Listen now to this dream, which I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves encircled [it] and prostrated themselves to my sheaf: So, his brothers said to him, "Will you reign over us, or will you govern us?"
The verses above are from the famous biblical dialogue between Joseph and his brothers, found in this week’s Torah portion, Vayeishev. Joseph innocently shares his dream with his brothers, while they think that all he wants is power and prestige. The story does end with Joseph becoming Viceroy of Egypt and the brothers bowing down to Joseph.
Let’s take a moment and zoom in to the nuance of the verse where it says, “binding sheaves.” This is the translation of the Hebrew words, M’almim Alumim. Why do we translate the verse to mean that they were binding sheaves of wheat in the field versus collecting wheat sheaves and putting them into sacks? Perhaps the sheaf that stood upright was a single sheaf, not a whole bundle. How do we make sense out of this story?
One principle that we should always take from a dream is that it appears to teach us a lesson. This dream in particular is meant to teach each and every one of us a lesson, not just Joseph and his brothers.
Collecting loose wheat is a challenging job, but not a very difficult job. On the other hand, trying to tie loose stalks of wheat together in large bundles so that they don’t fly away is a very difficult job to do. Yet, the reward is great. First of all, they will not move in the wind so easily; in addition, they are tied together well. This will keep them together and there will be very little waste since you are gathering and tying the wheat right there in the field. (If you dragged them to a general space to bag, you can lose a great amount of wheat on the way.)
The lesson that we can take into our life is clear: When we have the opportunity to help someone, go to them. Don’t wait until they come to you for help, since by that point much can be lost. Seek them out; this way you will preserve more energy, they will come out stronger, and in the end, more good will come out of it for everyone.
Chanukah is around the corner. The message of Chanukah is to bring more light into the world by lighting our candles in the open for others to see. We don’t wait to bring people into our home, we bring the light of Chanukah to them.
Joseph taught this message to his siblings and eventually to all of Egypt. With time, the Jewish people, since the story of Chanukah, are spreading this message to the world.
This Chanukah you can help by taking part in our Chanukah events. One event will on Wednesday evening, December 1 at 6:00pm, (see info. below) and the second community wide program will be on Sunday, December 5 at 3:00pm. (see info. Below).
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah!