(Sources: Sifsei Chaim, Rav Schwab)
The brocho of Gevuros—Divine Might—continues:
Mi Kamocha Ba’al Gevuros
Hashem is the source of all power and strength in existence. The word Gevuros is expressed in the plural because this blessing refers to multiple manifestations of Hashem’s power. Among them are His power to bring about death and His power to ultimately overcome death itself, destroy the Malach HaMaves, and bring about Techiyas HaMeisim.
We therefore say: Mi Kamocha Ba’al Gevuros—Who is like You, Master of all might?
There is nothing in all of creation that can compare to Hashem’s gevurah.
Techiyas HaMeisim is perhaps the most powerful example of this. On rare occasions, individuals have brought the dead back to life, such as Eliyahu HaNavi and the students of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. However, they did so only by praying to Hashem and asking Him to restore life. The power to revive the dead was never considered a human ability.
Furthermore, the resurrections brought about through human prayer were temporary. The soul returned to the body, but the person would eventually die again. The Techiyas HaMeisim that Hashem will bring about, however, will be eternal. The difference between the two is therefore absolute: One is a temporary restoration of life brought about through prayer; the other is the eternal resurrection of the dead through Hashem’s own power.
There is another way in which Techiyas HaMeisim demonstrates Hashem’s gevurah. Death is not merely a biological process. It is also the result of Midas HaDin, the attribute of Divine justice, which determines that a person must die. Yet Hashem’s power enables Him to transform even this judgment into the ultimate restoration of life.
As the Sifsei Chaim explains, the process of death and resurrection involves overcoming the natural consequences of sin and the judgment that brought about death in the first place. Through a miraculous process that transcends nature, the person is ultimately purified and prepared for Techiyas HaMeisim. The very judgment that brought about death is transformed into the process that makes eternal life possible.
In this way, Techiyas HaMeisim reveals Hashem’s gevurah not only because He can restore life, but because He can transform the ultimate consequence of sin and judgment—death itself—into the pathway to eternal life.
Melech Meimis UMechaye UMatzmiach Yeshuah
King Who brings death and gives life, and brings forth salvation.
We refer to Hashem as Melech—King—because death is brought about through the authority of the Divine Judge. The word Melech emphasizes Hashem’s sovereign authority to determine the destiny of every person through Midas HaDin, the attribute of Divine justice.
Yet the same King Who brings about death also brings about resurrection. This is not a contradiction. Death is not an act of revenge or destruction. Rather, it is part of a process through which the soul and body are purified and prepared for their ultimate restoration.
In this sense, the three expressions—Meimis, Mechaye, and Matzmiach Yeshuah—are closely connected. Death is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of a process that ultimately leads to purification, resurrection, and salvation.
The Dover Shalom compares this process to a seed planted in the ground. The seed initially decays and appears to be destroyed. Yet that very process ultimately allows something far greater to emerge: a living plant that can become larger and more magnificent than the original seed.
The same is true of death. The body undergoes a process of decomposition and purification, but this is not its ultimate destruction. Rather, Hashem uses this process to prepare the person for a superior and perfected form of existence.
The Avudraham, as quoted in the Sifsei Chaim, compares this process to the purification of a golden vessel. In order to purify gold, it must be returned to the fire and heated until it becomes molten. The original form of the vessel is temporarily destroyed, but the process removes its impurities and allows it to be formed anew.
Similarly, the process of death and burial purifies the human being from the effects of the sin of Adam HaRishon and from the person’s own sins. The body is broken down into its fundamental elements, and ultimately, Hashem rebuilds and revitalizes it through Techiyas HaMeisim.
Thus, Meimis UMechaye UMatzmiach Yeshuah is not a series of unrelated descriptions. It expresses a single profound idea: Hashem uses the process of death and purification to prepare the human being for renewal and ultimate salvation.
Explanation #2: Matzmiach Yeshuah—The Redemption of the Jewish People
There is also a broader, national dimension to Matzmiach Yeshuah. The word Matzmiach comes from the language of tzemichah, growth or sprouting. It describes the way a seed is placed in the ground, where it decays and appears to be destroyed, only to sprout into something new and far greater.
The history of the Jewish people follows a similar pattern. During the long exile, the Jewish people have suffered persecution, humiliation, destruction, and seemingly endless loss. At times, the future has appeared hopeless. The experience of galus can therefore be compared to a seed buried underground, apparently decaying and disappearing.
Yet the exile is not the final stage of the process. The very suffering and destruction that appear to signify the triumph of evil will ultimately be revealed as part of Hashem’s plan. Evil is not an independent force that operates outside of Hashem’s control. Ultimately, it will be destroyed, and the world will recognize that even its temporary existence served a purpose: to make the revelation of Kavod Shamayim—the glory of Hashem—more evident.
The destruction of evil will therefore reveal that evil was never the ultimate power. Hashem allowed it to exist only as part of a process that would ultimately lead to its defeat and to the greater revelation of His glory.
This is the deeper meaning of Meimis UMechaye UMatzmiach Yeshuah. Hashem brings about the destruction of evil, sustains and restores that which is good, and causes salvation to emerge from the very circumstances that once appeared to represent defeat.
The redemption will also unfold gradually. A person who has lived in darkness for a long time cannot necessarily adjust instantly to an overwhelming burst of light. The contrast between the suffering of exile and the ultimate state of redemption would be too dramatic to absorb all at once. The redemption must therefore develop in stages, allowing the Jewish people to gradually transition from the pain of galus to the extraordinary blessing of geulah.
Vene’eman Atah Lechayos Meisim…Mechaye HaMeisim
Throughout this blessing, we have already mentioned numerous ongoing manifestations of Hashem’s power to restore and renew life—for example, Someich Noflim, supporting those who fall, and Rofeh Cholim, healing the sick, as discussed in the previous article. These daily demonstrations of Hashem’s ability to restore life strengthen our faith that He will ultimately fulfill His promise of Techiyas HaMeisim.
We therefore conclude: Vene’eman Atah Lechayos Meisim—You are faithful to revive the dead.
Hashem has promised that He will revive the dead, and we are absolutely certain that He will fulfill that promise. Indeed, our faith is so complete that we express the conclusion of the blessing in the present tense: Mechaye HaMeisim—He Who revives the dead.
Although the ultimate Techiyas HaMeisim lies in the future, our certainty that it will occur is so absolute that we speak of it as an established reality.
The present tense also reflects the fact that the process has already begun. The purification and transformation that ultimately prepare a person for Techiyas HaMeisim begin through the process of death itself.
The Yaaros Dvash adds another dimension to this blessing. The concept of revival applies not only to the physical resurrection of the dead but also to the spiritual revival achieved through teshuvah. When a person turns away from sin and returns to Hashem, he or she is spiritually transformed and brought back to life.
Accordingly, when reciting this blessing, we should have in mind not only our belief in the future resurrection of the dead, but also the ongoing process of spiritual renewal that takes place through teshuvah.
Our belief in Techiyas HaMeisim is not merely a human response to the fear or finality of death. Many cultures have imagined some form of life after death, perhaps because people naturally desire to believe that death is not the end. But our belief rests on something far more fundamental: Hashem Himself revealed to us through the Torah that He will revive the dead.
That is why we say Vene’eman Atah—You are faithful.
Hashem has promised to revive the dead, and we trust absolutely that He will fulfill His promise. Our faith is so certain that we describe Him as Mechaye HaMeisim—the One Who revives the dead—even though the ultimate resurrection lies in the future.
We do not merely hope that the dead will one day be revived. We believe it with the same certainty with which we believe in Hashem’s faithfulness.
Rabbi Daniel Rubin can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
