Buried Treasure | Rabbi Nachum Binder

The story is told of a Yid, R’ Isaac, who had a dream that far away under a bridge there was a treasure that was buried, and that he should go dig up the treasure. As the dream repeated itself, R’ Isaac traveled and he went to this bridge, and he wanted to go dig up his treasure, but there was a policeman, there was an officer, that was guarding the bridge. And he asked him: What are you doing here? Why are you coming to this construction site? And he said: I'll tell you the truth. I had a dream that I have a treasure that's buried here and that I should come and get it. And the police officer started laughing and said, You run after all your dreams? I had a dream that there's a Yid, R’ Isaac, who lives somewhere, and in the oven in his home there's a treasure that's buried, there's a treasure that's hidden. Hearing that, R’ Isaac turned around, went back to his home, undid his oven and found the treasure. And the Rebbe, R’ Bunim of Pshischa, used to say over this story, and he used to say that the lesson of the story is that sometimes we travel, sometimes we think we have to go far, we have to do a lot of work to uncover that treasure, But that treasure is really buried deep inside of ourselves, in our homes, in our lives. But מוריי ורבותיי, I think we can take another lesson out of this story. Sometimes we think that the treasure is in what's very far away, in very big things. Sometimes when someone overcomes a Nisayon in Shmiras Einayim, and he thinks: Now I'm going to daven for great things, new things, things that I never had. And that's what he thinks the benefits of his עמידה בניסיון is. But do you know what the real treasure of being עומד בניסיון of Shmiras Einayim is? It's the treasure within ourselves. It's that satisfaction of overcoming the Yetzer Hara. There's nothing that compares to that feeling of elation, that feeling of Simcha, that feeling of satisfaction. I did it. I was stronger than the Yetzer Hara. I conquered him. מוריי ורבותיי, when we're faced with Nisyonos of Shmiras Einayim, it's true, we can gain a lot. We can gain in Ruchniyus, we can gain in Gashmiyus, there is so much to get. But the main thing that we're going to gain is the fact that we were עומד בניסיון. And being עומד בניסיון does to a person, transforms the person, instills a feeling of elation and satisfaction to the person that nothing else can compare to that. Let us remember that every time the Nisayon comes. Let us remember the feeling of elation and satisfaction we can have by being עומד בניסיון, and that will give us the courage to face our Nisyonos and to overcome them.