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Sukkot and Hakhel:

The Election Antidote

Rabbi Shalom
Hammer

hen we sit together with Every seven years, upon the conclu- Although the event at Sinai took place
friends and family in sion of the Shemitta year, the Jewish long ago, the unity of our nation is
our sukkah, it is worth people perform the mitzvah of hakhel eternally fundamental to our mis-
Wreflecting on its fasci- during the holiday of Sukkot. Hakhel sion and our identity. This message,
nating uniqueness. It is a merging of is derived from the word kahal, con- perhaps more than any other, is the
opposites, a physical structure that gregation, for at this event all of Am essential teaching of Sukkot.
is suffused with spirituality. On the Yisrael would gather together as one in Just a few days after Sukkot, the
one hand, we leave the comforts of Jerusalem to hear words of the Torah.
our permanent home and dwell in a “Assemble the people, the men and people of Israel will once again vote for
a new government. Elections typically
temporary, less comfortable dwell- the women and the little ones… that invite divisiveness and often antago-
ing for seven days – a reminder that they may hear, and that they may nism. This Sukkot, as we celebrate the
our physical existence is temporary learn, and fear the L-rd your G-d, and mitzvah of hakhel, let us impress upon
and that only our spiritual values observe to do all the words of this law”
and accomplishments are eternal. (Devarim 31:12). ourselves and those around us the
significance of achdut and coalition,
Yet it is the physical structure of the The Gemara explains that the reason of working together to strengthen our
sukkah which unifies us as we huddle small children were brought to par- holy nation, physically and spiritually,
together within the small confines of ticipate in this mitzvah, even though in the years ahead.
its walls, recalling the way our forefa-
thers were surrounded and protected they are not obligated in the mitzvot,
is “to give reward to those who bring
by the Clouds of Glory for forty years them”. But I believe there is another Rabbi Shalom Hammer is a lecturer for the
in the wilderness. IDF as well as the founder and director of
important reason for bringing the Makom Meshutaf which offers non-coercive
A kosher sukkah requires two compo- children. While children might not be Jewish educational programming for Pre-Mil-
nents: the schach (thatched roof) and obligated in mitzvot, they are highly itary Academies, under the auspices of World
walls. Rav Yaakov Ariel explains that impressionable. By witnessing the Mizrachi. Rabbi Hammer champions suicide
the schach above us represents the massive gathering of hakhel, they learn prevention and has authored ten books. Learn
spiritual realm of the heavens, protect- to appreciate not only the event itself, more at www.rabbihammer.com.
ing us from natural elements such as but also what it means to be part of a
rain and sun, whereas the walls of the great nation.
sukkah represent the physical realm of
mankind, protecting us from threats In a similar vein, every
year we stand during the
here on earth, as a fortress surrounds
and protects its soldiers or inhabitants. reading of the Ten Com-
mandments, reen-
Together, the walls and schach bind the acting Am Yisrael’s
physical realm of man with the spir-
itual realm of Hashem. Interestingly, acceptance of the
Torah at Sinai
the majority of the laws of the sukkah
concern the walls, implying that our as one uni-
fied people.
focus must be on sanctifying our world
below in order to build a partnership
with Hashem above.
The merging of opposites represented
by the sukkah is also expressed through
one of the holiday’s most important
A member of themes: achdut, solidarity. Whereas the
the Mizrachi
Speakers Bureau schach and walls represent the merg-
ing of heaven and earth, achdut is the
mizrachi.org/ unity and merging of people.
speakers

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