Note: this sermon is written by Rabbi Matan Shnaiweiss who is based in Israel. It has been translated from Hebrew to English

Living the Dream

Scenario #1

The old slave thought bitterly about a childhood dream that turned his life into a constant nightmare. Every day he gets up early, works hard until exhaustion and nothing he does is really appreciated by his masters, he is considered subhuman. He has nothing of his own. Everything could have been different; if he only knew how to keep his mouth shut. If he hadn't told his brother his stupid dreams. But now he slaves in Egypt. He learned the hard way how dangerous dreams are. Such a shame, he could be with his loving father in Canaan right now. And here he is, broken and crushed in Egypt - all because of a stupid childhood dream.

Scenario #2

Betrayal - this is his life now. Because of who he was - he had thought so much of himself. If he could only shout, he would scream to everyone that none of that stuff that seemed so critical was in fact not important at all. He once believed that he was so important. It all seems ridiculous now; how he told his brothers about his big dreams. A man like him does not break easily. Even when his brothers sold him to Egypt he managed to keep his head above water. “I will succeed in restoring the dream”, he promised himself. And indeed, he succeeded. He moved so fast. No one believed that a servant could advance so quickly in that way - his master - the minister of the kitchens trusted him with everything - he was important.  He was already able to plan his future, his dreams would finally come true in the best way possible. He really believed in those dreams. When his master's wife tried to seduce him, he said with full self confidence, "And how can I do this great evil and sin against God" - the dreams came from God, he will remain faithful...

Now languishing in the pit of a prison he has sobered up. From this place, no dream can ever come true. He must overcome and forget about those stupid dreams - they brought him nothing except misery and despair. Deep in his despair he can no longer think, no longer dream... The Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Bakers came to him and told him that they had a dream, they asked him to tell them the meaning of their dreams. Bitterly he admonished them - stop dreaming - nothing good comes of it.

Scenario #3

Outside everything looked rosy. He is subordinate to the king of Egypt, his brothers went down to Egypt and his loving father came with them. But when he was alone, in the quiet of the night, he knew that nothing was rosy. The dream may have come true but it is not what it seems. The lost years will be impossible to make up. Maybe on the outside it looks like a happy ending, but his father doesn't even know his sons. Ephraim and Manasseh seem like strangers to him. His brothers; they haven't really reconciled with him. They are afraid that at any moment he will exact his revenge on them, they live in feer of him. He knows that in the end he will die as an Egyptian, he will be embalmed and he will remain in Egypt. Was the whole dream worth it? If he knew then that this is how dreams come true, he would have  happily given them up.

The Scenario of Living the dream

He had no end of difficulty in conveying the matter. He was not always understood or believed, but the dream was not his . The dream came to him . He did not choose the dream, the dream chose him - it is bigger than him. This dream is a vocation that he was called to, a vocation that filled his life, it became his life. He knows that there is a heavy cost for every dream, but when you believe in something, you see the good in it. He believed in the dream with all his being and held no grudge against his brothers. He believed in the dream. Even in the pit he  continues to solve dreams and continues to dream.

He knows that this dream would last beyond his lifetime - he would be brought back to the place he came from and where he belongs. It won’t be his children who will return his bones, but the descendants of his brothers. The brothers who initially alienated him, they will be the ones to realize the dream.  He knows that his dream will not remain only his dream but it will eventually succeed in infecting others as well. His dream will leave a mark to the power of the dream, it will give power to all dreamers.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matan Shnaiweiss