Renewal of the Hakhel Ceremony in Jerusalem and New York[1]

By Aaron R. Katz

A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and a musmach of RIETS, Aaron is the Associate Director, Private Equity and M&A Finex at WTW Israel. He lives with his wife and four children in Mishkafayim, Ramat Bet Shemesh.

As we come to the final days of the Shmitah year, preparations will soon begin for the Zecher LeHakhel events that will occur starting with the new year of 5783 (2022), which is a Motzei Shmitah year (the year following the Shmitah year).

During Chol Hamoed Sukkot in 2015, a Zecher LeHakhel ceremony took place in the courtyard in front of the Kotel. As the corresponding Hebrew year of 5776 immediately followed a Shmitah year, the event was a commemoration of the biblically-ordained Hakhel ceremony[2] in which the entire nation would assemble during Sukkot[3] of every Motzei Shmitah year for a public reading by the king of certain parts of Deuteronomy.[4] Present at the event at the Kotel were numerous dignitaries, including the Ashkenazi and Sefardi Chief Rabbis, as well as President Reuven Rivlin.

 The current Hakhel ceremony traces its roots to R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (1843-1905) (the “Aderet” and the father-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook), who discussed the establishment of a commemoration of Hakhel in his book Zecher LeMikdash in 1889 (the Hebrew year of 5649, which itself was a Shmitah year), a work that was anonymously published but has been conclusively determined to have been written by him.[5] The first modern-day ceremony took place in 1945, following the end of the 5705 Shmitah year, under the auspices of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog. The ceremony began in the Yeshurun Synagogue and concluded at the Kotel. In 1952, following the 5712 Shmitah year, the Hakhel ceremony was held on Mt. Zion (as the Kotel was under Jordanian rule at the time) and was attended by both R. Herzog and Sefardi Chief Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel. A book titled Zecher LeMitzvat Hakhel, edited by R. Mordechai Cohen, appeared shortly after the ceremony and contains a lengthy discussion of the Hakhel ceremony, as well as pictures and a description of the 1952 event. [6]

In the Nisan 5713 (March/April 1953) edition of Yeshiva University’s Talpioth journal includes two articles on Hakhel, including one by the journal’s editor R. Samuel K. Mirsky, under the title: “Renewal of Hakhel.”[7] At the end of that same journal appears a Hebrew description of a Hakhel ceremony that took place in New York. The description was written by a certain צ.ט.. (which most certainly refers to R. Zvi Tabory, who took part in the event as mentioned below). An English translation of this description from Talpioth appears below.[8]

Hakhel Gathering in New York

On Wednesday, the third day of Chol Hamoed Sukkot, a special gathering took place at the Commodore Hotel in New York to commemorate the Hakhel ceremony.

The gathering was organized by the Jewish Agency’s Department for Torah Education and Culture in the Diaspora to allow the Jews of the Diaspora the opportunity to identify with our brethren in the State of Israel who were assembling at the same time on the summit of Mt. Zion in Jerusalem to take part in a Hakhel ceremony organized by the Chief Rabbinate and the Ministry of Religion, the first such event since the establishment of the State.

The Rabbinical Council of America co-organized this gathering together with the Jewish Agency’s Department for Torah Education and Culture in the Diaspora (the “Department”), and this joint effort was extremely successful. A large celebratory crowd filled the hall, and hundreds of people were forced to go home for lack of space.

Dr. Yosef Burg, Israel’s Health Minister, inspired those assembled with his words on the responsibilities of a Jew, whoever he may be, to the State of Israel. R. Samuel K. Mirsky gave an instructive talk on the renewal of the practice of Hakhel in Israel. R. Zvi Tabory, Director of the Department in New York, opened the evening and pointed out the historic nature of the event, which comes on the heels of the revival of our nation in its land. He also delivered words of blessing on behalf of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the head of the Department, R. Zev Gold of Jerusalem. The participants enthusiastically accepted the blessing from Zion: “Just as you have merited to organize this event, so may you merit to perform the ritual properly according to all of its laws in the restored Temple in Jerusalem!” R. Israel Tabak of Baltimore, head of the Education Department of the Rabbinical Council of America, served as the master of ceremonies for the event and introduced R. Theodore Adams, the President of the Rabbinical Council of America, who discussed the concept of Jewish unity. Dr. Pinkhos Churgin, President of Mizrachi in America, delivered words of blessing on behalf of the Mizrachi organization, and R. Yissocher Levin, President of Hapoel HaMizrachi in America, delivered words of blessing from his organization.[9] Mr. Eliezer Doron, Israeli Consul General of New York, delivered words of blessing on behalf of the State of Israel.

