Dear Friends,
Recently I read a posting from Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis about this week’s portion, V’Yetzei from which this is an excerpt:
“In the opening of the parsha, Jacob dreams of angels ascending and descending on a ladder that bridges earth to heaven. When Jacob awakes from his dream he declares, Ma nora hamakom hazeh, eyn ze ki im beyt Elokim, v’zeh shaar hashamayim, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of Gd and this is the shaar hashamayim, the gate of heaven.”
Towards the end of the parsha Jacob dreams, not of angels, but of speckled and spotted sheep. His dreams are no longer of heaven but of commodities! This is when he knew that he had to leave uncle Laban and return home. Jacob knows that Laban won’t easily let him go, so he takes the family and sneaks away while Laban is on a road trip inspecting the flocks. When Laban finds out, he pursues Jacob in a rage with every intention of taking Jacob’s flocks and family from him. On the way, he has a dream that transforms him. He dreams of Gd speaking to him and instead of being vengeful toward Jacob he becomes neutral. It is his dream that helps him overcome his evil nature.
What is a dream? “A dream that is not understood is like a letter that is not opened.” Who do you think is the author of this famous quote? Sigmund Freud? Didn’t Freud open up a whole new way of looking at the human psyche? It was Freud who showed the world that there is more to the human being than meets the eye, more than the conscious world. There is the subconscious, and this was a tremendous insight!
This quote, however, is from the Talmud, which makes clear that a dream is much more than we may think. A dream speaks to us; it has a message; it is like a letter as yet unopened. And if someone takes the trouble to write you a letter, you should, at least open it and read the contents.”
As college students, we have many dreams which we hope we can fulfill in our lifetimes. We get many unopened letters, have many choices to make, and in some situations we are able to fulfill dreams and in others we find that our dreams are elusive. I hope that in the midst of preparing for finals and completing final assignments, we are able to remember that we have hopes and dreams and not be discouraged from seeking to fulfill them when we are overwhelmed by the hard work and reality of trying to make our dreams come true.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bruce Aft