Parshas Nitzavim Vayelech – Why Bring The Children
Imagine thousands of Yidden gathered together in the Beis Hamikdash. Men, women, and children are all standing there as the king reads from the Torah. This was the mitzvah of Hakhel, which took place every seven years on Sukkos following Shemittah. The Torah says: “הַקְהֵל אֶת הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטַף” “Gather the people, the men, the women, and the children" (Devarim 31:12). The Gemara (Chagigah 3a) asks a famous question. We understand why the men came. They came to learn. The women came to hear. But why did the little children have to come? A baby could not understand what the king was reading. The Gemara answers: "טף למה באין? כדי ליתן שכר למביאיהן" "Why were the children brought? In order to give reward to those who brought them.
The Gemara continues with a fascinating story. Rabbi Yochanan ben Broka and Rabbi Elazar ben Chasma once came to visit their rebbi, Rabbi Yehoshua, in Pekiin. Rabbi Yehoshua asked them, “What chiddush was said in the Beis Midrash today?" They were hesitant to answer. “We are your talmidim,” they told him. “We drink from your waters." But Rabbi Yehoshua insisted, and they told him the drasha of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah about Hakhel. When Rabbi Yehoshua heard the teaching that the children were brought in order to give reward to their parents, he exclaimed: "מרגלית טובה היתה בידכם ובקשתם לאבדה ממני" "You had a precious jewel in your hands, and you wanted to keep it from me!” Why did this particular teaching mean so much to Rabbi Yehoshua?
The Meshech Chochmah explains that this was connected to Rabbi Yehoshua's own life. The Yerushalmi tells us that when Rabbi Yehoshua was still a baby, his mother would bring his crib into the Beis Midrash so that his ears would hear words of Torah. Obviously, the baby did not understand a Gemara or a shiur. But his mother understood something very important. A child can absorb much more than we realize. Years later, Rabbi Yehoshua became one of the great Tannaim. When he heard the drasha about Hakhel, he now saw that the Torah itself teaches the value of bringing a child into an atmosphere of Torah even before the child understands what is happening. Perhaps those early sounds of Torah that entered his ears helped shape the person he eventually became. That is why Rabbi Yehoshua called this teaching a “margalis tovah,” a precious jewel. This was not simply another nice vort. It was the story of his own life.
The Maharsham adds another beautiful idea. When parents bring their children to a place of Torah and kedushah, it says something about the parents as well. It shows what they truly value. A father and mother who make the effort to bring their children are saying, without any words, "This is the life we want for our children. This is what matters to us." The Sar Shalom of Belz explains a similar idea regarding a bris milah. In bentching at a bris we ask Hashem to bless the father and mother of the baby, and we mention the child's bris. Why is the father receiving a special bracha for something that happened to the child? The Sar Shalom explains that when a father later brings his own son to a bris, he is showing that he agrees with and values the mitzvah that his parents performed for him when he was eight days old. In a sense, his actions now reveal what he stands for. The same idea can be seen by Hakhel. Parents bring their small children because they want them to grow up surrounded by Torah. The connection to Torah passes from one generation to the next.
But there is still an obvious question. Was it really a good idea to bring thousands of little children to Hakhel? Anyone who has ever been in shul with small children knows what can happen. They make noise. They get restless. They need to be taken out. The parents themselves may not hear as well or have the same concentration. Would it not have been better to leave the children at home so the adults could listen properly? Rav Nosson Adler explains that Hakhel teaches us that sometimes the gain for the children is greater than the loss for the parents. The children may not understand the words. They may even disturb. But they are standing in the Beis Hamikdash together with all of Klal Yisrael. They see the king reading the Torah. They feel the seriousness of the moment. They absorb an atmosphere of Torah, kedushah, and yiras Shamayim. That impression can remain with a child long after the event is over. The parents may lose a little concentration, but they are giving something much greater to their children.
This idea is very relevant during the Yamim Noraim. The shuls are full. Parents bring their children. Sometimes the children become restless, and it is easy to think, “Why bring them? They are not davening anyway. They are just making noise." The Sfas Emes teaches us to look at it differently. Of course, children have to be taught how to behave in shul. But there is also tremendous value simply in their being there. They hear the sound of the tefillos. They see their father standing with a machzor. They hear everyone crying out “HaMelech.” They see a shul filled with Yidden standing before Hashem. They may not understand everything, but they absorb it. That may be exactly what the Torah is teaching us with Hakhel: “Bring the children." Not because they understand everything today, but because what they experience today can help shape who they become tomorrow.
A parent may sometimes feel that bringing a child along makes his own davening or learning a little harder. Hakhel teaches us that raising the next generation sometimes requires giving up a little of our own comfort. Rabbi Yehoshua's mother brought his crib into the Beis Midrash. At the time, he understood nothing. Years later, Klal Yisrael had Rabbi Yehoshua. We never know which sound of Torah, which tefillah, which Shabbos, or which moment in shul will remain in a child's heart. That is the lesson of Hakhel. Bring them along. Let them see. Let them hear. Let them absorb. The seeds we plant when they are young can remain for a lifetime.
