Here, we already know that poetry is the offspring of an outburst of heartfelt emotion, and we also understand that this heart's emotion, which flips into an outburst and becomes poetry, is joy. But we still need to delve into the essence of this joy to understand what kind of joy it is that gives birth to poetry.

It appears, as we say in the blessing after the Shema reading: "Moses and the Children of Israel sang a song to You with great joy." We must understand what 'great joy' is, and how it is greater than mere joy, which is not 'great joy.' I found in the Abudraham the following explanation: 'with great joy' – referring to "with timbrels and dances" (Exodus 15:20), thus. It seems that he questioned what the nature of this great joy was, which is not just simple joy. He explained that the abundance of joy was expressed through the use of musical instruments, and brought a source from the verse 'with timbrels and dances.'

Indeed, it seems that this can be explained in a slightly different manner (and this does not necessarily contradict the words of the Abudraham), by saying that this emphasis and stress embedded in the words 'great joy' comes to teach us that this joy was not merely an emotion of joy, but a state and essence of joy.

To elaborate: the expression 'joy' carries two meanings: the first, simpler one, is a name for a type of feeling and sensation, just as there are feelings of sadness, tension, fear, and many others, so there is also a feeling of joy. This simple feeling can be achieved through artificial means, such as melodies, poetry, and humorous words. However, there is also a deeper, more essential meaning to the term joy, which is 'happiness.' Happiness is not merely a feeling like other feelings, such as sadness, fear, and their like, but a state and essence. Unlike joy, happiness cannot be achieved through artificial means. A person who is not happy will not become so even if all the musicians in the world gather and play every tune he desires in his ears. Because happiness, being a state and essence, is not influenced by artificial and external means, and the only way to achieve it is through means that touch upon the essence of a person, his soul, and the depth of his spirit, as we will elaborate shortly.

This distinction between the two uses of the term joy, between simple joy and happiness, can be illustrated through their different expressions in Yiddish: For instance, the feeling of joy is defined in Yiddish as 'freyd.' Whereas the essential joy, happiness, is defined in Yiddish as 'tsufriden.'