Mesirus nefesh reawakens the Exodus

בפסוק ונקדשתי בתוך בנ"י כו' המוציא אתכם מא"מ.

On the pasuk: "And I shall be sanctified amid Bnei Yisrael... who brings you out of the land of Egypt."

The verse (Vayikra 22:32-33) links the sanctification of Hashem's Name among Bnei Yisrael to the very purpose of yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt).

פרש"י מת"כ ע"מ כן ע"ש.

Rashi explains, from the Toras Kohanim: "on this condition." See there.

Rashi reads "who brings you out of Egypt" as: I redeemed you on the condition that you sanctify My Name with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice).

פי' בכל עת שאיש ישראל מס"נ בעבור קדושת שמו מתעורר יצ"מ כי תכלית יצ"מ להיות לכם לאלקים.

The meaning: every time a Jew sacrifices himself for the sanctification of His Name, yetzias Mitzrayim is reawakened, for the purpose of the Exodus was "to be a God to you."

Each act of kiddush Hashem reactivates the Exodus, because the whole goal of being taken out of Egypt was that we accept Hashem as our God.

ובמסירת נפש מקבל עליו אלקותו ית' מתעורר כח יצ"מ.

And through mesirus nefesh he takes upon himself His Divinity, may He be blessed, [and thereby] the power of the Exodus is awakened.

Self-sacrifice is the ultimate acceptance of Hashem's sovereignty, and that acceptance is precisely the inner force that the Exodus was meant to instill.

ובזה הכח יכול למסור נפשו בפועל.

And with this power he is able to give over his soul in actual deed.

The strength embedded in us by the Exodus is itself what makes literal mesirus nefesh possible.

והנה כתיב בתוך בנ"י כי הקדושה גנוזה בכלל ישראל כמ"ש חלק ה' עמו ואחז"ל בי עשרה שכינתא שרי' פי' בי עשרה כשנעשין באמת א' בלב א'.

Now it is written "amid Bnei Yisrael," for the holiness is concealed within the klal (collective) of Yisrael, as it says "the portion of Hashem is His people," and Chazal said "with ten the Shechinah rests" — meaning, with ten when they truly become one, with one heart.

Kedushah is hidden within the collective body of Klal Yisrael, not the isolated individual; the Shechinah dwells among ten Jews specifically when they unite as a single heart (Devarim 32:9).

דכתי' תוך בנ"י הוא הלב כי הנפשות קרובים רק החומר מעכב התאחדות.

For it is written "amid (toch) Bnei Yisrael" — this is the heart, for the souls are close; it is only the physical matter that obstructs their unification.

"Toch" (within/the midst) alludes to the heart, the inner core; at the level of the neshamah all Jews are already bound together, and only the body's materiality keeps them apart.

אבל כשמוסר נפשו ניטל הגשמיות אז בא לכלל ישראל באמת אז ונקדשתי.

But when he gives over his soul, the physicality is removed; then he truly comes into [the unity of] Klal Yisrael, and then "I shall be sanctified."

Mesirus nefesh strips away the very physicality that divides; in that surrender a person merges fully into the collective, and only there is Hashem's Name sanctified.

ולכן תיקנו חז"ל יצ"מ בק"ש שע"י קבלת מלכותו ית"ש במס"נ בפ' שמע ישראל ובאין אל האחדות נזכר כח יצ"מ:

Therefore Chazal established [mention of] the Exodus within Krias Shema, for through accepting His sovereignty, may He be blessed, with mesirus nefesh in the passage "Shema Yisrael," and through coming into the Oneness, the power of the Exodus is recalled.

The Exodus is mentioned in Shema because the two belong together: accepting ol malchus Shomayim (the yoke of Heaven) with readiness to give one's life, and entering the unity of Hashem's Oneness, is the living re-enactment of yetzias Mitzrayim.

Summary: Hashem redeemed us from Egypt on condition that we sanctify His Name, so every act of mesirus nefesh reawakens the inner power of the Exodus. Kedushah is hidden in the united collective of Klal Yisrael — reached when Jews become "one heart" — and self-sacrifice strips away the physical barrier that divides souls, which is why the Exodus is invoked in Krias Shema's acceptance of Hashem's Oneness.