175. The primary virtue of crying is when it stems from joy and gladness.

175. The primary virtue of crying is when it stems from joy and gladness. The highest level of crying is when it arises from joy. Even remorse and regret are best when they emerge from joy—when, from great joy in God, a person regrets and longs over having rebelled in earlier days, and this elicits tears from the overwhelming joy. This is the core of the crying’s virtue: that it is from joy. The word בכיה (crying) is an acronym for: “ Beshemcha Yegilun Kol HaYom ” (“In Your Name they rejoice all day”) — Psalms 89:17 — indicating that the essence of crying should stem from joy in His blessed Name. Crying is an awakening from the level of Sag (ס"ג)—which corresponds to Binah (Understanding). In the writings of the Ari, bechiyah (crying) has the gematria (numerical value) of the filled-out form of the Divine Name associated with Sag. Binah is the heart, as it is written: “The heart understands and the essence of joy is in the heart, as in: “You have placed joy in my heart” (Psalms 4:8). Therefore, the awakening of tears must come from there, and through this, the tears are sweetened.