by Hillel Fendel
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem's Old City succeeded on Wednesday in arousing a spirit
of longing for the Holy Temple amongst a crowd of thousands that gathered for a
re-enactment of the Hakhel ceremony.
Of the two once-every-seven-years Biblical commandments - Shemittah and Hakhel - the
first lasts for a whole year, while Hakhel takes only an hour or two, but packs a great
burst of inspiration into that short period. Binding only when the Holy Temple is
standing, it involves a public Torah reading by the King of Israel for the entire nation
- men, women, and children - for the purpose of rousing all to stand in awe of G-d and
follow the Torah's statutes.
The word Hakhel (pronounced Hock-hel) literally means, in fact, "Gather the people
together" (Deut. 31, 10-12).
The Temple Institute held a smaller-scale re-enactment of the event in an Old City park
on Wednesday, the first day of the Intermediate Days of the Sukkot holiday following the
Shemittah year. Though only 500 people had been expected, several times that amount
arrived. The event began with a procession of Kohanim, wearing priestly garments of the
type used in the Temple and sounding of silver trumpets of the type sounded in the
Temple, making their way through Old City streets until their arrival at the central
stage.
Following the afternoon Mincha prayer, Rabbi Yehuda Glick of the Temple Institute
introduced the rabbi-priests who were to read from the Torah. Among them were Rabbi
Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, Rabbi Menachem Cohen of Jerusalem's Nachlaot neighborhood, and
Rav Avi Kahane, as well as Rabbi Azariah Ariel - the head of the Temple Institute's
kollel - and Yeshivat Shilo head Rav Araleh Harel.
The passages read aloud included Deut. 1 ("Behold, I have given you this Land; come
and inherit this Land promised to your forefathers to give their descendants"),
Deut. 11 (about the rewards for fulfilling the Torah and the negative consequences of not
doing so), and others.
New Temple Vessel Serves 12 Priests at Once
The ceremony also featured the unveiling of the just-completed Kiyor HaNechoshet, the
water source to be used for washing by the Priests several times a day. Built to
replicate the Kiyor used in the Holy Temple, it is about nine feet high, weighs two tons,
and is made mostly of copper. It comes complete with a computerized system that enables
heated water to be used on weekdays, and non-heated water on Sabbaths and festivals, when
heating the water is not permitted. Twelve priests can wash their hands and feet at
once; each one presses one of two buttons to indicate whether he wants a large amount of
water, such as after completing preparing an animal offering, or a small amount to merely
purify his hands and feet.
The kiyor was built by Moshe Buchbut, a budding Torah scholar and a member of the family
that owns Buchbut Metal Industries in the city of Akko (Acre). He repeated his
explanations countless times to the many excited vistitors who asked how he built it and
how it works. The Buchbut's decided to build the kiyor during the Second Lebanon War.
"From the moment we made the decision," a family spokesman said, "we have
been blessed, both in terms of Katyushas that seemed to stop hitting us during the war,
and financially."
The actual faucets are expected to be installed in the coming weeks. The kiyor is now
standing in a plaza in the Jewish Quarter, and is expected to be placed inside a
protective glass container, as is the Temple Institute's Menorah. It had been hoped that
the kiyor would be placed in the Western Wall Plaza, but this will apparently not occur
in the near future.
A short film describing the Simchat Beit HaShoevah water pouring festival [N.B. REMEMBER THE COMMENTS BY JESUS AT THIS FESTIVAL! D.G.]- a mainstay of
the Sukkot ceremonies in the Holy Temple - was also screened. The film was prepared, as
were the Temple vessels and clothing, by the Temple Institute.
Rabbi Glick explained that though the vessels were prepared in fulfillment of the
Biblical commandment to fashion them - "we even recited the blessing 'He Who has
sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to fashion the tzitz [Priestly
headplate],' for instance" - the vessels have not been consecrated to the Holy
Temple and may therefore be used for other purposes, such as education.
"Great peace have they which love thy law
and nothing shall offend them." Psalms 119:165
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