Fear and Joy

More on Yirah and Simchah

Not only must every person, coming to Yerushalayim to learn yiras shamayim, be joyous and bring joy to his household and surroundings, but Yerushalayim itself had to be "the joy of all the land." It must be! This was no coincidence. To be the capital and the mistress of creation it had to be full of joy. But even more so, its destiny to be the joy of all the land required efforts to distance the slightest trace of anguish or unpleasantness: "R' Yochanan said: A hall for calculations was outside of Yerushalayim, and anyone who needed to calculate would go there. Why? - so he should not calculate in Yerushalayim and come to anguish [if his calculations were to result in a tally that was not in line with the person's desire], since is called 'the joy of all the land'" (Midrash Rabbah Pekudei)...

...And when the tribes of Hashem came to the holy city of Yerushalayim, when Bnei Yisrael flowed there to learn to be in awe of Hashem - the highest level of the Torah, the innermost content of a person's life - specifically them the atmosphere in Yerushalyim had to be completely suffused with life and vigor, beauty and happiness. Not even the most minute cloud could be allowed to mar the sky. And even the slightest detraction of the happiness was not to be found in the city. For in coming to learn to be in awe of Hashem - does a person not also need to learn how to live and be happy before Him?

HaSabba MeSlabodka pp. 64-65

courtesy of Der Alter, http://deralter.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_deralter_archive.html