A musical program was arranged by Cantor Shalom Katz from Washington, D.C., and Cantor Pinchas Jassinowsky from New York. Mrs. Jassinowsky accompanied them on the piano. 

R. Zvi Yehuda Meltzer, Av Bet Din of Rehovot and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hadarom in Israel, recited a special prayer for world peace.

It is quite unfortunate that an event of this caliber only occurs once every seven years; however, we can hope that the inspiration and excitement felt on this occasion will sustain the Jewish community for the next seven years.

The organizers of the event did not want to limit its scope simply to New York; rather, they intended to extend it to outlying cities as well. In turning to rabbis across the United States to suggest that they arrange Hakhel commemoration events in their respective communities, they offered a sample program, attached materials on the topic of Hakhel, and provided copies of the thorough, instructive, powerfully impactful article on Hakhel written by R. Samuel K. Mirsky, an advanced edition of which had been published in honor of the celebration held on Chol Hamoed Sukkot.

In addition, the Department arranged a celebratory Hakhel event for upperclassmen from yeshiva day schools that took place in the large hall of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. This event was also held during Chol Hamoed Sukkot, and 1,200 students from 20 different yeshiva day schools participated. Students from the Shulamith School for Girls put on a wonderful play about the draining of the Hula swamps. A choir of one hundred students from Yeshiva Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik and Yeshiva Rabbi Israel Salanter, conducted by Mr. S. Silbermintz, sung a number of pleasant tunes for the audience.

These young children also lit candles and prayed for world peace, and it is certain that this event left a lasting impact on the attendants.

Conclusion

This post focuses on the rebirth of the modern Hakhel ceremony in the years of 1945 and 1952. In a future post, I hope to examine the manner in which the ceremony was observed in later years in both Israel and the diaspora. Of particular interest is whether R. Mirsky’s push for widespread of observance of Hakhel in the diaspora made a lasting impact following the successful 1952 event.  

Notes:

[1] I wish to thank my dear friends Rabbi Shaul Seidler-Feller, Mr. Menachem Butler and Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Brodt for their assistance on this brief essay at the Seforim blog. The essay is dedicated to the memory of my beloved chavrusa Donny Ladell, דניאל שבתי בן אליעזר ז“ל, upon his thirteenth yahrtzeit.
[2] See Deuteronomy, ch. 31. Also see the recently published Parshas Ha’melech by R. Moshe Parness on pages 118-120 where he quotes the relevant sources that discuss that Hakhel is only a biblical commandment in force as long as the Beit Hamikdash is standing. There is also a sefer called Parshas Ha’melech by R. Shmuel Genut on Hakhel that was just published this summer as a third edition (with the earlier two editions having been published in the two previous Motzei Shmitah years, respectively) that discusses the mitzvah of Hakhel, online here.
[3] For an in-depth discussion on the exact day of when Hakhel would take place, see David Henshke, “When is the Time of Hakhel?” Tarbiz, vol. 61, no. 2 (1992): 177-194 (Hebrew), available here.
[4] See Rambam, Hilchot Chagigah, ch. 3. For a detailed analysis of the Rambam’s opinion and a description of the proper halachic manner in which to conduct a Zecher LeHakhel event, see Maran Ovadya Yosef, Chazon Ovadya: Hilchot Shmitat Ksafim uPruzbul (Jerusalem, 2015), 219-228 (Hebrew), as well as his responsum in She’elot u-Teshuvot Yabia Omer, Yoreh Deah, vol. 10, no. 22. Maran Ovadya Yosef was prominently involved in numerous “Zecher LeHakhel events” at the Kotel. I was privileged to see him in person in 2008 at the last Zecher LeHakhel he attended before his passing in 2013.
[5] See Yaakov S. Spiegel, Amudim be-Toldot ha-Sefer ha-Ivri / Chapters in the History of the Jewish Book, vol. 3: The Title Page (Jerusalem, 2014), 35-36 (Hebrew), regarding the anonymously published Zecher Lemikdash, which includes an approbation from Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, known as the Aderet, as well as comments that the Aderet himself wrote on the work, which Spiegel notes was purposely done by the Aderet in order to conceal that he himself authored the work.

Note that the Ahavat Shalom edition of all of the Aderet’s writings was published in 2004 and the Zecher Lemikdash volume contains the original Zecher Lemikdash that was anonymously published as well as additional writings from the Aderet that has not previously been published (see pages 22-24 and 82-85).

