Musar zu Tehillim 44:78

Love God with all your heart and soul, and with all your resources. When you recite the Shema, sincerely intend that, were it to be necessary, you would sacrifice your life and all your assets in order to sanctify His Name; and never do anything to desecrate His Name or degrade His Commandments. By doing this, you fulfill the words of the Singer, “Because, for your sake, we are killed all the time” (Psalms 44:23).

We must walk upon the road that our forefathers trod, as it is written (Jeremiah 31:20): "Place your heart upon the road that you [i.e., your forefathers] trod. As stated by Tanna d’bei Eliyahu Rabbah 23: "When Israel were in Egypt and in the desert, they were wholehearted, etc. And when they were in Egypt, they all gathered and dwelt together, because they were all together in one bond, and they made a covenant together that they would do lovingkindness with each other, and keep in their hearts the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and serve their Father in Heaven alone and not forsake the language of the house of Jacob, their father, and not learn the language of Egypt so as [not to follow] the ways of the idolators. How [did this manifest itself]? When Israel served their Father alone in Egypt, and did not change their language, the Egyptians said to them: 'Why do you not serve the gods of Egypt, so that his [Pharaoh's] labor be lightened for you?' Israel answered: 'Now did our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forsake our Father in heaven that their children after them should forsake Him?' They answered: 'No, etc.' And they circumcised their sons in Egypt and the Egyptians said to them: 'If you do not keep [this practice] and do not circumcise, perhaps the hard labor will be lightened for you,.' And Israel said: 'Did our fathers forget the covenant of our G-d in heaven that their children after them should forget it?' The Egyptians: 'No.' And Israel: 'Just as our fathers, so we shall not forget forever.' A variant: When Israel circumcised their sons in Egypt, the Egyptians asked them: 'Why do you circumcise your sons? After a short time won't they be thrown into the river?' Israel: 'We will circumcise them, and afterwards, do with them as you like.' And when Israel would make the seven-day [wedding] feast, the Egyptians asked: 'Why… After a short time won't he be taken out to back-breaking labor?' Israel: 'We will make the… feast, and afterwards, do with us as you like. The dead will die and the killed will be killed and the born will live.' With all of this, the Egyptians would revile Israel, and smite them, and beat them, and intimidate them, and Israel could not flee from them, as it is written (Psalms 42:14): "You make us a shame to our neighbors, a mockery and a scorn to those around us… (18): All this has befallen us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not belied Your covenant, etc."'"

Offering up one’s soul to sanctify the name of Heaven is a great matter in the eyes of the Holy One Blessed is He, especially if one does so while reciting the verse, “Because for Your sake we are killed all day long,” (Tehillim 44:23). Thus it is written in the Zohar (Parashas Vayeira 124b): Rabbi Shalom bar Manyumi said: You will find no righteous man among those engaged in Torah study who does not possess two hundred desirable worlds. This is the meaning of the verse, “And two hundred for those who guard its fruit” (Shir HaShirim 8:12). The same applies to those who give themselves over for the sanctification of the name every day. On account of the verse, “Because for Your sake we are killed all day long,” they inherit two hundred desirable worlds. And when the time comes for a person who offered up his soul for the sanctification of the name to die, the angel appointed over buried bodies knows how to honor his body in the grave in accordance with his deeds. The Zohar explains (Parashas Vayeira 123b) that before a body can be reckoned among those that are to be revived, the soul must return from Gan Eden and present to the angel Dumah the signs given to it by the cherubim indicating that his body was indeed holy.

We have to understand what the Yalkut Shimoni on 22,9 means when he quotes Abraham's prayer as telling Isaac that since he had begun to offer G–d a רביעית of his blood, G–d would find a substitute offering for him in his place. The words used by Abraham are: הואיל והתחלת, "because you have commenced." Abraham knew that up to that point Isaac had submitted not only willingly but gladly. Seeing that Isaac had commenced in the right spirit, Abraham assured him that G–d would assist him to complete the process successfully. This too is the deeper meaning of Psalms 44,23: נחשבנו כצאן טבחה, "We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." This means that we deliver our lives up to sanctify the name of G–d, and attach our souls to G–d so that what is left on earth is only the body like that of an animal. That body we abandon to be slaughtered.

The conclusion to be reached from all this is that a person must rouse himself to mourn with a bitter heart over the exile of the Shechinah and to moan over the length of this bitter exile. He must reflect in his heart that as long as we were living upon our land and the Shechinah rested between the two angels on the cover of the Ark, we received daily illumination. Israel was called, “A people that is holy to Hashem” (Devarim 26:19), and we were close to the Shechinah and to holiness. Meanwhile the shells of defilement hid themselves and were banished to the nethermost regions of the deep. But now, by contrast, Israel is pushed and pulled and scattered into every corner and to the very ends of the earth. In their exile they debase themselves greatly before every nation and tongue, treating them with every honor. Meanwhile, Lilis smiles and laughs, deriving great joy from seeing the people of Israel humble themselves before the nations. This is a literal fulfillment of the verse, “For our soul bowed down to the dust” (Tehillim 44:26). We are literally trampled beneath their feet. We are their slaves and maidservants. The fruits of Israel’s endeavors and labors inevitably attract the notice of one nation or another, who then come and take it from them by force. Meanwhile we are beaten, killed, slaughtered, and burned for the sanctification of the name of Heaven. How, then, can any God-fearing person not summon all his concentration, whenever the redemption is mentioned in our prayers, to beseech the Holy One Blessed is He to redeem us from nations of the world for His name’s sake? For an authentic tradition has come down to me that whoever constantly grieves over the exile of the Shechinah will merit the crown of Torah.

Laban became aware of this, and this is why he protested in 31,43: הבנות בנותי, והבנים בני והצאן צאני וכל אשר אתה רואה לי הוא. "The daughters are mine, the sons are mine, the flocks are mine; all that you see around is mine!" I have already mentioned that we are called צאן while we are in exile. We also have scriptural proof for this from Psalms 44,23 נחשבנו כצאן טבחה, "We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." When we are on a high spiritual level, however, we are referred to as אדם, as we have shown. There is a difference, however, between אדם when referred to as a male, and between אדם when referred to as female. When G–d first created the human species, the Torah says of G–d's work זכר ונקבה בראם, ויקרא את שמם אדם. "He created them male and female, and He named them Adam" (Genesis 5,2). All the redemptions which we have experienced in the past have always been associated with the female element inherent in אדם; this is why our gratitude was always expressed by שירה חדשה, "a new song (feminine term) instead of as שיר חדש. When the redemption of the future materializes, however, we shall give thanks to the Lord with a שיר חדש, acknowledging the additional dimension of that redemption.