On Wednesday evening, thousands gathered at the Western Wall Plaza to take part in a rare Biblical commandment carried out only once every seven years.

In Deuteronomy 31:10-12, the nation of Israel is commanded:

“…At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the Feast of Tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law.”

This command, which has become known as Hakhel, involves assembling all men, women and children in Israel – of both Jewish and non-Jewish descent – to hear the reading of the Torah by the king of Israel following the Shmittah year.

While the Biblical commandment can only be carried out when the entirety of the Jewish nation resides in Israel, this unique event was revived after thousands of years in 1945. Since then, after the conclusion of the Shmittah year, a Hakhel ceremony has taken place at the Western Wall.

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz contributed to this report.