In our fragmented world, we perceive differentiated time and space; from our linear perspective, the past is gone, the future has yet to come, and all that exists is the fleeting present. But there is a deeper and higher view in the universe—of absolute unity and oneness—in which there is no differentiated time and space, no past, present or future, no beginning, middle or end. In that reality, everything exists in the eternal present.

The story of the ten martyrs tells of a sadistic Roman ruler who questioned ten Jewish sages: “What should happen to a man if he is found kidnapping one of his brothers from among the children of Israel and selling him into slavery?” They instantly answered him, “That kidnapper shall die.” He then informed them that the Jewish people have yet to pay for the sin of the sale of Yosef by the ten sons of Yaakov, and that he means to correct this oversight.

The story then describes in very graphic language the savage execution of the ten sages.

It should be pointed out that, in actuality, they did not die at the same time, although they all perished at the hands of the Romans. For example, Rabbi Yishmael, the High Priest, died at the end of the second Temple period, while Rabbi Akiva was murdered after the Bar Kochba revolt, some 60 years after the destruction of the Temple.

Therefore, we know that this recitation is not merely trying to relay historical facts, but a greater spiritual truth. It is not by chance that the numerical value of the Hebrew names of the ten sons of Yaakov equals 2858, which is the same as the Hebrew names of the ten martyrs. Nothing is mere coincidence; everything is Divinely orchestrated, and when two words or concepts are related numerically, this is an outer indication that they are intricately related on a deeper level. Clearly, this numerical correlation is not what links them together, rather they share a deeper commonality, and the numerical correlation is an outer reflection of that commonality.

In our fragmented world, we perceive differentiated time and space; from our linear perspective, the past is gone, the future has yet to come, and all that exists is the fleeting present. But there is a deeper and higher view in the universe—of absolute unity and oneness—in which there is no differentiated time and space, no past, present or future, no beginning, middle or end. In that reality, everything exists in the eternal present.

The world of souls functions in that non-linear, unfragmented reality. Reincarnation—where some souls incarnate once again into this world in order to rectify past mistakes and retroactively affect souls that manifested here years ago—can only be understood from a perspective of a non-linear reality. Thus, the ten sons of Yaakov, who sold their brother Yosef into slavery, were later reincarnated as the ten martyrs in order to make a tikun—to rectify their past deed and elevate their souls.

Generally, reincarnation means that the entire soul that existed in one body descends into another for the purpose of rectifying or completing past life experiences. But the type of incarnation described in the ten martyrs’ story is different—more accurately it should be called not reincarnation but impregnation/ ibbur.

During the course of one’s life, a person may become impregnated with an additional soul for a short period of time. The impregnated soul does not come to substitute for the present soul, rather it is like a guest within the host soul, achieving what it needs to and then it departs. Sometimes this soul impregnates the body in order to assist the host soul; at other times it does so for its own purpose—to live once again through certain physical experiences and as a result achieve a sought-after elevation.

Of course, the ten sons of Yaakov did teshuvah during their life for the sale of Yosef, as the Torah indicates, yet a slight blemish was still in place on their souls. And so they entered the bodies of these ten sages who were then martyred.

While it is true that the ten sons of Yaakov plotted to do harm to their brother, ultimately, as Yosef himself stated, their deeds served the Creator’s plan. “Although you intended to harm me, God intended it for the good, in order to accomplish… that a vast people be kept alive.” (See the Book of Genesis 50:20.) Indeed, if Yosef had not become the vizier of Egypt, his family would have succumbed to hunger. There are multi-dimensions to everything that occurs in life. Sometimes, what seems negative and destructive from a surface perspective is really positive or the source of something constructive.

Once we reach a higher level of Teshuvah/ Transformation—a Teshuvah from love—our past misdeeds are transformed into merits. What seemed previously totally negative and unredeemable, now, in its new context, is viewed in a positive light. The fault becomes the seed for virtue, transforming an obstacle into a rung of a ladder that allows us to climb to a higher place.