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This page was last updated: August 27, 2009


With no blowing of trumpets

When the Temple still stood, Hakhel (the Hebrew word for assembly) took place after every shmita, or once every seven years. The ceremony was held on the Temple Mount on the first evening of Sukkot. Historical sources say that trumpets were blown throughout Jerusalem and large wooden stages were erected on the mount. The king would then read out portions of the Book of Deuteronomy to the assembled audience. The colorful ritual was intended to preserve the memory of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.  Even King Agrippas I, the Roman-Jewish grandson of Herod, conducted the Hakhel, earning cries of "You are our brother!"

In 1987, a substitute was found for the king in the person of Chaim Herzog, who was then president of Israel. Herzog read the relevant chapters of Deuteronomy to the entire "Who's Who" of Israeli officialdom, from prime minister Yitzhak Shamir to Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar. Trumpeters from the Temple Institute blew trumpets, a cantorial choir and the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra provided music, and three huge video screens broadcast what transpired to the assembled multitude.

This was the first time since the Six-Day War that Hakhel was held at the Western Wall. The last time the event was held at the Western Wall had been in 1946, before the establishment of the state. Then, too, it aroused great excitement. Masses of people flocked to Jerusalem. They came first to the Yeshurun Synagogue, where they recited psalms of praise, and then they marched to the Western Wall.

Another shmita year ended about 10 days ago, and during the intermediate days of this coming Sukkot holiday, which begins next week, another Hakhel event will be held. Or to be more precise, two events, accompanied by fierce controversy..............  source
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Hakhel  refers to the Biblically-mandated practice of assembling all Jewish men, women and children to hear the reading of the Torah by the king of Israel once every seven years. This ceremony took place at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem during Sukkot in the year following a Shmita year.

At the end of every seven years, at an appointed time, in the Festival of Sukkot [following] the year of Shemitah.

"When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord, your G‑d, in the place He will choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears. Assemble the people: the men, the women, the children..."  Deuteronomy 31:10-12.

In ancient Israel, every seventh year was a Shemitah ("sabbatical") year. For an entire year, the nation's economy came to a standstill as all farmers and agrarian workers abandoned their fields and flocked en masse to the study houses where for a full year they focused on their spiritual, rather than physical needs.

Now, at the onset of the eighth year (the first in the new seven-year cycle), the nation is ready to head back to the fields and orchards. But first, on the second day of the holiday of Sukkot, sixteen days into the new year, all gather in the Holy Temple for a dose of inspiration. Inspiration to tide them over for the next six years, most of whose time would be spent in business endeavors.

This event was known as Hakhel, "assemble!" It was the only event that required the attendance of every Jew, reminiscent of the historic moment when our nation stood at Mount Sinai, when every member of our nation was present when God lovingly gave  the Torah.

Converts  are required to prepare themselves and apply their ears to listen with awe, reverence and joyful trepidation, as on the day the Torah was given at Sinai. Even great scholars who are versed in the entire Torah are obligated to listen with great concentration.

Once the entire nation had gathered, the king, situated on a specially constructed platform in the Temple's courtyard, was handed the Torah scroll that Moses himself had written. The king recited a blessing and then read aloud several portions from the Book of Deuteronomy, and then concluded with several more blessings.


According to the Mishnah, the mitzvah of Hakhel was performed throughout the years of the Second Temple era and during the First Temple era as well. It was discontinued after the destruction of the Temple and the dispersal of the Jewish people from their land. In the twentieth century, however, it was revived by the government of Israel and by groups of Jews in other places on a symbolic basis.


    Reconnecting with our Past, Reaching toward our
                                           Future
                             2000 Years of Silence Come to an End

        Hakhel Ceremony Picture Gallery on the Temple Mount


While the nations of the world are being rocked by financial turbulence and meteorological volatility, in the holy city of Jerusalem history is being written with a steady hand amidst increasing signs that the long awaited redemption is at last drawing near.

Wednesday, October 15th, the first day of Chol Hamoed, (1st day of the intermediate days of Sukkot), the designated day for the biblically commanded Hakhel ceremony:

"'At the end of [every] seven years, at an appointed time, in the Festival of Sukkot, [after] the sabbatical year, when all Israel comes to appear before HaShem, your G-d, in the place He will choose you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears.'" (Deuteronomy 31:10)

After months of quiet but intensive behind the scenes meetings with Israel's Internal Security Minister, top Jerusalem police officials, members of Israel's Knesset, and relevant parliamentary committees, (all the tireless effort of Yehudah Glick the Temple Institute's Director), word went out across the length and the breadth of the land of Israel that a Hakhel ceremony would be taking place on Biblical schedule upon the Temple Mount.

The campaign was conducted without fanfare and with no publicity. Years of experience have taught that when word of such plans are picked up by the media hostile elements soon threaten violence, and the police, suffering from cold feet, back down from their commitment.


