How Do You Respond to Your Dreams? D’var Torah for Parshat Vayetzei
How Do You Respond to Your Dreams?
The book of Bereshit (Genesis) could easily be given the subtitle “The Book of Dreams,” as there are many significant dreams within it. However, it is only in relation to two of these dreams that the Torah uses a particular verb: “Vayyikatz” — “he woke up from his dream.” Clearly, the Torah is inviting us to compare and contrast these two occasions.
The first is in Parshat Vayetzei, when Jacob had the extraordinary vision of the ladder. The Torah tells us, Vayyikatz Yaakov — Jacob woke up. What was his response? He immediately declared, “Achen yesh Hashem bammakom hazzeh” — “I feel, and I know that Hashem is in this place.” Jacob then translated his dream into action by declaring, “Vehayah Hashem li Lelokim” – “The Lord will be my God for the rest of my life.”
Now, let’s look at the second “Vayyikatz,” found in Parshat Miketz. King Pharaoh had a dream just as monumental as Jacob’s, a dream through which God was sending a message to him personally, and through him, to all of civilisation. It was about the seven lean cows and the seven healthy cows. How did Pharaoh respond? The Torah says, “Vayyikatz…Vayyishan vayyachalom shenit”—”He woke up, and then he went back to sleep and had another dream.”
The Torah is surely teaching us how to respond to our dreams. And it’s not just the dreams we have at night, but the messages that our experiences convey to us, the inspiration we derive from what we see and hear.
So, how do we respond? Do we change our lives accordingly and become a blessing for our environment as a result? Or, like Pharaoh, do we simply turn over and ignore what we see and hear?
In Psalm 126 (Shir Hama’alot), a familiar passage to many, there is a reference to dreams — a very significant one. The Psalm says, “Beshuv Hashem et-shivat Tziyyon hayinu kecholemim” — “When Hashem returned the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.” This highlights the extent to which Hashem recognises His gift of Zion to the Jewish people — not just as a geopolitical part of the Jewish nation, but as the centre of our faith. And how have we translated that dream?
Into the marvellous reality of the State of Israel. Whether people around the world recognise it or not, Israel continues to be a blessing for all of civilisation.
And right now, we have a dream. It is a dream that is ever-present in our minds, and it is accompanied by sentiments from our hearts. Our dream is to see the numerous hostages being held in Gaza come home swiftly and safely. Our prayer, right now, is “Beshuv Hashem et-shivat Tziyyon” — “May Hashem enable the captives of Zion to come home.”
And what will our response be then? “Az yimmale sechok pinu uleshonenu rinnah” — “Then we will be filled with joy and happiness.”
Please, God, may it come soon!
Shabbat Shalom.
