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We intrinsically want our children to know, understand, and love Torah. We see the importance of creating experiences for ourselves and for our children to help develop and ultimately enhance an appreciation of Torah in this week’s parsha, Parshat Vayelech, when Moshe instructs B'nei Yisrael regarding the mitzvah of Hakhel.
"And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission, in the Festival of Sukkot, When all Israel comes to appear before your God in the place that [God] will choose, you shall read this Torah aloud in the presence of all Israel. Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Torah."
B'nei Yisrael learns that they must gather all together (men, women, and children) to hear the melech read the Torah. Years later, when they actually perform this directive, we can imagine they understand how significant this mandate is, having received the Torah in the midbar and now being in a position to relive that awesome experience once every seven years by coming together as a nation in Israel to hear the beautiful words of the Torah.
We can envisage the mitzvah of Hakhel being felt by B'nei Yisrael in a special and significant way. They have the incredible experience of going on the journey to Yerushalayim with one's entire family, of hearing the blast of the shofar to signal the gathering. They have the dynamic of everyone coming together to experience Hakhel, of seeing the melech on the bimah, and of listening to the words of the Torah being read to them in this dramatic setting.
Torah enters our hearts and souls when we not only make sure that we know and understand Torah, but when we also truly feel and experience the Torah that we are learning. Hearing the shofar, eating new fruits, doing teshuva, sitting in the sukkah, and doing hakafot on Simchat Torah are all opportunities for us to experience the Torah we are learning over the next few weeks.
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