For the source text click/tap here: Chagigah 3
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A passage on our daf is quoted in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, expounds the pasuk (Devarim 31:12) which describes how every Jewish person – man, woman and child – is obligated to travel to Jerusalem once in seven years for the mitzvah of hakhel (assembly).
While the men and women come to learn and to listen, what is the purpose of bringing children?
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria explains that it is so that extra reward can be given to those who bring them.
We bring a number of commentators who attempt to explain this unique halachah, including the radical teaching of the Mei hashiloach Reb Mordechai Leiner the Izhbitzer Rebbe.