Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

“וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַוְּארֵי בִנְיָמִן אָחִיו וַיֵּבְךְּ; וּבִנְיָמִן בָּכָה עַל־צַוָּארָיו”
(בראשית מה:יד)
After Yosef reveals himself, he and Binyamin embrace and cry.
Rashi explains that this was not merely emotional release. They foresaw the future destruction of the Batei Mikdash — Shiloh in Yosef’s portion and Yerushalayim in Binyamin’s. They cried over what had not yet occurred.
The question is unavoidable: why cry now?
After twenty-two years of separation, tears of relief and happiness are natural. But why tears over future destruction, at the very moment of reunion?
Chazal give us the key. The verse says:
“בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת לָנֶצַח, וּמָחָה ה׳ אֱלֹקִים דִּמְעָה מֵעַל כָּל־פָּנִים”
(ישעיהו כה:ח)
Why does it say “מֵעַל כָּל־פָּנִים” — from all faces?
Chazal explain: when death is eliminated, not only tears of sorrow will disappear — even tears of joy will cease. Hashem will wipe away all tears, including happy ones.
This is unsettling. What could be wrong with crying from joy?
Rav Mordechai (Mottel) Pogremanski explains: tears of joy are never pure joy. They come from a hidden sadness embedded within happiness itself. At the height of joy, the soul realizes something painful: this moment will not last.
That realization breaks through emotionally. One feels overwhelmed not only by happiness, but by the knowledge of its fragility.
A parent sends a child to school and cries.
A wedding takes place and tears flow.
A reunion happens — and suddenly eyes fill.
Why? Not because of sadness, but because time is moving. Connections change. Presence weakens. The relationship will not remain in this exact form. There is an unspoken awareness of separation — perhaps distance, perhaps years, perhaps never seeing the moment again as it once was.
That invisible sadness is masked by happiness, and it emerges as tears.
This is what Yosef and Binyamin felt. Their joy was real — but they knew it was finite. History would intervene. The Mikdash would be destroyed. Exile would return. The happiness of reunion already carried the pain of future loss.
In the World to Come, this changes fundamentally.
When death is removed, connection no longer weakens. There is no fading, no departure, no erosion of presence. Relationships are permanent. Joy does not peak and collapse. There is no background fear of loss hidden beneath happiness.
Existence will be directly connected to Hashem — like a system permanently fed by its source of electricity. There is no interruption, no cutoff, no emotional overload. The flow is constant.
Therefore, there will be no tears — not of sadness, and not of joy.
Because when connection is eternal, happiness no longer hurts.