Between two dreams

I am stuck with image of dreaming, what are dreams? Dreams are our concept of striving, the internal mind in direct conversation with our conscious mind. This and last week’s Parsha are the Parshiot, Torah portions, of dreams.

Jacob also known as Israel, father of the 12 Tribes of Israel is a dreamer.

In last week’s Parsha, we have the image of Jacob’s ladder, Jacob lies down in a place he will name, ‘בֵּית־אֵל’ ‘Beit El’, ‘the home of God’. Angels climb the ladder and come down. The base of the ladder is in the ground, the top of the ladder in the heavens. The ladder represents spiritual ascent - in our dream world, whether by day or by night – our dreams, our aspirations shape our development. We are not put on this earth to stand still, we are put here to strive, to reach to places we could have only imagined.

And then in this week’s Parsha, Vayishlach, another dream – the core of Israel (Jacob) is dreams -  a dream imagination that reaches, journeys, prepares the emotional landscape. In his second dream Jacob fights, wrestles with his inner self. When he awakes he is fundamentally changed and his name becomes Israel. He names this place, ‘פְּנִיאֵל’, ‘P’nei El’, ‘the face of God’.

What is the space between ‘Beit El’ and ‘P’nei El’? Both come at crucial moments in Jacob’s journey and both engage fundamental internal reckoning.

Life since October 7, for many across the Jewish community, has not looked the same. It is hard to overstate how life before this date and after is different. We should not shy away from this seismic shift but the challenge is to be shaped in strength not in trauma. We must work through the trauma and permit our strength and resilience to guide us.

The dream life that Jacob presents in these weeks is to be guided, in the dark of winter by our own inner spirit, our spirit knows our upward journey, the reaches we dare to embark upon that we might realise if we try. Our inner self also knows the truth of our own inner struggle, the trick is to listen to that inner voice of wrestling and not be deterred or distracted by the voices of the street.

Hanukah, the season that we now enter is a time of profound, unspeakable spiritual strength and resilience. We need every ounce of this strength right now, for the light of Hanukah to guide us from this darkness - a part of this light is listening deeply to our dreams.

SHABBAT SHALOM