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Mishnah 19 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
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נושא · Topicפָּרָשַׁת הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּהַקְהֵלThe king's Hakhel reading
Mishnah סוטה ז׳:ח׳ · Sotah 7:8
פָּרָשַׁת הַמֶּלֶךְ כֵּיצַד.
מוֹצָאֵי יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל חָג, בַּשְּׁמִינִי בְּמוֹצָאֵי שְׁבִיעִית,
עוֹשִׂין לוֹ בִימָה שֶׁל עֵץ בָּעֲזָרָה, וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב עָלֶיהָ,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר מִקֵּץ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים בְּמֹעֵד וְגוֹ׳.
חַזַּן הַכְּנֶסֶת נוֹטֵל סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה וְנוֹתְנָהּ לְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת,
וְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת נוֹתְנָהּ לַסְּגָן,
וְהַסְּגָן נוֹתְנָהּ לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל,
וְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל נוֹתְנָהּ לַמֶּלֶךְ,
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ עוֹמֵד וּמְקַבֵּל וְקוֹרֵא יוֹשֵׁב.
אַגְרִיפָּס הַמֶּלֶךְ עָמַד וְקִבֵּל וְקָרָא עוֹמֵד, וְשִׁבְּחוּהוּ חֲכָמִים.
וּכְשֶׁהִגִּיעַ לְלֹא תוּכַל לָתֵת עָלֶיךָ אִישׁ נָכְרִי, זָלְגוּ עֵינָיו דְּמָעוֹת.
אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אַל תִּתְיָרֵא אַגְרִיפָּס, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה, אָחִינוּ אָתָּה.
וְקוֹרֵא מִתְּחִלַּת אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים עַד שְׁמַע, וּשְׁמַע, וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ, עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר, כִּי תְכַלֶּה לַעְשֵׂר, וּפָרָשַׁת הַמֶּלֶךְ, וּבְרָכוֹת וּקְלָלוֹת, עַד שֶׁגּוֹמֵר כָּל הַפָּרָשָׁה.
בְּרָכוֹת שֶׁכֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל מְבָרֵךְ אוֹתָן, הַמֶּלֶךְ מְבָרֵךְ אוֹתָן, אֶלָּא שֶׁנּוֹתֵן שֶׁל רְגָלִים תַּחַת מְחִילַת הֶעָוֹן.
The king’s portion — how?
At the close of the first Yom Tov of Sukkos, in the eighth year, at the close of the shemittah year,
they make him a wooden platform in the azarah, and he sits on it,
as it says: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time…”
The attendant takes the sefer Torah and gives it to the head of the synagogue,
the head of the synagogue to the segan,
the segan to the Kohein Gadol,
and the Kohein Gadol to the king;
the king stands, receives it, and reads sitting.
King Agrippas stood, received it, and read standing — and the Chachamim praised him.
When he reached “you may not appoint over you a foreign man,” his eyes streamed with tears.
They said to him: “Do not fear, Agrippas — you are our brother, you are our brother, you are our brother.”
He reads from the start of Eileh HaDevarim until Shema, then Shema, V’haya im shamoa, the tithing portions, the king’s portion, and the blessings and curses — until he finishes the whole portion.
The blessings the Kohein Gadol recites, the king recites — except that he gives a blessing for the Festivals in place of the forgiveness of sin.
case/objectTannareasonpasuk/proof textgeneral rule
Transcript
Summary Chart
The king's Hakhel reading▾
CaseRulingReason
When and where is the king’s reading?At the close of the first day of Sukkos in the year after shemittah, on a wooden platform in the azarahDevarim 31:10
How does the reading proceed?The sefer Torah passes up the chain to the king; he stands, receives, and reads — sitting—
What did King Agrippas do?He read standing, and the Sages praised him; reaching ‘no foreign king,’ he wept, and they reassured him ‘you are our brother’—
Which portions does he read?From Eileh HaDevarim through Shema, V’haya im shamoa, the tithing portions, the king’s portion, and the blessings and curses—
How do his blessings differ from the Kohein Gadol’s?The same — except a blessing for the Festivals replaces forgiveness of sin—
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
The king reads, and a convert-king weeps▾
עוֹלָמוֹ שֶׁל הַמִּשְׁנָה
Agrippas at the platform

Once every seven years, on Sukkos after the Shemittah year, a wooden platform was set up and the king read the Torah aloud to the whole nation. The king was permitted to read sitting, but King Agrippas rose and read standing, and the Chachamim praised him for the added honor he showed. When he reached the verse ‘you may not appoint a foreigner over you,’ his eyes filled with tears — his own family descended from Herod and from converts — and the people called out to reassure him, achinu ata, you are our brother, three times over. (This is understood to be the earlier Agrippas, who was close to the Chachamim.)

A king may sit — but only a son of David

The king reads sitting, and yet sitting is barred everywhere in the Azarah except to a king of the house of David (Rambam). Agrippas did not come from that line, so he sat out in the Ezras Nashim; R’ Elazar ben Yaakov goes a step further and places the whole platform on Har HaBayis, outside the Beis HaMikdash altogether. The staging is not a technicality — it is the very nerve his tears touched: how close to the throne a convert’s grandson could come, and exactly where the line was drawn.

Hakhel is a Torah command; the Kohein Gadol’s reading is not

Tosafos Yom Tov points out why this reading alone is called parshas hamelech: the king’s reading is a mitzvah straight from the Torah — tikra es haTorah hazos — while the Kohein Gadol’s Yom Kippur reading, for all its solemnity, is only a takanah, an enactment of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah. Two ceremonies that look almost identical, and yet one is commanded by the Torah itself and the other was built by the Sages to give the day its honor.

Series Insights
Series context▾
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Sotah 7:7
The same reading, in Lashon Hakodesh
Mishnah 19 of 41
Sotah 7:8
Parshas HaMelech
Next →
Sotah 7:6
How berachos differed in the Mikdash

Where this sits

Hakhel is the largest scene in this run: every seven years the whole nation — men, women, children — gathered at the Mikdash to hear the king read the Torah aloud. The Churban ended it. Closing the Sotah chapter of Lashon-Hakodesh rituals, the mishnah preserves the choreography of a national gathering that has no place to happen until the Bais returns.

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