Bnei Yisrael as Vessels of the Shechinah

איתא בגמ' כשהי' הלל שמח בשמחת בית השואבה הי' אומר כשאני כאן הכל כאן.

It is brought in the Gemara that when Hillel rejoiced at the Simchas Bais HaSho'eivah, he would say: "When I am here, everything is here" (Sukkah 53a).

The Sefas Emes cites Hillel's striking statement at the water-drawing celebration, where he declared that his presence somehow brought everything with it.

רש"י ז"ל פי' על השכינה הי' אומר ע"ש.

Rashi explains that he was speaking about the Shechinah — see there.

Rashi reads Hillel's "I" as a reference to the Shechinah: when the Shechinah is present, everything is present.

ונראה עוד לפרש כפשוטו שאמר כשבנ"י במקדש יש השראת השכינה כאשר אנו רואים כשגלינו משם המקום חרב.

It seems one may also explain it according to its plain sense: he was saying that when Bnei Yisrael are in the Mikdash, there is a resting of the Shechinah — as we see, that once we were exiled from there, the place was laid waste.

The Sefas Emes offers an additional, simpler reading: Hillel meant that Bnei Yisrael themselves draw the Shechinah into the Bais Hamikdash. The proof is that once Klal Yisrael went into galus, the place became desolate, because the people who hosted the Shechinah were gone.

כמ"ש ולא רבית במחיריהם.

As it is written: "And You did not gain wealth through their prices" (Tehillim 44:13).

The Sefas Emes alludes to the verse describing Hashem's bond with His people, underscoring that it is specifically Bnei Yisrael who are the vessels of the Shechinah.

ובשמחת בית המקדש ראו בנ"י אשר הם הכלים המיוחדים להשרות השכינה בביהמ"ק וזה הי' עיקר השמחה.

And in the rejoicing of the Bais Hamikdash, Bnei Yisrael saw that they are the special vessels to rest the Shechinah in the Bais Hamikdash — and this was the essence of the simchah.

The real joy of the Yom Tov in the Mikdash was the recognition that the Jewish people are themselves the keilim (vessels) through which the Shechinah dwells. That awareness — not the externals — was the heart of the celebration.

וע"ז מבקשין גלה כבוד מלכותך עלינו.

About this we request: "Reveal the glory of Your kingship upon us."

This is why we daven for the revelation of Hashem's kingship "upon us" — for the glory already rests on Bnei Yisrael; we ask only that it become visible.

כי באמת כבוד מלכותו מיוחד עלינו לעולם רק שהוא נסתר ובזמן המקדש הי' בהתגלות.

For in truth the glory of His kingship is bound up with us always — only that it is hidden, and in the time of the Mikdash it was revealed.

The kavod of Hashem's malchus never departs from Bnei Yisrael; it is only concealed in galus. In the era of the Bais Hamikdash that same glory was openly manifest.

ובפרט בג' רגלים דכ' יראה כל זכורך.

And especially on the three Regalim, of which it is written: "All your males shall appear" (Shemos 23:17).

On the Shalosh Regalim — when the people came up to be seen before Hashem — that revelation of His glory reached its peak.

וכמו שמבקשים יראו עינינו וישמח לבנו כו' מלך אלקיך.

And as we request: "May our eyes behold and our hearts rejoice… your God is King."

Our tefillah is precisely that this hidden glory become something our eyes can behold, bringing the heart to rejoice in the revealed kingship of Hashem.

גם בשבת קודש אומרים ישמחו במלכותך ומ"מ הוא בצינעא כמ"ש מתנה גנוזה ובמועד הוא בהתגלות.

Also on Shabbos Kodesh we say "They shall rejoice in Your kingship," yet it is in private, as it says "a hidden gift," whereas on the Moed it is in revelation.

Shabbos, too, carries the joy of Hashem's malchus, but in a concealed, private way — it is the "matanah genuzah," the hidden treasure given to Bnei Yisrael. The Yom Tov, by contrast, brings that same kingship out into open revelation.

לכן מועדים לשמחה:

Therefore, the Moadim are for simchah.

Because Yom Tov is the time when Hashem's hidden kingship becomes revealed, the festivals are inherently times of joy.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael themselves are the vessels in which the Shechinah rests, and the glory of Hashem's kingship is always bound to them — only hidden in galus. In the Bais Hamikdash, and especially on the Shalosh Regalim, that glory was openly revealed; Shabbos holds it privately as a hidden gift, while the Moadim reveal it openly, which is why the festivals are times of true simchah.