There are times when our lives are so full of noise, distraction, and confusion that we have no strength to speak to the Creator. True, Rebbe Nachman stresses that conversing in a personal way to the Almighty is our secret weapon, but when the silence of those moments is too much of a contrast to allow us space to speak – what do we do?
There is a secret secret weapon.
Rebbe Nachman teaches the following in the eighth lesson of Likutey Moharan:
“See how precious is the sigh and groan {the krekhtz } of a Jewish person. It provides wholeness [in place] of the lack. For through the breath, which is the ruach-of-life, the world was created.”
This powerful advice gives us the key to connecting when we lack the strength to speak. Like a niggun, melody, which holds tremendous lofty power, the krekhtz or groan of a yid breaks the barrier that has formed between the yid and the Creator.
This one groan, this one vocalized sound, the krekhtz in yiddish accomplishes so much, because it is an expression of base longing to be reunited with our source, from who we feel we are now lacking.
Rav Levi Yitzhak Bender teaches that the kretkhtz actually “breaks” the power of the body and holds it back, allowing our heart to yearn more fully for the Creator. Our yearning to be reunited with our true selves – this basic urge to be more fully conscious of our supernal root can most fully be realized when we sigh and groan for the lacking we feel we have when we are not living a consciously Divine life.
Everyone has those moments when we stray from our journey. The kretkhz is the first moment we begin our return.
(Based on Likutey Moharan 25; Diburey Emunah (Words of Faith) 6).
