Section 21

And therefore in the future , when we will merit the essential perfection of the ultimate purpose — that each person will merit through his service and toil and yearning, etc., for the Blessed Name — then the joy will be enlarged exceedingly, and this will be the essential receiving of reward. As is explained in many verses about the exceedingly great joy of the future, as it is written: "He shall surely come with joyous song, bearing his sheaves" . This is said regarding the receiving of reward in the future. For then a new song shall be awakened, for all the ten kinds of melody will be aroused, through which comes the essential joy, as it is written: "You shall come, you shall gaze from the peak of Amanah" , etc. And as our Sages, of blessed memory, spoke at great length about the greatness of the joy of the future, and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a circle-dance for the tzadikim , and each one will point with his finger and say: "This is Hashem," etc. As it is written: "And it shall be said on that day: 'Behold, this is our G-d; we hoped for Him … let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation'" . And the essential joy of the future, which is the essential receiving of reward, is in the aforementioned aspect, in the aspect of "joy and gladness shall they attain, and sorrow and sighing shall flee" — which is said regarding the joy of the days of Mashiach and the future. That is, the merit to transform sorrow and sighing into joy — this is the essential joy of the future, that each and every person will merit according to what he merited through his service, through Torah and mitzvos and good deeds that he did in this lowly world, and through this he merited to raise and elevate this world, where the sorrow and sighing grips, into holiness, which is joy. This is the essential perfection of joy, as mentioned above.

For the point of all the mitzvos and good deeds is joy, as it is written: "The statutes of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart" . And as we always petition: "And may we rejoice in the words of Your Torah and in Your mitzvos forever and ever." For the essential perfection of the service of Torah and mitzvos is specifically when one merits to perform them in joy, as is brought in the [holy] books, and especially in the writings of the Ari [z"l], regarding the greatness of the warning to engage in Torah and mitzvos with joy. And as it is written: "Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and with gladness of heart" , etc. And therefore the essential [purpose of] all the mitzvos and good deeds, which are the aspect of joy — the essential performance of them is only in this world alone, as [the Sages] said: "Today to do them" — and not tomorrow, in the World to Come. For specifically in this world, where the sorrow and sighing grips, there specifically one merits to enlarge the joy even more when one merits to serve Hashem and fulfill the Torah and mitzvos with joy. For this is the aspect of transforming the sorrow and sighing, which is the aspect of this world, into joy, which is the aspect of Torah and mitzvos , as mentioned above. And through this we will merit the receiving of reward in the future, which is the great joy of the future, when we will merit then a wondrous joy because we merited to include this world within the World to Come. Through this comes the essential enlargement of joy and delight that we will merit then, in the aspect of "joy and gladness shall they attain, and sorrow and sighing shall flee" as mentioned above, when then everything will be transformed into joy, as mentioned above.

Oas 9

And this is the aspect of the greatness of teshuvah , which is greater than [the level of] complete tzadikim , as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "In the place where ba'alay teshuvah stand, complete tzadikim cannot stand." For the ba'al teshuvah who returns from his sins — which are the aspect of sorrow and sighing, the aspect of "I will worry about my sin" , in the aspect of "And He was saddened to His heart" , may the Merciful One protect us — and when one merits to return over them, then the sins are transformed into merits. It emerges that the sorrow and sighing, which are the aspect of sins, are transformed into merits and mitzvos , which are the aspect of joy, as mentioned above. And therefore their level in the future is very great, for their reward will then be exceedingly great. For the essential reward is the aspect of the circle-dance and the joy of the future , which will be made specifically through the transformation of sorrow and sighing into joy, as mentioned above, which is the essential perfection of joy, as mentioned above.

Oas 10