אות - קלה

The Rebbe once spoke to a man who was very far from God. He told him that he could help himself by sighing and groaning about his situation.

The Rebbe then revealed a lesson on the verse, “There is an emptiness ( hevel ) to what is done on the earth” (Ecclesiastes 8:14) . Hevel also means breath or exhalation. When you sigh and groan with desire to return to God, this exhalation ( HeVeL ) breaks the rope ( cheVeL ) of spiritual impurity that binds you and holds you back. You can then be bound up with the holy (see Likutey Moharan I, 109) .

In a number of later lessons, the Rebbe again explained how precious is a person’s sigh ( Likutey Moharan I, 8:1, 22:4, 56:9) .