to come to Hakhel. And the question that's asked, why would this be the job of the kohanim? The kohanim, their job is not to go outside of Jerusalem and do things to help Yidden outside. Their job was inside the Beit Hamikdash. Their job was to bring korbanot. And here, all of a sudden, it says that they have to go out and gather the people to Hakhel. Rambam doesn't bring this, but in Tosefta it says a very, very sharp words. He says if a kohen would not do it, there is a doubt whether he's a kohen. I think the expression is דומה שאינו כהן, like as if he's not a kohen. Obviously this is a fundamental concept in the kehunah. Why? And the answer is because korbanot and Hakhel have the same meaning. What's korbanot? To bring a korban means to get close to Hashem. The word korban comes from the word kiruv, closeness, to get close to Hashem. And when a Yid would bring a korban, the result of the korban would be it would make him closer to Hashem. Hakhel, the mitzvah of Hakhel is what korbanot are. And therefore the kohanim's job, since their job was to bring korbanot, their job was to make sure Hakhel is done properly, and all the people come to Hakhel. Because this brings even closer. And that's why it says by Hakhel they used to blow the trumpets. Trumpets in Hebrew are חצוצרות, and we have the famous vort of the Mezritcher Maggid when Hashem commanded Moshe Rabbeinu, he said to him, עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף, make to yourself, make for you two trumpets. So the Mezritcher Maggid pointed out the word חצוצרות is made up of two words: חצי צורות, half of faces, two half faces. There are two things that each one is only a half, and when they get together, that's only, that's only then it becomes one. And what is that? Hashem and the Yidden. We without feeling close to Hashem are half. Hashem without us, kivayachol so to speak, is half. שתי חצוצרות. Hakhel, the purpose of Hakhel is to make us one with Hashem, to bring us closer to Hashem, that's why they blew with חצוצרות, they blew with these trumpets. Since this is what the purpose of the mitzvah of Hakhel is, the Rebbe says that throughout the whole year of Hakhel, we should constantly be מקהיל קהלות, we should make Hakhel, not a one-time thing. We should look for opportunities to get together and gather people together. And the head, just like the king would read the Torah and instill yirat shamayim through reading the Torah, we have to do that too. And the Rebbe said like this: start with yourself. We are the leader of ourselves. That's our, the top, we are the ראש of ourselves. Let's gather our כוחות הנפש, our attributes, and let's work on them to instill yirat shamayim. A father in the family, a mother in the family, a leader in the community, whatever position you are, if you're only able to gather people, the year of Hakhel is the best time that you will accomplish. So besides that this is Hakhel and therefore it's an obligation upon us to do it, it's a time when it's easier to succeed. Because if this is the opportunity, this is the auspicious time, we will succeed faster. And this is what שנת הקהל is. We don't have the mitzvah of Hakhel physically, there's no halachah that we have to do it. The truth is that there was a time, not so very long ago, that certain Rabbanim got together and that they said, let's, you know what, let's reinstitute Hakhel. Let's make a proclamation that everyone should come to Yerushalayim, and we'll all gather together, and we'll have somebody very great, the greatest person will sit and read the Torah. And many גדולי ישראל were against it. The Rebbe himself once spoke, it seemed like he was very much against such a concept because this is something that we have to wait for the Beit HaMikdash. On the other hand, the meaning of Hakhel, not the physical part of it, the physical shape of how they did it, but the true meaning of Hakhel, that the Rebbe said we have to do now and much more than other times because it's much more needed. The Rebbe said if we do the mitzvah of Hakhel properly, then we will have the real Hakhel. The word Hakhel means to gather the kahal, the nation. When Mashiach will come, the pasuk says: קהל גדול ישובו הנה. The kahal, the great kahal, the great community, all the Yidden will return to Yerushalayim, to Eretz Yisrael, to Yerushalayim, with the קיבוץ גליות when Hashem will gather all the Yidden from galut. So if we do the mitzvah of Hakhel the way we're supposed to, Hashem will say, you're doing your Hakhel, you know what, I'll do my Hakhel. And Hashem will gather all the Yidden together and bring us to Yerushalayim, and then we will have the real yirat shamayim, we will see the truth of Hashem and the whole world will recognize Hashem. And then we will be together with Mashiach and together with Hashem in Yerushalayim, and we hope it's going to be still in this year of Hakhel that we will still have this קהל גדול ישובו הנה very soon. Amen.

Yes? I may have missed if you mentioned this, but did Hakhel have to be done in the Beit HaMikdash? I know the Rambam says that's where it was done, but was it, was it me'akev on the...? If it's me'akev you're asking, if it's not there if it's missing something. I don't think it's me'akev, I know it doesn't say it. But the place for it to be done is in the עזרה. As a matter of fact, why was it done מוצאי יום טוב? In Chumash it doesn't say, in Chumash it says Chag HaSukkot, so it would seem right the first, the first night. So it says, because since it had to be done in the בית המקדש, and the only way it could be done is if they would build a stage and have the king stand on it. So if they would build a stage and have it there Yom Tov, it would take up so much place that during Yom Tov they couldn't really do the avodah and everything else. So they had to wait until Motza'ei Yom Tov, and then they would first put in the stage, and that's when they did Hakhel. The avodah was done by then? What, but they had to bring korbanot, I mean there was a lot of work there, not the avodah actually of the korban itself, but there were so many things that had to be done that this would, the lashon in the Yerushalmi that it would crowd the עזרה. עזרה. Do we find that there were melachim that didn't do this? Melachim? Oh, I mean kings, sure. Sure. Agrippas, even later generations, sure we find. The halachah is, according to many, that if if the king can't do it or for some reason he's not there, then a great another great person would do it. The greatest person. Doesn't have to be only, but originally, king. How about David? Why didn't David didn't have the בית המקדש. But Shlomo HaMelech, I'm sure he did it. I don't know for sure, I haven't Well, that's it, look up a certain The question was without a בית המקדש. Without a בית המקדש, for sure. No, I didn't understand you then. I thought if there is a בית המקדש, can you do it a little outside of the בית המקדש? No, it's definitely talui in the בית המקדש. Now, then I didn't understand. It definitely depends on the time of the בית המקדש, you can't do it without a בית המקדש. Oh, okay. What I was answering you, I don't know if it has to be in that area, what happens if there's a בית המקדש and they moved it a little bit further outside. That's why I tried to say that it has to be inside, I guess, but bediavad, what happens if you can't for some reason, I don't know if you can do it outside. So they had a king without the בית המקדש, you can't You can't do it. No, you can't do it. If there's a בית המקדש without a king You could. You could. Right, right. Yes, yes. Is this the year of Hakhel? This is the year of Hakhel. Last year was shemittah, and this is the year of Hakhel. Right, right. Okay. Huh? What? Who would do it if there wasn't a king? So the gadol, there's the head of Sanhedrin or the greatest person if there wasn't a king.