(כח, כא).יָה ה’ לִי לֵאלֹקִים”
“And I will return in peace to my father’s house, and Hashem shall be my God (Bereishis 28:21).”
It is known and well explained in the holy sefarim that the word וְהָ יָה always connotes joy. When a person is joyful, he dwells in peace and serenity — both between man and his fellow, and between man and his Father in Heaven.
This is the allusion in the pasuk, ִ י וְ שׁ ַ בְ ת (I will return) — this refers to teshuvah (repentance). בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל בֵּית אָבִי (in peace to my father’s house) — meaning, to my Father in Heaven; for after a person returns in repentance, peace is restored between him and his Father in Heaven.
Thereby he merits the attribute of simchah (joy), through which strict judgment is transformed into mercy. Thus the pasuk continues, וְהָיָה ה’ — the word וְ הָ יָ ה signifies joy, and when joy enters, there is peace and serenity with one’s Father in Heaven. By its power, judgment is turned into mercy, as it says, וְהָיָה ה’ — that is the attribute of mercy — לִי לֵאלֹקִים — this is the attribute of judgment. The meaning is: I will be able to master and elevate the judgments, transforming them into mercy, so that Hashem — which denotes the attribute of mercy — shall rule and convert all judgments into goodness and blessing.
This accords with the interpretation of the holy Rav Nosson Dovid of Shidlovtza zt”l on the pesukim (Bereishis 6:6–7): ֹאמֶר ֵב אֶל לִבּוֹ: וַי תְעַצ ה אֶת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וַי י עָש כ‘ָחֶם ה נִנ וַי - אֶמְחֶה אֶת הָאָדָם ‘הHashem regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And Hashem said, I will blot out man... Initially, it was not possible to execute the decree of the Flood in the world, because at the onset of creation there was such abundance of goodness that all creatures were in a state of joy — and where joy reigns, the attribute of judgment cannot take hold, nor can any harsh decree be fulfilled.
Therefore, it was necessary first to remove joy from the world — as it says, and it grieved Him at His heart — thereby sadness descended into creation, and joy was withdrawn. Only then could the pasuk continue, And Hashem said, I will blot out man..., for the attribute of judgment could now prevail.
As it is written in the holy Likkutei Moharan (Mahadura Basra, 24): “It is a great mitzvah to be in a constant state of joy and to strengthen oneself with all one’s might to drive away sadness and melancholy. All illnesses that come upon a person come only from a corruption of joy... Even the wise physicians have written at length that all ailments come through melancholy and sadness, while joy is a great remedy.”
I heard a wonderful explanation from my father and teacher, the gaon and tzaddik Rav Levi zt”l, author of Ma’adanei HaShulchan, on the Gemara in Berachos (7b) concerning the pasuk in Tehillim (3:1), מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנוֹ - A psalm of David when he fled from his son Avshalom.
The Gemara asks: It should have said, A lamentation of David, not A psalm of David. It answers that when Hashem said to David (Shmuel II 12:11), הִנְנִי מֵקִים עָלֶיךָ רָעָה מִ בֵּ יתֶ ךָ - See, I will raise up evil against you from within your own house, David was saddened and said, Perhaps it will be a servant or a mamzer who will have no compassion upon me. But when he saw that it was Avshalom, he rejoiced, and therefore he said, a psalm.
Yet, the wonder remains: how could David sing and rejoice at such a time, when he was fleeing for his life from his own son who sought to kill him?
My father explained this with fine explanation: When David Hamelech a”h, saw that his son Avshalom had rebelled against him, and that evil had arisen within
