The Resurrection Leaf | Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum

Fascinating, fascinating, what the Medrash Tanchuma tells us in Parshas Chukas. There was a Yid that was traveling from Yerushalayim down to Bavel. In those days, it was quite a long distance and the Yid stopped to rest on the way. And the Medrash tells us an amazing thing. As the Yid was sitting down to rest, he notices that there are two birds fighting, one with each other. One time, this bird has the upper hand, and then later on, the second bird has the upper hand. Ultimately, says the Medrash, that one bird killed the other bird. The man stops to see what's happening next, and he noticed that the living bird is flying over to a bush and plucks out a leaf from that bush and comes back to the dead bird and touches the dead bird, and automatically, it's מחייה מתים, it brings the dead bird back to life, הפלא ופלא. This man recognized that he was zoche to see and find the key of תחיית המתים. So he decided to test it himself. So he goes over to the bush and he plucks a similar leaf. And now he has to find something that is a dead body, in order to see whether, in fact, he's also able to be מחייה מתים. And he continues to walk down the road, says the Medrash, and he sees a dead lion. And he goes down to the lion and he tickles the nose of the lion, and sure enough, it brings the lion back to life. However, the lion pounces upon him and he kills him. It's a gevaldiger, beautiful story, Rabosai, but what is the Tachlis? Why is the Medrash telling us this story? What are we supposed to learn from this story? Says HaGaon R’ Elyashiv זכר צדיק לברכה, Chazal are telling us an amazing, amazing message. Here we have a Yid that had a tremendous gift in his hand. He had the מפתח of תחיית המתים. Had he had a little bit of שכל, he would have been able to use it in such a gevaldiger, tremendous way. למשל, he could have used the leaf of תחיית המתים to go back, maybe, to Yerushalayim. He should have gone to the מערת המכפלה, maybe, to wake up the Avos HaKedoshim. After all, he has the מפתח of תחיית המתים. Or maybe he should have continued down to Bavel, where there we have the Kever of Yechezkel HaNavi, and could have used that leaf to be מחייה מתים Yechezkel HaNavi. And yet he didn't understand, he didn't appreciate the gift that he had, and he went... In the end, it cost him his life. Used it to try to wake up a lion. Says R’ Elyashiv, So, too, each and every Yid, each and every one of us, we all have tremendous gifts that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us. Unfortunately, not all of us understand, we are not a מבין on the tremendous Kochos that we have. And therefore, when we go through life and we have Nisyonos, we have challenges, many of us don't believe in ourselves, that we really have the tremendous Kochos, that we have the ability to overcome Nisyonos. HaKadosh Baruch Hu endowed each and every one with tremendous Kochos and gifts. We have to be able to understand, to bring out that tremendous potential. As R’ Aharon Karliner once said, The biggest tragedy is, Rabosai, when a prince believes that he's a peasant. We have to believe that we are בני מלכים. We are sons of royalty. We are עטרת כהנים, ממלכת כהנים. And, therefore, we have the Ko’ach, the ability, with Siyata D’Shmaya, to overcome all of our Nisyonos. חזק ואמץ and with Siyata D’Shmaya, you will find success and succeed B’Ezras Hashem.