T260 PNC - The Name Is the Soul — The Mystery of Mesirut Nefesh

The Name (sheim — both reputation and the divine Name) is the soul, as taught in the Torah Heichal HaKodesh §59 on "a living soul is his name" (Genesis 2:7). And in this principle there is the secret of self-sacrifice. The Ten Martyrs of the Kingdom (asarah harugei malchut) gave up their souls al kiddush Hashem for the unification of the Holy One and His Shechinah — because the main yichud is achieved through mesirut nefesh. They saw in their generations that there was no other way to repair and to make unifications above except through their souls. So they gave their souls. When souls ascend through mesirut nefesh they return to the Shechinah, since from there they came out — Israel are literally a portion of G-d, portions of the Shechinah, in the secret of "borne from the womb" (Isaiah 46:3). When they return, the Shechinah boasts: "Look — what a son I am bringing to you" (Zohar Vayikra 13a). An upper longing is aroused, and the yichud is made.