Mesiras Nefesh Above Nature

בפסוק ונקדשתי בתוך בנ"י.

On the pasuk: "And I shall be sanctified amid the Bnei Yisrael" (Vayikra 22:32).

The Sefas Emes takes up the verse that is the source for kiddush Hashem, the sanctification of Hashem's Name in the midst of the Jewish people.

מצות מסירת נפש ע"ק השם ניתן לבנ"י.

The mitzvah of mesiras nefesh (giving up one's life) for the sanctification of the Name was given to Bnei Yisrael.

The obligation to sacrifice one's very life al kiddush Hashem was entrusted specifically to Bnei Yisrael.

כי כל עיקר הנהגתו ית' עם בנ"י למעלה מהטבע.

For the entire essential conduct of Hashem, may He be blessed, with Bnei Yisrael is above nature (lema'alah min hateva).

Hashem's fundamental relationship with Bnei Yisrael operates above the laws of nature.

ועוה"ז הוא במקרה לבנ"י לא בעצם.

And this world is incidental to Bnei Yisrael, not essential (b'mikreh, lo b'etzem).

For Bnei Yisrael, physical worldly existence is only an outer accident, not their true essence — their essence is bound to the supernatural.

ולכן ב"נ לא נצטוו על קידוש ה'.

And therefore the Bnei Noach (nations of the world) were not commanded concerning kiddush Hashem.

Because the nations belong essentially to the natural order, they were never given the mitzvah of giving up their lives to sanctify the Name.

כי הקב"ה שם דרך הטבע ואין רשות לצאת מהטבע זולת בנ"י אשר בחר הקב"ה לחלקו.

For the Holy One, blessed is He, established the way of nature, and there is no license to step outside of nature except for Bnei Yisrael, whom the Holy One chose as His own portion.

Hashem set the world to run by nature, and only Bnei Yisrael — His chosen portion — have the standing to transcend nature, which is precisely what mesiras nefesh expresses.

וזה ענין המד' בפסוק לבית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם.

And this is the matter of the Midrash on the pasuk: "to the House of Yaakov, who redeemed Avraham" (Yeshayahu 29:22).

He now applies this idea to a puzzling Midrash on a verse that speaks of Yaakov "redeeming" Avraham.

אברהם ניצל בזכותו של יעקב ע"ש.

Avraham was saved through the merit of Yaakov — see there.

The Midrash states the surprising idea that Avraham, the grandfather, was rescued by the merit of his grandson Yaakov.

הפי' כנ"ל כי מעשה ראשונה בא"א ע"ה שמסר עצמו לכבשן אש אם הי' מעשה יחידי לא הי' חשוב לפניו ית"ש אך כי במעשה זו הכין א"א ע"ה סדר מיוחד ויצא ממנו יעקב ובניו שנעשה להם דרך הנסים ונפלאות בקביעות.

The explanation is as above: the original act of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, in giving himself over to the fiery furnace — had it been a solitary deed, it would not have been considered significant before Him, may His Name be blessed; but rather, through this deed Avraham Avinu prepared a special order, and from him came forth Yaakov and his sons, for whom the way of miracles and wonders was established permanently.

Avraham's self-sacrifice in Nimrod's furnace — the first act of mesiras nefesh — would have meant little as an isolated event. Its true worth was that it founded a "special order," producing Yaakov and the Shevatim, a people who would live above nature, with open miracles as their fixed, permanent reality.

ולכן בזה פדה את אברהם:

And therefore, through this, [Yaakov] redeemed Avraham.

Since Avraham's act only attained its full meaning through the nation of mesiras nefesh that issued from Yaakov, it is Yaakov — the realization of that supernatural people — who retroactively "redeems" and validates Avraham's original self-sacrifice.

Summary: The mitzvah of mesiras nefesh al kiddush Hashem belongs uniquely to Bnei Yisrael, because Hashem's essential bond with them is above nature, the physical world being only incidental to their true essence; the nations, bound to the natural order, were never given it. Avraham's self-sacrifice in the fiery furnace gained its real significance only as the founding act of a supernatural people — and so Yaakov, who embodied that nation living permanently by miracles, "redeemed" and fulfilled Avraham's original deed.