Just imagine the scene. Every single Jew, including men, women and children, assembles in the Beit Hamikdash area the Sukkot after the Shemittah year (like this year) to hear the melech recite portions of Sefer Devarim. A very impressive and intense event indeed! What is its purpose, though? The instruction of Torah cannot be the goal, since there are far more effective means of teaching than a mass gathering of the nation crammed into the Beit Hamikdash. This is hardly an optimal learning environment.

Rambam explains that the goal is not simply the study of Sefer Devarim but a grand reenactment of Ma’amad Har Sinai. In fact, everything about Hakhel is intended to recreate the Sinai experience. Hakhel takes place during Sukkot, when we reenact our housing conditions in the midbar. It takes place after the Shemittah year, a year where we are not sustained by our own efforts, but rather by Hashem, just as we did for the 40 years we lived in Midbar Sinai.

When one has re-lived Har Sinai it is transformed from a distant historical event to a first-hand experience. Armed with this attitude he will communicate the Har Sinai experience to the next generation with the excitement and freshness of a first-generation witness instead of a version watered down through the centuries.

How fortunate are those who experience Hakhel or at least the zecher l’Hakhel that will be performed this year at the Kotel (in the event Mashiach does not arrive before). For those who will not participate, here is a suggestion: Imagine yourself with your family attending Hakhel. Imagination is a powerful tool and can be as impactful as an actual experience. May we all merit experiencing the power of Hakhel propelling our spiritual growth in 5776!

Rabbi Haim Jachter is spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck.

By Rabbi Haim Jachter