Joseph, Dreams, and Prophecy- Vayeishev 5785

When I was a senior in high school, I took a year-long course on psychology as an elective. It was a very interesting class, which even got me wondering for a little bit if I should major in psychology in college. Although I didn’t follow that path, I do remember learning a lot about different schools of psychology and human behavior, delving into the work of Freud, Jung, Skinner, and others. Although I learned a very cursory view of the meaning of dreams, my own interpretations pale very much in comparison to those of Joseph, who takes center stage in parshat Vayeishev this week. 

Dreams, and dreamers, have a prominent place in our tradition from the time of our ancestors even up to the present day. Apart from Joseph’s dreams in our parsha, the Tanakh teaches that dreams are the medium through which G-d communicates with humans (with the exception, of course, of Moses). The fantastic visions of prophecy for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others occur in dreams. The Talmud in the ninth chapter of masechet Berakhot teaches that for us humans, dreams constitute one-sixtieth of prophecy.

But, as we know, good dreams can co-exist alongside bad ones. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a famous hasidic rebbe and founder of the Breslover sect of hasidim, doesn’t seem to put much stock into the idea of dreams as prophecy. In fact, he teaches in his writings that upon waking up from a bad dream, a person should paraphrase an excerpt from Zechariah 10:2- הַחֲלוֹמוֹת שָׁוְא יְדַבֵּרוּ- “dreams are meaningless”. (However, he also teaches that upon waking from a good dream, a person should affirm its meaning by quoting another verse.)

In addition, there exists in our tradition a special prayer for the amelioration of a bad dream, which is traditionally recited in the presence of three good friends.

It doesn’t take a Freud, however, to interpret the meaning of Joseph’s two dreams at the start of the parsha. In fact, it’s two dreams with the same meaning, just like the dreams that he interprets for Pharaoh a little later. In the first, Joseph dreams that he and his family are binding sheaves in the field, and the sheaves of his family bow down to his sheaf. The second dream is less symbolic and more literal: the sun, moon, and eleven stars all bow down to Joseph himself.

Being only a boy of seventeen and the second-youngest of his siblings, Joseph’s father and brothers don’t think much of his dreams. They’re incredulous at the notion that they will come to bow down to Joseph and serve him. 

His brothers, in their hate for him, go so far as to dehumanize him by not calling him by his name. After he’s sent by his father Jacob to check on his brothers, Joseph is told that they’ve gone to Dothan. The Torah sets the scene- when his brothers see Joseph approaching, they conspire to kill him.

וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו הִנֵּ֗ה בַּ֛עַל הַחֲלֹמ֥וֹת הַלָּזֶ֖ה בָּֽא׃

“They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer!”

וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ לְכ֣וּ וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד הַבֹּר֔וֹת וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ חַיָּ֥ה רָעָ֖ה אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ וְנִרְאֶ֕ה מַה־יִּהְי֖וּ חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו׃

“Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we can say, ‘A savage beast devoured him.’ We shall see what comes of his dreams!” (Gen. 37:19-20)

The medieval Italian biblical commentator Sforno writes that the meaning of the phrase “that dreamer”, as opposed to Joseph’s real name, means “the one who told us about his dreams in order to make us angry.” They’re engaging in what we call today “victim blaming” before they even encounter him.

They meant that Joseph had wanted them to commit a sin as a result of their anger so that they would bring down upon themselves the wrath of their father or of G-d, thereby causing their destruction. They see Joseph not as an idyllic, pie-in-the-sky dreamer, but as a malevolent force that will cause their downfall if he’s not swiftly dealt with.

My teacher Rabbi Nehemiah Polen once said, in all seriousness, that he still reads the narrative of Joseph’s mistreatment and being sold into slavery with tears in his eyes. It’s hard not to: Joseph is brought down to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s courtiers, and when Potiphar’s wife unsuccessfully tries to seduce him she contrives a story to have him imprisoned. Yet it’s at his lowest point- falsely imprisoned in a foreign country where he was brought against his will- that the dreams of others send Joseph a lifeline.

When Pharaoh’s imprisoned wine steward and baker tell Joseph their own dreams, Joseph interprets them and implores them to mention him to Pharaoh, yet they forget him. The very last word of our parsha- va’yish’ka’kheihu (“and he forgot him”), referring to the wine steward- really drives home the despair that we feel for Joseph, and that Joseph must feel while imprisoned.

However, it’s Joseph’s interpretation of their dreams- and later, Pharaoh’s- that allows the growth of the Israelites into a nation.

It’s a lamentable fact of history that dreams, even attainable ones, are often mocked in their time, along with those who dream them. To name a few familiar examples, Martin Luther King, Jr., whose dream of racial equality continues to be brought forth into existence, wrote one of the most eloquent documents of the American civil rights movement in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”- imprisoned, just as Joseph was, before ascending to great social prominence. Vincent van Gogh famously sold only one painting in his lifetime, despite a prodigious artistic output, and was only recognized after his death as an amazing talent. The prophecies found in the Tanakh, with the very notable exception of that of Jonah, are largely mocked and ignored, with the Israelites not heeding their advice.

What, then, are we to make of those who dream big today? We might feel a tinge in incredulousness, but I like to muster encouragement for them if I can. The current state of the world, sadly, is not always conducive to grand dreams that we may harbor. However, I believe that big problems often require big solutions. While the Torah clearly states that G-d is with Joseph in all he does, even in Potiphar’s house and in prison, we often feel that we ourselves are the ones to make our dreams into reality. 

My prayer is that with a combination of divinely-given human intellect, along with a little bit of luck, nearly all things are possible. Even when odds are stacked against us, we should never completely abandon grand ideas that we can bring to fruition. While Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams alongside G-d’s presence allows him to come into his own, so too we are able to bring about great things.

In the weekday Amidah we pray 3 times daily: “atah honen l’adam da’at”- “you, G-d, grant humans wisdom”. We all have been given the divine gift of sechel– intelligence. When we acknowledge that we have the ability to dream big, and realize those dreams, we can partner with G-d in creating a better world for ourselves and our communities, just as Joseph does.