Re’ei
In this week’s parsha we find a repeat (from Parshat Ki Tisa) of the mitzvah of Aliyah LaRegel on the three festivals. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem on Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot was a family affair, involving the husband, wife and children. If someone is elderly, ill or disabled, they are exempt from this mitzvah.
Preparations already began a month and a half before Pesach. The Beit Din would send workers to repair any roads and mikvaot damaged during the rainy season and also to signpost the graves so that the pilgrims would not become impure on their journey to Jerusalem (Mishna Shekalim 1:1). Similarly, they would prepare areas for stopover on the journey to rest, eat and sleep.
The Aliyah LaRegel was a tremendous celebration. The Mishna (Bikkurim 3) paints a magical picture of people dressing up in their fanciest clothes, decorating their sacrifice and first fruits, all the time dancing and singing in a procession, all the way to the Holy City.
So important was this mitzvah, that if in any specified year the damage done to the roads by rain was excessive, the Sanhedrin would decree to make that year a leap year, adding an additional 30 days before Pesach, to complete repairs to the roads and allow the Korban Pesach ovens to fully dry out (Sanhedrin 11a). Similarly, if the pilgrims from faraway countries traveling to Israel were delayed for any reason, this was cause to decree a leap year.
In Eretz Yisrael we only begin praying for rain two weeks after Sukkot in order that the pilgrims will have time to return home before the rains begin (Mishna Taanit 1:3).
Another indication of the importance of this mitzvah is that Chazal made a special ruling (Shulchan Aruch 365:17) that permits moving something from one domain to another on Shabbat, in order to allow drawing water from a roadside well to give the animals of the pilgrims to drink.
The mitzvah of Aliyah LaRegel applies only to those who live and own land in Eretz Yisrael (Tosfot, Pesachim 3b). However, innumerable Jews spread throughout the Diaspora during the period of the Beit HaMikdash, made a special effort to travel to Israel perform this mitzvah three times each year.
Opinions differ as to the number of pilgrims on each festival, but it undoubtedly numbered in the millions. All these masses required lodgings in the city of Jerusalem for the duration of their stay (the sacrifices had to be eaten in the city of Jerusalem). There also had to be enough place for everyone to fit in the Beit HaMikdash, e.g. to bring the Korban Pesach.
When you examine archeological evidence of the physical boundaries of the ancient city of Jerusalem during the 1st and 2nd Temples and their dimensions detailed in the Gemara (Masechet Middot), the math just doesn’t add up – it is impossible that so many people could fit into such a small space. The Mishna (Avot 5:5) listing 10 miracles that occurred in connection with the Beit HaMikdash, explains how the Mikdash and the city of Jerusalem miraculously “expanded” to accommodate everyone.
The question is – “Why was this mitzvah of Aliyah LaRegel so important that it receives such emphasis in the pesukim? That it allows for special dispensation regarding the yearly calendar and leniencies in halacha? That it necessitated special miracles to be performed in order to facilitate it?”
The answer is embedded in the fourth word of the pasuk (Devarim 16:16), we are commanded “to be seen” (yeraeh), to be physically present in the Mikdash on the three festivals.
Hashem wants to “see” us there. He wants us to make the physical effort to physically be there, to stand and be counted. By making pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year, we are “recharging” our physical connection with Hashem. Simply by being there in person, we soak up the holiness that permeates the Beit HaMikdash and recharge our spiritual “batteries.”
However, perhaps the most important reason to perform this mitzvah, is not that we will be “seen,” but rather that we will “see.” “Sight” is the crux of the Beit HaMikdash.
Embedded in every facet of the Beit HaMikdash are all the components of the Avodah, our service of Hashem. Each and every component of the Mikdash is a “visual aid,” that simply by seeing it, you instantly understand the lesson it is trying to teach you.
When someone observes a sacrifice being offered in the azara (courtyard of the Kohanim), it is a jarring experience. It leaves no room for doubt what the lesson is – “That should be me there on the altar! Only because Hashem has mercy on me does He allow me to substitute an animal sacrifice instead.” It drives home the severity of sin in a direct way that is unparalleled.
When someone physically sees the Lechem HaPanim being taken out of the Heichal (outer sanctum) on Shabbat of the three festivals, the lesson embedded within it is instantly obvious. Twelve loaves (tribes) on the Shulchan, shaped like a smile, smiling at one another in perfect harmony. They see the Lechem HaPanim, which is the pipeline for material wealth in the world, in the shape of a smile and they instantly grasp the lesson – “Who is rich? Someone who is happy with their lot” (Avot 4:1).
And so on – with every single part (and participant) in the Beit HaMikdash.
It is the entire library of all the halacha and mussar books – right there, in your face! It is not enough to read about it, even see pictures of it – in a book, in a video. Only when you are physically there and see it with your own eyes does it have the required effect.
The whole experience is like a “recharge”. When you leave and return home after the pilgrimage, your batteries have been filled enough to keep you going until the next festival, the next “recharge,” and so on. When we return home, we apply these lessons learned to ourselves, to the Mikdash within each of us, so that we serve Hashem according to the same blueprint in our private homes, in our private lives.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What is the Hebrew word in our parsha for giraffe?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: How many blessings are we required to recite each day? 100. This is learned from the word “Mah” in the pasuk (Devarim 10:12). The Gemara (Menachot 43b) says – “Don’t read Mah (what) but rather Meah (100)”.
