The Audacity to Dream
Rabbi Tom Samuels
Our sages taught: "It is the great dreams that are the foundation of the world.” That the whole world stands only because some people have the courage, the audacity, the chutzpah, to dream great dreams.
We read in our Torah, that after the death of Joseph and his brothers, a new and prosperous generation of Israelites emerged in Ancient Egypt. The Torah continues: וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” (Exodus 1:8) This new ruler subjected the Israelites to what became four hundred years of brutal slavery and oppression.
The text tells us nothing about this new pharaoh other than he “did not know Joseph.” Why does the Torah specifically point this out? What is it that the new pharaoh did not know about Joseph?
Let’s go back to the central theme of Joseph’s life: his dreams. They are the cause of his brothers’ envy and hatred for which they first try to kill him, and then sell him into slavery. They raise him up from the depths of the Egyptian prison, to the most powerful position as viceroy of Egypt. Joseph’s dreams permeate and define his life, a continual drama of pitfalls and triumphs.
Joseph was the quintessential dreamer, and by extension, so too are his people, the Israelites. Thus, when a new Egyptian ruler arose, he could not fathom how a people who were so oppressed, so downtrodden, could still hold onto their dreams. Who could insist on a future of redemption. ף וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ZT”L, may his sacred memory be for a blessing, taught that the Jewish dream is a world in which human beings can live with dignity in a world of justice and peace. After all, we are sons and daughters of dreamers. Being connected to our dreams means never giving up hope. It means believing that at every moment it is possible for the world to look different than it does. To dare to dream great dreams despite the fact that reality seems to belie those dreams.
God takes Abraham outside one evening, and pointing to the star-filled heavens, blesses him with the promise of a progeny so numerous, beyond counting: הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ, ”Look toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them... So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5).
The great Hasidic master, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter, the Sefat Emet, dives into the deeper meaning of God's promise to Abraham. To be a Jew, he wrote, is to be like a star bringing light into those places, those moments of darkness, of despair and hopelessness. Stars can not eliminate the darkness. They can only mitigate its monopoly. We all have the potential to be those sparks of light, explained the Sefat Emet. That no matter how fleeting, how precarious this light might be, it can help us to restore our hopes and our dreams.
Are we still connected with our dreams? Do we dare to dream what we couldn’t even imagine to dream? Do we really know Joseph? Let us dare to still dream. Especially our greatest dreams.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם אֲנִי שֶׁלָּךְ וַחֲלוֹמוֹתַי שֶׁלָּךְ חֲלוֹם חָלַמְתִּי חַזְּקֵם וְאַמְּצֵם וְיִתְקַיְּמוּ בִי וּבָהֶם כַּחֲלוֹמוֹתָיו שֶׁל יוֹסֵף הַצַּדִּיק
“Master of the Universe, I am Yours and my dreams are Yours. Strengthen my dreams and reinforce them like the dreams of Joseph the Tzadik.”
Rabbi Tom Samuels
Our sages taught: "It is the great dreams that are the foundation of the world.” That the whole world stands only because some people have the courage, the audacity, the chutzpah, to dream great dreams.
We read in our Torah, that after the death of Joseph and his brothers, a new and prosperous generation of Israelites emerged in Ancient Egypt. The Torah continues: וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” (Exodus 1:8) This new ruler subjected the Israelites to what became four hundred years of brutal slavery and oppression.
The text tells us nothing about this new pharaoh other than he “did not know Joseph.” Why does the Torah specifically point this out? What is it that the new pharaoh did not know about Joseph?
Let’s go back to the central theme of Joseph’s life: his dreams. They are the cause of his brothers’ envy and hatred for which they first try to kill him, and then sell him into slavery. They raise him up from the depths of the Egyptian prison, to the most powerful position as viceroy of Egypt. Joseph’s dreams permeate and define his life, a continual drama of pitfalls and triumphs.
Joseph was the quintessential dreamer, and by extension, so too are his people, the Israelites. Thus, when a new Egyptian ruler arose, he could not fathom how a people who were so oppressed, so downtrodden, could still hold onto their dreams. Who could insist on a future of redemption. ף וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, ZT”L, may his sacred memory be for a blessing, taught that the Jewish dream is a world in which human beings can live with dignity in a world of justice and peace. After all, we are sons and daughters of dreamers. Being connected to our dreams means never giving up hope. It means believing that at every moment it is possible for the world to look different than it does. To dare to dream great dreams despite the fact that reality seems to belie those dreams.
God takes Abraham outside one evening, and pointing to the star-filled heavens, blesses him with the promise of a progeny so numerous, beyond counting: הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ, ”Look toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them... So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5).
The great Hasidic master, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter, the Sefat Emet, dives into the deeper meaning of God's promise to Abraham. To be a Jew, he wrote, is to be like a star bringing light into those places, those moments of darkness, of despair and hopelessness. Stars can not eliminate the darkness. They can only mitigate its monopoly. We all have the potential to be those sparks of light, explained the Sefat Emet. That no matter how fleeting, how precarious this light might be, it can help us to restore our hopes and our dreams.
Are we still connected with our dreams? Do we dare to dream what we couldn’t even imagine to dream? Do we really know Joseph? Let us dare to still dream. Especially our greatest dreams.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם אֲנִי שֶׁלָּךְ וַחֲלוֹמוֹתַי שֶׁלָּךְ חֲלוֹם חָלַמְתִּי חַזְּקֵם וְאַמְּצֵם וְיִתְקַיְּמוּ בִי וּבָהֶם כַּחֲלוֹמוֹתָיו שֶׁל יוֹסֵף הַצַּדִּיק
“Master of the Universe, I am Yours and my dreams are Yours. Strengthen my dreams and reinforce them like the dreams of Joseph the Tzadik.”