פדיון בכור א

And therefore, corresponding to these three transgressions, G-d forbid, one must actually surrender one's soul to die for kiddush Hashem (the sanctification of G-d's Name). For when the desire for sexual immorality is present, G-d forbid — and then the prayer is in the aspect of judgment etc. — then one needs a person of power who will pray a prayer in the aspect of judgment, and this prayer stands against the Other Side at its throat etc., as above. And this is the aspect of mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) to actual death for the three transgressions mentioned above. For when these three transgressions are strengthened, G-d forbid — which are in the aspect of the blemish of sexual immorality, as above — then one needs specifically to pray a prayer in the aspect of judgment, and for this one needs a person of great power, as above. And this is the aspect of mesiras nefesh to actual death — which is the aspect of prayer in the aspect of judgment — which is the aspect of ratzo (rushing forward) alone without shov (return). For when one actually surrenders one's soul to death — which is the aspect of ratzo alone — then it is the aspect of judgment. For when the soul ascends on high, the body remains dead in the aspect of judgment. And then the sitra achra (Other Side) wishes to swallow that dead body — for its grip is only in the aspect of death, as is known. But this dead body of that holy one who surrendered his soul for kiddush Hashem — it stands against the sitra achra at its throat, at its place of swallowing — until it is compelled to bring forth vomiting, to vomit up all the holinesses that it swallowed — in the aspect of "wealth he swallowed and he shall vomit it up" — as is explained there in the discourse mentioned above with respect to prayer in the aspect of judgment of the person of power.

In exactly the same way: this holy one who surrendered his soul for kiddush Hashem for the three transgressions mentioned above — his body, which departed in holiness, stands against the sitra achra at its throat, at its place of swallowing — until it is compelled to vomit up all that it swallowed. For mesiras nefesh to actual death for kiddush Hashem is the aspect of prayer in the aspect of judgment — the aspect of ratzo alone, as above. And through this very act — that he surrenders his soul for kiddush Hashem — he is in the aspect of a person of power (ba'al ko'ach), the aspect of "mighty of power, who perform His word" etc. And therefore through the mesiras nefesh of this holy one — which is the aspect of prayer in the aspect of judgment of the person of power — through this he extracts all the holinesses that the sitra achra swallowed.

And this is what is cited in the writings of the holy Ari (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, of blessed memory, the great 16th-century Kabbalist): that the essential ascent of the holy sparks (nitzotzos ha'k'dushah) comes through the Ten Martyrs (Asarah Haroogay Malchus — the ten great sages killed by the Roman empire, whose martyrdom is commemorated on Yom Kippur). For through the mesiras nefesh for kiddush Hashem of the Ten Martyrs — which is the aspect of prayer in the aspect of judgment — through this their holy bodies, which remained in the aspect of judgment after the departure of the soul for kiddush Hashem, stood against the sitra achra at her throat, at her place of swallowing — until she was compelled to vomit up all the sparks that she swallowed from the holiness. And to this very day, every time that we recall the power of the Ten Martyrs, we extract the holiness from the sitra achra — and all this through the aspect mentioned above.

And this is the aspect of what is written in the Zohar — that the bodies of the Ten Martyrs were given over to the sitra achra (Other Side), to the kings of the nations — and the souls ascended on high — as is said in the Torah portion of Vayikra in the secret of the offering: "all of it ascended to its place" — see there. And the matter is wondrous at first glance — how is it possible that the holy bodies of such awesome righteous men (tzaddikim) should be given over to the sitra achra, G-d forbid? But according to what was explained above, it is explained well and correctly: that their bodies were given over to the sitra achra — that is, their bodies were given over intentionally to the sitra achra so that it would swallow them — in the aspect of "throw it before Pharaoh, let it become a great serpent" — as stated there in the words of our Rebbe, of blessed memory. For through this — that their bodies were given to the sitra achra to swallow them — through this they stood against the sitra achra at its throat, at its place of swallowing. And through this it vomits up all the holinesses that it swallowed, as above — see there well in the discourse mentioned above. And this is the aspect of all the holy ones, as above.

And therefore specifically for these three transgressions one must die for kiddush Hashem — for they are the aspect of the desire for sexual immorality. And when the desire for sexual immorality is present — then one needs prayer in the aspect of judgment of the person of power — which is the aspect of mesiras nefesh to actual death for kiddush Hashem, as above.