Two aliyot (ascents) were scheduled, one at 7:30 AM and a second ascent at 12:30 PM to accommodate those arriving from afar. An unprecedented four hundred Jews showed up at 7:30 AM and were ushered onto the Temple Mount. This was the largest gathering of Jews on the Temple Mount at one time since its liberation from the Moslems in 1967 - a true Hakhel, (literally, assembly). Once on the Mount the group was, with the prior consent of the police, able to read aloud the prescribed Hakhel ceremony passages from the book of Deuteronomy. Both the size of the assembly and the public Torah service that took place were unprecedented milestones in the ongoing efforts to spiritually liberate the Temple Mount from Moslem oppression. History was made.

Already well before 12:00 noon people began gathering again at the foot of the Moghrabi Gate ramp in anticipation of the 12:30 PM ascent to the Mount. The excitement was palpable as the line grew longer and longer. Men, women and entire families, some with infants in carriages, from towns on Israel's northernmost border with Lebanon, from the Negev, Israel's southern desert, from the Galilee, Haifa, the coastal cities, and, of course, from the tens of cites and towns of Judea and Samaria, had all answered the call made out by Moses 3,500 years ago to assemble in this spot and at this time.

The line awaiting entrance to the Temple Mount was longer than the line of Sukkot celebrants awaiting entry to the Western Wall plaza, a phenomenon never before witnessed. At last the police began admitting people to the Mount. Surely not anticipating such numbers, woefully undermanned, and sadly insensitive to the electricity in the air and the grandeur of the historical moment, the police security check performed on every individual going up was devastatingly slow.

Twelve o'clock turned to one o'clock and still the majority of participants had not completed the security check. At one thirty PM the police abruptly announced that no more people would be admitted. The reason stated? At 1:30 PM each day the Moslem Wakf, which was granted custodianship of the Mount by the state of Israel, shuts the gates to non-Moslems.

Two hundred people had passed through security and were already on the Mount, performing the Hakhel. More than five hundred were left below. People pleaded with the police to allow them to complete the purpose of their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, The Hakhel organizers entreated the police to allow the group just five minutes on the Temple Mount to quickly read out the required biblical verses, after which they would quietly leave. The police refused. The would-be Hakhel participants stood their ground. Desperate phone calls were made to higher ranking police officials, asking them to intervene to allow the worshippers entry to the Mount. The police bottom line was predictable as it was pathetic: "The Wakf rules the Mount." Exceptions to accommodate Jews trying to peacefully carry out a once-in-seven-years 3,500 year old Biblical injunction was out of the question. The standoff continued for another twenty tense minutes, until suddenly, in a moment of panic, the police brought in re-enforcements who violently pushed the Jews back from the Moghrabi Gate ramp.

Despite the bitter disappointment of all who couldn't make it to the Mount, (and this included Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute), the Hakhel gathering was unprecedented both in the numbers of Jews who did succeed in gathering on the Mount, (over six hundred), and in the number of Jews who arrived who weren't allowed on the Mount, (over five hundred). The recitation of Biblical verses out loud on the Mount with the express consent of the police was also a precedent that will no doubt prove extremely valuable in our ongoing efforts to be able to worship with complete freedom on the Mount. But most importantly, perhaps, we witnessed for ourselves the indefatigable spirit of the Jewish people. Our numbers will only continue to grow, our effort will be redoubled: Jewish worship on the Temple Mount is becoming a reality.

BY THE TIME THE HAKHEL CEREMONY BEGAN, thousands of spectators had already gathered, spilling out of Gan Tekuma into the adjacent open areas. The road above Gan Tekuma filled with people making vehicular traffic impossible. The old city wall which ran high above behind the stage likewise filled with onlookers. A very moving evening ensued. Each of the five kohanim, (Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Avi Kahane, Menachem Cohen, Ariel Reigel and Micha Katz), took turns reading Hakhel verses from a Torah scroll, after which they stood and sounded the silver trumpets.

The golden tzitz was placed upon the head of one of the priests. A description of the details of the priestly garments followed, and as a grand finale the Kiyor was unveiled. The enthusiastic assembly crowded around the Kiyor. Children touched and explored the Brass Laver, while parents described to them how the laver works and how the priests much sanctify their hands and feet each day. The Hakhel ceremony had officially concluded, but for well over an hour people thronged around the Kiyor, savoring, as it were, the magic of the moment, beholding the unfolding of history, the march of destiny. (Temple Mount Institute)

Picture this scene: Millions of Jews – men and women, infants and their great-grandmothers, scholars and laypeople – assembled in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. A hush falls over the mammoth crowd, as the royally bedecked king of Israel ascends on to a platform and reads sections of the holy Torah. The nation is inspired and invigorated. A display of unity and a statement of purpose converge to revitalize and refocus a multifarious people.
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This page was last updated: August 27, 2009