Every seven years, following the shemita year, the Torah commands every Jew to go to the Temple, together with all the People of Israel to hear the book of Deuteronomy, read by the king. This commandment, hakhel, is for "men, women and children," anashim nashim, taf. Our Sages explain that the men are commanded to come to hakhel to learn the laws, the women come to hear and the children and infants are brought in order to give reward to their parents who bring them. The highest level of rationality is the men, followed by the women and then the children. This is from the perspective of the revealed rationale of the Torah.
However, the highest level of the Torah is that which is least known and understood in this world, until it will be revealed by Mashiach. Kabbalah refers to this phenomenon as the "Inverted Seal." When a raised seal is stamped on wax, the impression that it makes is inward. What is highest becomes lowest, and what is lowest becomes highest. In the acronym of teneh, the level of taf is the highest of all. The women, who connect to a level of the Torah by hearing are at the next level. The men, who study the Torah, are at a lower, rational level. This is the principle of the Inverted Seal.
The very fact that the infant does not understand the rational teaching of the Torah, means that he is connected to the Torah at a super-rational level. His connection to the Torah is higher than that of his parents. The reward that he gives his parents is that in his merit they also experience the level which is above their own minds. It is still relatively super-rational to them, but they get a taste or notion of the revelation of the level of the Torah to which an infant is connected.
Other chapters in this series:
- Teneh–Revealed and Concealed Levels of Torah
- Teneh – Categories of the Jewish People Correspond to Levels of Torah
- Hakhel – To Learn, to Hear, to Merit
- Taf (Children) – Drops and Prophecy
- Nashim (Women) – Breath and Soul
- Inner Dimension of Torah and the Inner Dimension of the Heat
- Redemption in Merit of Women and Children
- Search For My Inner Essence
- Two Levels of the Inner Dimension
- Israel, Torah, and God – Inner and External Dimensions
- Four Directions and the Four Worlds
- Emanation Consciousness – No Friction
- Face, Innerness, Glory, and Atzilut (Emanation)
- Awareness of a Higher Dimension Helps to Create a Good Year
