Rabbi Roodyn

I have a dream!

Or in other words Yoseph says to his brothers, שמעו נא החלום הזה אשר חלמתי, ‘Hear, please, the dream which I dreamt. Dreams clearly play a crucial part in this week’s parsha, from Yosef’s dreams at the start of the sedra to the butler and the baker’s at the end. Next week we will continue with the epic story of Yoseph’s salvation through interpreting Pharaoh’s enigmatic dreams.

I find it fascinating that of the ten dreams recorded in the Torah, in a normal year we read about them during the month of Kislev, in Vayeitzei, Vayeshev and Miketz.  And it’s no coincidence that of the twelves stones on the choshen, the one for kislev is achlama, the amethyst. The Radak[1] notes that achlama comes from the root chalom, a dream. So this really is the month of dreams!

But why the obsession with dreams?

What are dreams all about and what is their connection to the upcoming chag of Chanuka? Is there possibly a connection that we light the menorah in a window, a Chalon?

Not all dreaming is the same. It runs the gamut of human experience (and sometimes beyond), incorporating a dizzying range of emotions and events, often with elements of the bizarre. Dreams can be funny, frightening, sad or strange. Flying dreams can be euphoric, chasing dreams can be terrifying, forgot-to-study-for-my-exam dreams can be stressful.

There are numerous scientific approaches to understanding dreams, their function and significance. The truth is, as long as the brain remains such a mystery, we probably won’t be able to pinpoint with absolute certainty exactly why we dream. But there are very interesting theories out there…

There is also fascinating research that shows our capacity to dream beyond our waking experiences, in profound ways. Dream reports of people born paralysed reveal that they walk, swim, and run in their dreams as often as people without paralysis. Dream reports of people born deaf indicate they often hear in their dreams. These reports may lend credence to the theory that dreams serve as a broad, virtual-reality model of waking life—a proto-consciousness—that instructs and supports survival and growth.

In fact the pasuk says in Iyov[2], ‘In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls upon men, in the slumbers on the bed. Then He opens the ear of men, and impresses His seal upon their fettered state. He keeps man from activity and deprives man of his body…’

Rav Hirsch[3] explains that in the dreaming state, we are not active thinkers or imaginers. Rather, thoughts act upon us. In a dream sent by Hashem (as most prophesies were,) Hashem is the active intelligence communicating with the individual.

A dream is a time when the conscious mind is absent. We are presented with endless opportunities, we are no longer holding the reigns, we just have a sea of possibilities.  The yoke of an egg is called the chelmon, the potential for life is there but it needs the nefesh, the spark to enable life to be brought into the world.

Which brings us to Chanuka, a time when the impossible dream becomes a reality. Can a few spindly kohanim defeat a superpower, can a small jug of oil last for eight days. It’s impossible …. Until it happens. All it took was for the Maccabim to be bold enough to take the first step, take up arms despite the odds, light the menorah without enough oil, because we have no choice but to move forward.

Perhaps the words chalom and chalon are so similar is because a dream is a window into the possible. We get beyond ourselves, we can break through walls and shine!

We all have dreams, dreams for ourselves, dreams for our loved ones, dreams for our community and dreams for the world. Some, like Yosef’s dreams may seem ridiculous pie in the sky, but the pasuk tells us ואביו שמר את הדבר, his father guarded the matter, he appreciated their significance even though the fulfilment would be a long time in coming.

In fact the medrash connects Yosef’s dreams with shir hamaalos – hayinu kecholmim – when Hashem will ultimately return us to Zion we will be as dreamers. The Ibn Ezra says, because the geulah will seem as impossible as a dream – yet we have full confidence in the destiny of the Jewish People that indeed that dream will come true.

Maybe this is a new angle on unesana tokef  – our lives are kechalom ya’uf, like a fleeting dream. It’s all too easy to ignore our dreams and let them slip through our hands. Let’s grab hold of our dreams, guard them and treasure them and most importantly pursue them.

Yael and I feel so privileged to have been chosen to be part of your wonderful community which we can now proudly call, ‘our’ wonderful community.  Yosef who starts off the parsha by saying, ‘I have a dream’ and ends off with the butler and the baker by saying, ‘tell me your dreams’. As we start this new chapter, let’s dream together of where we can go and what we can become as a community. Let’s listen to each other and imagine new possibilities and work together to, with Hashem’s help, make them happen.

 

 

 

 

[1] Sefer Hashorashim ערך חלמ

[2] Iyov 33:15-17

[3] Bereishis 20:3