Dream on…

‘וַיַּחֲלֹם יוֹסֵף חֲלוֹם וַיַּגֵּד לְאֶחָיו וַיּוֹסִפוּ עוֹד שְׂנֹא אֹתוֹ’

‘Once Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him even more’

GENESIS 37:5

Joseph was a dreamer, like his great dad Jacob.

[…back track a little into the last two weeks of blogs if you want to read more on dreaming]

In this week’s parsha, Parshat Vayeishev, Joseph dreamed and his brothers hated him.

Maybe it is upon us to dream, as the darkness of winter rolls in, in a world not illuminated, we dream.

Dream with me a little, share in my dreams.

I am dreaming of you, dreaming with you. I think of you constantly, I walk with you, I share in your journey.

I believe you and I believe in you!

I believe you were created in the image of God and that you have a right to life and dignity.

I ask that you believe in me and believe me and that I too have the same rights as you to life, dignity and to live without fear.

I believe in you, that you love your community and will fight for it with all that you have. I believe you that you best understand the needs and vulnerabilities of your community and whilst putting your community first, that you will also consider how your striving and care may affect my community.

I believe in my community, I will do the same, I will fight with everything I have for my community and at the same time I will try to hold dear the integrity and rights of all communities.

I believe in my responsibility here, in this country to look after those communities closest to me. This is hard to do because often we don’t know each other as well as we should and lines of division are drawn much faster than we are drawn together.

I know this war between Israel and Hamas is bringing us great disagreement but if we are to survive and if European democracy is to continue to thrive we must find ways to win this battle here. I believe we can defeat extremism in all its myriad forms and preserve love, care and protection of minority communities.

I believe in you that you too can uphold these values.

I believe in you, that you can see the wood for the trees, if I am attacked, I want you to notice and to say, “I am with you”. If you are attacked, I will try to stand with you.

If I am raped or someone in my community is murdered or mutilated, I need you to stand with me in strength, not to doubt me or cast doubt on my story.

I believe your story, please believe me.

This week I am dreaming and you hate me, next week perhaps we will recover, perhaps we will fight. I will continue dreaming that all peoples can live together, that our humanity is shared.

I need you to believe me, I also need to you to dream with me.

SHABBAT SHALOM

HAG URIM SAMAYACH, wishing you a lit up Hanukah!*

*If you are looking for a connect for Hanukah, message me, we have Hanukah lighting & latkes…