805. Concerning Joy

Joy is a testimony. If a person becomes stronger in the matter of faith, to believe that the Creator is good and does good, that there is none above Him, although in the situation he is in right now he has nothing to rejoice with, meaning to be happy about, and yet he reinforces himself and says that the Creator watches over him in a manner of good and doing good, if his faith is sincere, it stands to reason that he should be happy and delighted. And the measure of joy testifies to the level of sincerity in his faith.

By this we can interpret what is said about Rabbi Elimelech, who would say that when he passes away and is told to go to hell, he will say, “If this is what the Creator wants, I will jump in.” That is, this is regarded as Providence of good and doing good. Thus, he is always happy.