Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Revival of the Hakhel ceremony?

FOR SUKKOT: The ancient Jewish practice of hakhel, an every-7-years gathering, gets a 21st-century revival (Jackie Hajdenberg).
(JTA) — Every seven years, in ancient times, Jewish men, women, and children would gather at the Temple on the first day of Sukkot to hear the king of Jerusalem read aloud from the Torah.

In 2022, there’s no king and no Temple, and more than half of all Jews live far from Jerusalem — but the ritual is still inspiring Jews around the world to gather together. In fact, the tradition, known as hakhel, appears to be seeing a resurgence of popular interest.

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This article focuses on the contemporary situation and is vague about the historical background. Our information about the ancient Hakhel ("Assemble!" - imperative verb) ceremony comes from Deuteronomy 31:9-12 and Mishnah Sotah 7.8.

I noted an essay on the Hakhel ceremony by Aaron Demsky in TheTorah.com here. Another, by Marc Zvi Brettler, is here.

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