It is also obvious how strongly the mitzvah of Hakhel emphasizes the Torah-education of our children. By extension, it is an opportune time to reach out to those who are “children” in Torah knowledge, those who were not privileged to receive a proper Jewish education. We must gather (hakhel) them together under the canopy of Torah, and teach them to “observe and do all the words of this Torah.”
May Hashem grant that our collective resolutions to unite Jewish people through Torah and mitzvos result in blessings for a kesiva v’chasima tova, and may we merit that this year we once again hear the Torah being read in the Beis HaMikdash with the true and complete geulah.
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The Jewish community in North Dakota dates back to the early days of homesteading pioneers. With time, a number of Jewish farming colonies were set up, and communities developed in the “big” cities. Jews also lived individually along the railroad and some traveled the state as peddlers. Today, most of the small Jewish population in North Dakota is divided between its four largest cities and has seen an influx along with the growing general population.
Capital: Bismark
Nickname: The Peace Garden State
State Motto: Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable
State Flower: Wild Prairie Rose
State Bird: Western Meadowlark
First Shul: B’nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery, founded circa 1888