Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio

The pesukim in our parashah about hakhel emphasize—twice!—that children should be there (Devarim 31:12-13).

According to the Gemara (Hagigah 3a), adults get extra credit for bringing kids along to hakhel. Ramban describes hakhel as an educational experience. Kids come along, they hear the Torah being read, then they ask questions, and this sparks important conversations, and ultimately, spiritual growth.

Even though we don’t do hakhel today, it teaches us an important lesson about kids…at shul!

The Mishnah Berurah (98:3) quotes the position of the Shla Ha-Kadosh (R. Isaiah Horowitz), who said that parents should bring to shul any child who is old enough to learn to say “amen” to Kaddish and Kedushah. He worried, however, that very young children who don't yet know how to control their behavior might disturb others while they try to pray, and might learn to treat shul like a place for games or snacks, rather than as a place for prayer.

But others think the youngest children should come to shul. In the Talmud Yerushalmi (Yevamot 3a) there’s a story about Rabbi Yehoshua’s mother, who would bring her son to the Beit Midrash in his cradle, even while he was a little baby. She wanted him to get used to hearing Torah and tefillah from the very beginning of his life—and it worked! Rabbi Yehoshua grew up to become an amazing Torah scholar and teacher.

There are many things kids can do at shul.

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