Hashem's Name sealed within every Jew

בפסוק ולא תחללו את שם קדשי.

On the pasuk: "And you shall not profane My holy Name."

The Sefas Emes opens with the mitzvah not to desecrate Hashem's Name, and will explain that this Name is sealed within every Jew.

כי הקב"ה חתם שמו ית' באיש ישראל וצריכין לשמור זו הנקודה שלא לעשות זה הכח חולין.

For Hashem sealed His Name within a Jew, and we must guard this point so as not to turn this power into something mundane (chulin).

Every Jew carries an imprint of Hashem's Name — an inner point. To profane the Name is to drag this holy power down into the realm of the ordinary.

ובאותן עבירות שחייבין למס"נ עליהם. בהם תלוי זה השם.

And those aveiros for which one is obligated to give up his life (mesiras nefesh) — upon them this Name depends.

The three cardinal sins, for which a Jew must surrender his life rather than transgress, are precisely the places where Hashem's Name within him is at stake.

וכמו דאיתא דרשע גמור שוכח את שמו שכל השם סר ממנו.

As it is brought down, that a complete rasha "forgets his own name," for the entire Name has departed from him.

When a person sinks fully into evil, the Divine Name imprinted in him withdraws — to the point that he loses even his own true identity.

ולכן נסמך בכתוב בנקבו שם יומת וסמיך לי' ואיש כי יכה כו' נפש אדם כו' שבנפש ישראל שורה השם.

This is why the pasuk juxtaposes "when he pronounces the Name he shall be put to death" with the adjacent verse "and a man who strikes... the soul of a person...," for upon the soul of a Jew the Name rests.

The Torah places the blasphemer beside one who strikes a fellow Jew to teach that harming a Jew touches the very Name of Hashem that dwells in his neshamah.

וכמו שצוה הש"י שלא לחלל השבת לפי שבו חתם את שמו.

Just as Hashem commanded not to profane Shabbos, because in it He sealed His Name.

Shabbos too bears the seal of Hashem's Name, which is why desecrating it is also a chillul — a profaning of that seal.

וכמו כן באיש ישראל.

And likewise within a Jew.

The same sealing of Hashem's Name found in Shabbos is found within every Jew — the two parallel one another.

וזה סמיכות שבת ומועדות אל ולא תחללו.

This is the reason for the juxtaposition of Shabbos and the Yomim Tovim to "and you shall not profane."

The Torah places the parshah of Shabbos and the festivals next to the warning against profanation because all of them share the same sealed holiness.

וכתי' אות היא ביני וביניכם.

And it is written: "It is a sign (os) between Me and you."

Shabbos is called an os — a sign — between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael.

אות ממש משמו ית' בשבת ובנפש אות ברית קודש.

An actual sign of His Name — in Shabbos, and in the soul, the sign of the holy bris.

Just as Shabbos is a sign of Hashem's Name in time, the bris kodesh is that very sign imprinted in the body and soul of the Jew.

ואומרים בקידוש ורצה בנו כו' זכרון למעשה בראשית.

And we say in Kiddush: "and He desired us... a remembrance of the act of Creation."

The Kiddush links Hashem's choosing of Bnei Yisrael with the remembrance of Maaseh Bereishis, hinting that the two are bound together.

הענין הוא כי עיקר המכוון במעשה בראשית בשביל בנ"י שנק' ראשית.

The matter is this: the essential purpose of the act of Creation was for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, who are called "reishis" (the first).

Creation itself exists for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, who are the "reishis" — the goal toward which the whole world was made.

פי' מעשה בראשית כמ"ש בראשית ברא וא' חז"ל בראשית נמי מאמר הוא.

The meaning of "Maaseh Bereishis," as it is written "In the beginning (bereishis) He created," and Chazal said: "Bereishis too is an utterance (maamar)."

Chazal teach that "Bereishis" counts as one of the ten utterances by which the world was created, even though it does not say "and He said."

והוא המאמר שכל הבריאה נעשה בהתפשטות זה המאמר והוא בחי' הראשית עיקר רצונו ית"ש.

It is the utterance through which all of Creation came about by the spreading forth of this maamar, and it is the aspect of "reishis" — the essential ratzon (will) of Hashem.

This first hidden utterance is the inner root from which all the others unfold; it is the "reishis," the core of Hashem's ratzon underlying everything.

ובזה יש חלק לבנ"י ונק' קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתו.

And in this Bnei Yisrael have a portion, as they are called "Yisrael is holy to Hashem, the first of His harvest (reishis tevuasoh)."

Bnei Yisrael are bound up with that root utterance of Creation; they are Hashem's "reishis," His chosen first portion.

וז"ש כבר רצה האלקים את מעשיך.

This is the meaning of "Already Hashem has desired your deeds."

Because Bnei Yisrael are the very purpose of Creation, their deeds are already desired and beloved before Hashem.

ולפי שמעשה איש ישראל חשוב לפניו ית"ש צריך איש ישראל לשמור המעשים והכח פנימי שחתם בו הש"י.

And since the deeds of a Jew are precious before Hashem, a Jew must guard his deeds and the inner power (koach penimi) that Hashem sealed within him.

Knowing how cherished his actions are to Hashem obligates the Jew to protect both his conduct and the hidden inner force planted in him.

וזה העדות על ישראל. בהנחילו לנו יום מנוחתו.

And this is the testimony upon Yisrael — in His granting us as an inheritance His day of rest.

Shabbos, "His day of rest," serves as testimony that Bnei Yisrael carry this sealed inner holiness.

וכבר כ' במ"א בפ' בראשית מזה באורך.

And I have already written about this at length elsewhere, in parshas Bereishis.

The Sefas Emes refers the reader to his fuller treatment of this idea in Bereishis.

וכפי מה ששומרין זה הכח חל הקדושה על האדם.

And according to how much one guards this power, kedushah rests upon the person.

The degree to which a person safeguards this inner Divine power determines how much holiness comes to rest upon him.

ובכח זה השם שניתן בישראל באומרו אנכי ה' אלקיך יכולין למסור נפש למעלה מן הטבע כמ"ש ונקדשתי כו' אני ה' מקדישכם כו':

And through the power of this Name given to Yisrael when He said "I am Hashem your God," they are able to give up their lives through mesiras nefesh, above nature, as it is written "And I shall be sanctified... I am Hashem who sanctifies you."

The Divine Name implanted at Matan Torah empowers a Jew to sacrifice his very life for Hashem — an act that transcends nature — thereby sanctifying Hashem's Name in the world.

Summary: Hashem has sealed His own Name within every Jew, just as He sealed it within Shabbos. Guarding this inner point is the avodah of not profaning His Name, and it is rooted in the truth that Bnei Yisrael are the very purpose of Creation — the "reishis" — which is why their deeds are beloved and why they can rise above nature in mesiras nefesh to sanctify Hashem's Name.