אֲנָחָה

Sighing and groaning [אֲנָחָה וּגְנִיחָה] that burst forth from the heart of a Jew are very precious. For through sighs, deficiencies are completed. That is: when one sighs before Hashem, may He be blessed, over needed things that are unattainable — whether in spiritual matters, on account of a lack of good character traits, or in material matters, over things that are truly needed and are not within the grasp of one's hand [בְּהֵישֵּׂג יָד], G-d forbid — such as when one requires healing, livelihood, etc. — and when one sighs before Hashem, may He be blessed, and requests from Him to fill that deficiency, then He has mercy and completes those deficiencies, and makes available to the person all his needs — those very ones over which he sincerely petitioned. But it is impossible to complete a deficiency through sighing alone — only through drawing close to the true Tzadik, who is also the true teacher [רַב הָאֱמֶת] of the generation. For from the true Tzadik one receives a spirit of life [רוּחַ חַיִּים] to complete the deficiency through sighing. That is: through drawing close to the Tzadik one receives from him daas (knowledge and connection), emunah (faith), and patience — that is, arichas apayim [long-suffering, forbearance] — not to grow weary and not to slacken from sighing and from requesting mercy and salvation from Hashem, may He be blessed, regarding the deficiencies and trials that stir and surge [מִתְרַגְּשִׁים] over the person, until Hashem, may He be blessed, has mercy and sweetens the judgments [דִינִים] upon him and saves him. Drawing close to the Tzadik means: studying the books of the true Tzadikim, accepting their view, and fulfilling their counsels as explained in them.

When a person prays properly — that is, with composure, with concentration upon the words of the prayer, and with a feeling of vitality in the prayer — and likewise when he engages in hisbodidus [personal, private, outpouring of the heart before Hashem], meaning he pours out his heart before Hashem, may He be blessed, in a secluded place where no other person is present — and he gives thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He, for all His kindnesses with which He helps him each time, or he requests from Him salvation from the sufferings that befall him, and his intention in all of this is true and pure, with no intent for pride or honor etc. — all of these are certainly included within the general category of hisbodidus. And particularly when one engages in true hisbodidus before Hashem, may He be blessed, in order to attain fear of Heaven and good character traits — this is the essence of hisbodidus. But when one falls from the level of hisbodidus — meaning one loses the vitality and longing [חֵשֶׁק] that accompanied the prayer and hisbodidus — one must know that the cause is a defect in faith. For one who believes that Hashem, may He be blessed, hears every word of prayer or of hisbodidus, does not slacken and does not lose the vitality and longing that he felt in prayer and hisbodidus. And the remedy for this is shame and a broken heart [בּוּשָׁה וְלֵב נִשְׁבָּר]. That is: to feel genuine shame before Hashem, may He be blessed, with a broken heart, over the falling from the level — meaning over the loss of the vitality and longing, as described above — until one sighs and groans from the very greatness of one's remorse and shame. And Hashem, may He be blessed, will hear his sighs and help him to return to the level from which he fell — meaning he will feel fresh longing and vitality in prayer and in hisbodidus.

Sighing in holiness is exceedingly precious. That is: a person who sighs over his distance from fear of Heaven and fulfillment of the Torah — through this he distances himself from impurity, meaning from lusts and evil character traits, which are called impurity [טֻמְאָה], and draws close and binds himself to holiness, meaning to good deeds and good character traits, which are called holiness [קְדֻשָּׁה]. But when a person sighs over the fulfillment of some lust or over the acquisition of luxuries — even of a permitted kind, which in truth he can exist without, but because of his lust he desires more of this thing, and what is not in his reach appears to him as a deficiency — and he sighs over it: through these evil sighs he distances himself from holiness, meaning from fear of Heaven and fulfillment of the Torah, and binds himself to the rope of impurity, which is lusts and evil character traits, as described above.

When a person sighs over his sins — meaning he is pained over his transgressions against G-d — or when he sighs over his deficient attainment of honor [כָּבוֹד] of Hashem, may He be blessed: since every person is obligated, according to his level [לְפִי מַדְרֵגָתוֹ], to attain and feel the divinity of Hashem, may He be blessed — for it is because they do not sufficiently contemplate this matter that they fall into sins and blemish His honor, may He be blessed — meaning they transgress the commandments of the Torah, which are His honor and His will, may He be blessed — such a sigh is more precious before Him than fasts and mortifications. It is also explained in Likutay MoHaRaN that through holy sighing one breaks the brazenness of the body [עַזּוּת הַגּוּף] — meaning one subdues the lusts and evil character traits that come from the brazenness of the body, which is the evil found in a person's body — and then the soul can draw close to the body and make known to it the attainments that it perceives. The explanation of his holy words is: that through a true sigh over one's sins and over one's distance from Hashem, may He be blessed, the evil in the body is subdued — for because of this evil one cannot feel any taste or vitality in the commandments and good deeds. But through true sighing, as described in this section, the evil is subdued and one merits to feel taste and vitality in spiritual attainments and good deeds — just as one feels taste in food and drink that give life to a person. And this is the explanation of what our Rebbe, of blessed memory, wrote: that the soul informs the body of its attainments. That is: the person feels taste and vitality in spiritual matters — which belong to the soul — just as in material matters, which belong to the body. And so King David said in Psalms : "My soul shall be satisfied as with fat and abundance, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips" — meaning, King David felt taste and vitality in "joyful lips," which represent prayer, Torah, and other good deeds, just as in the choicest foods called "fat and abundance." And so it is with every person who feels taste and vitality in spiritual matters as in bodily pleasures — this indicates that the body feels the attainments of the soul.