See also the recently-published volume of The Collected Writings of R. Moshe Reines, ed. Eliezer Brodt (Jerusalem, 2018), 604 (Hebrew), where R. Reines identifies the Aderet as the author of Zecher Lemikdash. For more on this work, see here. Also see Ari D. Kahn, “The Commandment of Hakhel,” Explorations (25 September 2015), notes 2-3, available here, regarding the authorship of Zecher Lemikdash. R. Parness in Parshas Ha’melech (see source 2 above) also quotes Zecher Lemikdash though he argues with one of the Aderet’s sources.
[6] This sefer is available online here.

In a recently published collection of writings of the Chazon Ish titled Sefer Chazon Ish: Shailos uTeshuvos v’Chiddushim, it is recorded in Siman 446 that on his copy of the Sefer Zecher LeMitzvat Hakhel, the Chazon Ish wrote that “assur la’asot ken” (it is forbidden to do so). Perhaps the Chazon Ish’s opinion may serve as one source for the general resistance of Ashkenazi haredi circles to joining in the event at the Kotel, which is more closely identified with the national religious movement (at least from the perspective of Ashkenazim). Notably, since the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was a proponent of Hakhel events (see, for example, the letter from R. Schneerson in the beginning of Zecher LeMitzvat Hakhel), the Chabad movement hosts numerous such events around the world throughout the entire year following Shmitah. For a synopsis of R. Schneerson’s views on Hakhel, see, for example, two articles by Shmuel Butman, “A Special Year: Hakhel Gatherings for Torah Inspiration,” The Jewish Press (23 September 1994): 19; and Shmuel Butman, “The Year of Hakhel,” The Jewish Press (21 October 1994): 36. See also the Likras Shabbos volume (volume 516, Parshas Veyelech, 5776) published by Or Hachasidus which contains many insights on Hakhel from R. Schneerson.
[7] Talpioth, vol. 6, no. 1-2 (March-April 1953): 92-118 (Hebrew).

Several months prior to the publication of his Talpioth article, R. Mirsky published two articles in English-language publications on Hakhel in Samuel K. Mirsky, “Hakhel,” The Jewish Forum, vol. 35, no. 9 (October 1952): 167-169; and Samuel K. Mirsky, “The Forgotten Mitzvah,” The Jewish Horizon, vol. 15, no. 2 (October 1952): 3-4. See also the article by R. Mirsky’s brother-in-law in Gersion Appel, “Renewing the Covenant: The Importance of Hakhel for the Jewish Faith and Its Implications for Today,” The Jewish Horizon, vol. 15, no. 6 (February 1953): 6-9.

Interestingly, R. Mirsky posited, based on R. Eliezer of Metz, that there are really two separate Mitzvot involved with Hakhel, one of which is a commandment directed to the entire nation and one of which aims at the individual. R. Mirsky wrote that the individual commandment had been transformed into the modern-day celebration of Simchat Torah, and that, with the establishment of a Jewish state, the national commandment can now be renewed, concluding that “only a Hakhel in which the national aspect is emphasized in fitting celebration can fill the demand of the hour.”

For an initial biographical tribute to R. Samuel K. Mirsky, see Yehudah Mirsky, “The New Heavens in the New World: The Religious Hebraism of Samuel K. Mirsky,” in Adam S. Ferziger and David Sperber, eds., Darkhei Daniel – The Paths of Daniel: Studies in Judaism and Jewish Culture in Honor of Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2017), 101*-128*, available here.
[8] The JTA also has a write-up of the New York event. See online here:

“A parallel celebration of the revival for the first time in 2,000 years of “Hakhel,” the Biblical ceremony which was performed in ancient Israel at the end of every Sabbatical year, took place at the Hotel Commodore here tonight at a public service sponsored by the Jewish Agency and the Rabbinical Council of America. The service was a counterpart of a similar celebration held in Jerusalem earlier this week on Mount Zion under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. A message from Dr. Nahum Goldmann emphasizing that the furtherance of Jewish scholarship and culture in its various forms is of decisive importance for the survival of the Jewish people and of Judaism, was read at the service here. A “Hakhel” ceremony for children, attended by 1,200 pupils of 19 Hebrew day schools in New York, was held yesterday at the Yeshiva University.”

[9] Note that at this time, Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi were two Israeli political separate parties. These parties later combined for the 1955 Knesset elections and ultimately merged in 1956 to form the National Religious Party.