“Sovereign of the Universe, I am Yours and my dreams are Yours. I have dreamt a dream and do not know what it is. Whether I have dreamt a dream about myself, or my friends have dreamt about me, or I have dreamt about others, if they are good dreams, confirm them. Reinforce them, like the dreams of Joseph [and Asnat]. As You turned the curse of the wicked Balaam into a blessing, so turn all my dreams into something good for me. You Who are majestic on high, Who dwells in might, You are peace and Your name is peace. May it be Your will to bestow peace on us. Amen.” 1
“Dreams are visions, fantasy and exploration, glimpses of the past and the future. Some dreams need interpretation while others offer clear insight into our hopes and aspirations. Dreaming is a wonderful blessing. But not everyone has the luxury of paying attention to dreams.”2 , as American rabbi Debra Robins teaches.
For weeks now dreams have been in our Torah readings. Jacob dreams about the angels going up and down the ladder, Joseph dreams about his family and interprets dreams for others. And this week’s Torah portion is not different, it actually begins with the Pharaoh dreaming, twice. Then Joseph is called to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams and his life changes. The Paraoh gives him a wife, Asenath, they have two children: Ephraim and Menashe, and he gets an important position in Egypt’s government.
Seven years of plenty pass, and when Egypt is the only place where food can be bought, his brothers arrive to get food for their families. They don’t recognize Joseph, but he not only recognises them, but also remembers his dreams. They come, as in his dreams, to bow down to him.
Dreaming demands from the dreamer three characteristics: First, dreamers must remember their dreams. Second, dreamers should interpret the dreams and sometimes ask for help. Third, dreamers act on their dreams.
Me and my classmates dedicated numerous hours this semester studying dreams in the Talmud. There is a whole chapter in tractate of Brachot dedicated to dreams, their interpretation, and their effects. But one teaching stayed with all of us: "Kol chalomot holchin achal pe" All dreams follow the mouth. In our sages’ view, dreams are letters, messages sent to us, and when dreams are interpreted it is like reading the letter, giving it a meaning, and then this meaning will be followed.
In a rabbinic tale, a midrash, we are told that Joseph’s wife, Asenath, asks her sons to be taken to be blessed by Jacob, by saying: “’I have heard that if one receives a blessing from a righteous person it is like receiving it from the Shechinah.’ She wants her children, the dreamers of the future, to have a relationship with their God, to know that they are not alone in the world.”3
Blessings are dreams wished for us and for other people. I remember my grandmother blessing me when I was little. Before leaving her house after Sunday lunch, she used to bless each one of her grandchildren. In Jewish tradition, parents bless their children on the night of Shabbat, like Sergei and Tatiana, from our twin community in Lutsk, do bless their son every Friday, as some of us had the privilege to witness.
Traditionally, girls are blessed that they be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah; boys are blessed that they be like Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph who were born to him in the beginning of Parashat Miketz, the exact portion that I am going to read in this synagogue tomorrow.
But why blessing our children to be like two characters about whom almost nothing is said? Rabbi Sylvia Rothchild explains that “Ephraim and Menashe grew up in Egypt. Their mother, Asenath, was Egyptian. In the Biblical imagination, Egypt is the prototypical Diaspora location. But despite their Diaspora childhood and education, Ephraim and Menashe held fast to their minority religious identity, and therefore we bless our sons to be like them in hopes that they too will cling to their Jewishness despite the many pressures of Diaspora life.” In the hopes that they have a protected and meaningful Jewish life, no matter where they live.
Another traditional explanation, remembered this week by Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, is that Ephraim and Menashe are the first two brothers in the Torah that don’t fight with each other. Not even when their grandfather crosses his arms during his blessing to the boys, giving to each the blessing of the other. They are blessed and leave happily, brotherly, together. This is the ultimate dream: wanting our children to be able follow a path of peace and understanding. Hoping that our children can find love and companionship wherever they are.
"Im tirtzu, ein zo agada" this is one of the most famous Herzel’s phrase, meaning if you will it, it is no dream. But reality begin with dreams that are dreamed when we are asleep and when we are awaken, reality may begin with the expression of a blessing for our children to live a meaningful and protected Jewish life, finding love wherever they go.
Feminist liturgist Marcia Falk changed the traditional blessing that wishes our children to be like the matriarchs or the sons of Joseph. Her wish is for children to be the best of who they are, in all the possibilities that they have in who they are, and that is yet another dream.
“Sovereign of the Universe, I am Yours and my dreams are Yours. I have dreamt a dream. A dream where Jews were safe from all the Mitzraims, free to be themselves around the world. I dreamt about brothers and sisters loving and protecting each other, bringing back children to their mothers’ arms. I dreamt a dream of days of blessings, protection and love. Shechinah, Mother of all beings, reinforce my dream, like the dreams of Joseph and Asnat. As You turned the curse of the wicked Balaam into a blessing, so turn all bad dreams into something good, into blessings. You Who are majestic on high, Who dwells in might, You are peace and Your name is peace. May it be Your will to bestow peace on us. Amen
Dreams follow the mouth, so we should dream on, and we should keep dreaming until our dreams come true.
Shabbat Shalom.
1 - Talmud Berachot 55b
2 - Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. The Women's Torah Commentary. Turner Publishing Company. Kindle Edition. Commentary on Parashat Miketz by Rabbi Debra Judith Robbins
3 - Rabbi Debra Judith Robbins
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