ולכן אפילו קל שבקלים ופושעי ישראל מוסרים נפשם על קדושת ה׳ על הרוב, וסובלים עינוים קשים, שלא לכפור בה׳ אחד
Therefore, as a rule, even the most worthless of the worthless and the sinners among Israel sacrifice their lives for the sanctity of G‑d’s Name and suffer harsh torture rather than deny G‑d’s unity,
ואף אם הם בורים ועמי הארץ ואין יודעים גדולת ה׳
even if they be boors and illiterates who are ignorant of G‑d’s greatness.
וגם במעט שיודעים אין מתבוננים כלל, ואין מוסרים נפשם מחמת דעת והתבוננות בה׳ כלל
Even the little knowledge that they do possess is not what motivates them, for they do not delve into it at all; so that by no means does their self-sacrifice result from any knowledge or contemplation of G‑d.
אלא בלי שום דעת והתבוננות, רק כאלו הוא דבר שאי אפשר כלל לכפור בה׳ אחד
Rather, they are prepared to sacrifice their lives without any knowledge or reflection, but as though it were absolutely impossible to renounce the one G‑d,
בלי שום טעם וטענה ומענה כלל
without any reason or rational argument whatsoever.
Were their readiness to face martyrdom intellectually motivated, the benefits and costs of the act would first be carefully weighed. But in fact we see that the decision to sacrifice oneself is not based on such rational arguments, stemming instead from a non-intellectual resolve that it is simply impossible to do otherwise.
והיינו משום שה׳ אחד מאיר ומחיה כל הנפש
This is so because the one G‑d illuminates and animates the entire soul,
על ידי התלבשותו בבחינת חכמה שבה, שהיא למעלה מן הדעת והשכל המושג ומובן
through being clothed in its faculty of Chochmah, which is beyond any graspable knowledge or intelligence.
Since the light of the Ein Sof is vested in every Jew’s soul, everyone, regardless of his level of knowledge, is prepared to sacrifice his life for his faith in G‑d.
——— ● ———
Footnotes
1.Devarim 30:14.
2.Devarim 30:14.
3.See ch. 23.
4.These terms are explained above, ch. 2.
5.Mishlei 3:19.
6.Tehillim 104:24.
7.Kohelet 7:12.
8.Parentheses are in the original text.
9.Book on Transmigration, by R. Chayim Vital.
10.Avodah Zarah 3a.
11.The relevance of this point here is clarified by the explanation given by the Rebbe of the final passage of ch. 2. See there.
12.Our interpretation of the foregoing passage follows a comment by the Rebbe where the Rebbe dismisses the notion that the Alter Rebbe speaks here of two sub-levels within Chochmah. The Rebbe maintains that neither the context nor the wording permit such an interpretation.
13.Mishlei 14:14.
14.Tehillim 73:22-23.
