From the Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Zt”l
In the times of the Holy Temple, the rejoicing of Sukkot reached its culmination in the water-drawing celebration known as Simchat Beit Hasho'eiva. On the second night of the holiday, spring water was poured upon the altar, as the prophet Isaiah says, "You shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation." Our Sages declared: "Whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the water-drawing has never seen true joy." Conversely, the opposite is also true: Anyone who witnessed and participated in Simchat Beit Hasho'eiva merited to experience true joy.
Furthermore, as alluded to in the above statement of our Sages, by participating in the water-drawing festivities, a person merits that this happiness will continue throughout his lifetime.
"Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: 'Why is it called Simchat Beit Hasho'eiva, the joy of the water-drawing? Because Ruach Hakodesh [Divine inspiration] was drawn from it. This teaches that Divine inspiration only rests on a person whose heart is glad.' "
As the Maggid of Mezeritch (Rabbi Dov Ber, the successor to the Baal Shem Tov) explained, everyone who participated in the water-drawing festivities derived this Divine inspiration. This included even young children and babies whose parents had brought them to the Holy Temple to witness the event.
This is an astounding fact. How can it be that even the tiniest babies experienced Ruach Hakodesh? Surely they were too young to understand what was being celebrated, not to mention the very concept of Divine inspiration.
The answer is that intellectual understanding or comprehension was not required. When Moses came down from Sinai with the Tablets of the Law, his face was radiant with a special light. Yet the Torah tells us that "Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone." Moses was unaware of this extraordinary phenomenon!
If a person of the stature of Moses could not perceive this marvel, how much more so is it possible for tiny babies to have merited Divine inspiration during the water-drawing celebration, yet not be aware of it!
The same principle applies to the "revelation of Elijah the Prophet." It sometimes happens that Elijah will reveal himself to a Jew, yet the person to whom he is revealed is unaware of it.
From this we learn how important it is for every Jew to participate in the Simchat Beit Hasho'eiva on Sukkot.
Reprinted from the Succos 5761/2000 edition of L’Chaim. Adapted from Maayanei Hayeshua.
