Vayeishev-2015

· There is a lot of dreaming in the Parsha (and the beginning of the next)- six dreams:

o Yosef has two dreams –

§ sheaves of wheat bow down to one sheaf, 

§ sun, moon, and 11 stars bow down to Yosef

o Butler and Baker in Egyptian prison

§ Butler - grape vines and wine

§ Baker - baskets of bread

o Next week’s Parsha, Pharaoh has two dreams.

§ Seven skinny cows eat seven fat cows

§ Seven shriveled ears of corn eat seven healthy ears of corn

· Brochot 57b – A dream is one sixtieth of Navua (prophecy)- dreams are a connection to the divine.

· 40:8 – Yosef to the Butler and the Baker - “Interpretations (of dreams) belong to Hashem.”

· 41:15 Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.  I have heard that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.” 

· Yosef answered Pharaoh, “Not I.  Hashem will respond to the Shalom of Pharaoh.”

· Though dreams are a connection to the divine, yet they also bring Yosef trouble.

· 37:5 – “Yosef’s brothers hated him even more because of his dreams.  … His father rebuked him, and said to him. “What is this dream that you dreamed?  Shall I, your mother and your brothers come and prostrate themselves on the ground to you?”

· 37:19 – The brothers say, “Here comes the dreamer.  Let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say that a wild beast devoured him.  Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”

· There is an important message here about dreams.

· Yakov dreamt of the angels going up and down the ladder to Shamayim.

· Dreams give us the power to connect to the spiritual and the future – to go beyond what is.

· Almost all progress of mankind is a result of dreams.

· Dreams are our source of inspiration for improving ourselves, society, and the future.

· Dreams show us the difference between what is and what can be.

· All ventures in business, science, literature, and society begin with dreams.

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· But dreams caused a wedge between Yosef and his brothers, they created animosity.

· Dreams are inspiring, but they can cause problems

· While looking at the stars we can stumble

· While inspired, we must maintain our balance, and keep our hands firmly on the wheel

· Dreams and dreamers can cause troubles, as they did for Yosef, because dreams and dreamers have flaws.

· DREAMS HAVE FLAWS

o They are only one sixtieth of Navua., they are not Navua

o Rashi says “No dream is without meaningless things”.

o The vision in the dream is usually is blurred, smudged, and unclear.

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· DREAMERS HAVE FLAWS - because human beings are flawed.

· Chumash calls Yosef a Nar; Rashi - “He did things that were childish.”

· Chumash says that Yaakov rebuked Yosef – Rashi - “Because he was bringing hatred upon himself.”

· 37:2 – “Yosef brought back bad reports about his brothers to their father” – Rashi – Any wrong that he would see in his brothers (the sons of Leah), he would tell his father

o Saying they ate aver min hachai (They ate from slaughtered animals that were moving convulsively, and Yosef  thought they were still alive)

o Saying that the sons of Leah demeaned the sons of Bilah and Zilpah by calling them Avadim, slaves.

o Saying the brothers were suspect in Arayot, sexual immorality  (because they had business dealings with women).

· Yosef was immature, not diplomatic, speaking without thinking

· There are three aptitudes that people have – there are thinkers, accountants, and salespeople.

· Thinkers see the world through a telescope – see the heavens, the big picture.  These are the dreamers

· Accountants see the world through a microscope – they see the details, and how the numbers add up.

· Salespeople are social, and are savvy in relationships – they look at people and groups without telescopes or microscopes, just with the regular eye. 

· Few people have all three abilities.

· Not many people have all three perspectives - telescope, microscope, and the naked eye – all at the same time.

· Bill Gates has all three skills, this is one reason he’s so successful.

· Yosef lacked social skills.

· Yosef was a Nar, immature, tattle-taling on his brothers, blurting out his dreams  - when it would have been more strategic to be more reserved about them.

· Dreams are our portal to the future.

· The world would not change without dreams and dreamers.

· But we should keep in mind the problems and limitations of dreams.

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· Here are a several quotations about the power of dreams.

· “Nothing happens unless it’s first a dream.” - Carl Sandburg

· “Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.”~Kahil Gibran

· “If you will it, it is no dream; and if you do not will it, a dream it is and a dream it will stay.” – Theodore Herzl

· “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

· “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

· “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

· “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

· “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.- Walt Disney

· “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw, in Man and Superman

· I once heard that there are two types of people – thermometers and thermostats. Thermometers become like their environment, and thermostats change the environment to themselves.

· Dreamers are thermostats.

· Dreams - Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

· There are occupational hazards of dreamers

· Thy often have their head in the clouds, and don’t see reality accurately.

· Dreamers have their feet firmly planted in the air.

· A person should reach for the stars, and keep their feet on the ground.

· Because dreams and dreamers can have flaws, they can become nightmares.

· The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

· There are often unintended consequences; things can get out of control.

· Shakespeare end of Sonnet 129

   All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

   To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

· William Blake wrote Songs of Innocence in 1789 when he was inspired by the beginning of the French Revolution – Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite

· He then wrote Songs of Experience in 1794– disillusioned and cynical after the Reign of Terror, when events had gone haywire and Napoleon had become dictator.

· Karl Marx was a dreamer with a flawed dream.

· He predicted that the internal tensions of capitalism would cause it to self-destruct and be replaced by socialism. He said that Capitalism causes antagonisms between the bourgeoisie and proletariat that cause the workers to unite and rebel and form a classless society called communism. Marx encouraged the working class to carry out organized revolutionary action to topple capitalism.

· The main countries that implemented his ideas were Russia and China, leading to the death of tens of millions of people.

· Eric Hoffer, wrote The True Believer in 1951, about the terrible effects of dreamers –  

· He said religious and social movements, radical or reactionary – such as Communism, Fascism, Christianity, and Islam – have much in common. These Mass movements begin with "fault-finding intellectuals" who feel a grievance with the current society. This intellectual discredits the current beliefs, and promotes "doctrines of the new faith".  A cadre of devotees gradually develops around him. Eventually, a fanatic takes over leadership of the mass movement who steers into an extremism against the social order, distinguished by his viciousness and urge to destroy.

· So much for dreamers.

· The Jews have always been the dreamers, the visionaries of mankind.

· The Jews throughout history have been able to see what is missing, to imagine how things can improve – morally, socially, legally, and scientifically. 

· Over 20% of Nobel prizes in science go to Jews.

· The three most influential people of the 20^th century were Jewish dreamers – Marx, Freud, and Einstein.

· The quotation from Isaiah is on the walls of the United Nations – they should take a break from bashing Jews to read it.

o Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares,

o and their spears into pruning hooks;

o nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

o neither shall they learn war any more"

· Thank goodness we can measure our dreams against the Torah that is perfect, written by Hashem Who is perfect.

· If we root our dreams in the Torah, then our dreams can become a bright and clear reality.