Dreamer | Sefaria

Dreamer

In this week's parshah, Parshat Va-yeshev, we see Joseph move from being a dreamer to being an interpreter of dreams. Together with you, I want to think about the role of dreams in the story of Joseph, and what that might teach us about ourselves as dreamers, and also as dream interpreters.

The story of Joseph is the longest single narrative in the Torah. It occupies the place of four parshiyot, beginning with ours, Parshat Va-yeshev.

Who is Joseph?
Son of Jacob
Son of Rachel
Youngest as well as oldest
Potiphar's servant
Pharoh's advisor
Father of Ephraim and Menasheh
Israelite
Egyptian

The character of Joseph represents something pretty significant it seems, within the arc of the Torah, bridging the founders of the Israelite religion, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who dominate Genesis, and the nation of Israel who come into being in the book of Exodus through their journey down to Egypt and out again. It is Joseph who leads his brothers and all their descendants down to Egypt, and it is Joseph's body that, according to Midrash accompanies them back to the Promised Land, once they are liberated.

Joseph's journey down to Egypt is the apotheosis of a story that has been told and retold throughout Genesis -- Abraham and Sarah go down to Egypt in a famine, Isaac and Rebecca do the same. When Joseph goes down to Egypt, however, it is told in much more vivid detail within the context of four dreams.

What are the dreams that appear in this week's parshah?
Joseph's two dreams -- first told to his brothers, then to his father
The dream of the cupbearer
The dream of the baker

I would like to better understand why the story of the birth of the Israelite nation, through the descent to Egypt and the liberation from it, unfolds against a backdrop of dreams.

Let's begin at the beginning of the parsha and take a look, on p. 227, at Joseph's first dream:

בראשית ל״ז:ה׳-ח׳

(ה) וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם יוֹסֵף֙ חֲל֔וֹם וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֕א הַחֲל֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלָֽמְתִּי׃ (ז) וְ֠הִנֵּ֠ה אֲנַ֜חְנוּ מְאַלְּמִ֤ים אֲלֻמִּים֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֛ה קָ֥מָה אֲלֻמָּתִ֖י וְגַם־נִצָּ֑בָה וְהִנֵּ֤ה תְסֻבֶּ֙ינָה֙ אֲלֻמֹּ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וַתִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖יןָ לַאֲלֻמָּתִֽי׃ (ח) וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּ לוֹ֙ אֶחָ֔יו הֲמָלֹ֤ךְ תִּמְלֹךְ֙ עָלֵ֔ינוּ אִם־מָשׁ֥וֹל תִּמְשֹׁ֖ל בָּ֑נוּ וַיּוֹסִ֤פוּ עוֹד֙ שְׂנֹ֣א אֹת֔וֹ עַל־חֲלֹמֹתָ֖יו וְעַל־דְּבָרָֽיו׃

Genesis 37:5-8

(5) Once Joseph had a dream which he told to his brothers; and they hated him even more. (6) He said to them, “Hear this dream which I have dreamed: (7) There we were binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright; then your sheaves gathered around and bowed low to my sheaf.” (8) His brothers answered, “Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us?” And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams.

Why does Joseph tell this dream to his brothers?
Who imbues this dream with meaning? Joseph or his brothers?

Let's look for a moment at a passage from the Talmud that tells us how to think about dreams:

In the tractate Brakhot 55a, we read the following "And Rav Ḥisda said: A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read. As long as it is not interpreted it cannot be fulfilled; the interpretation of a dream creates its meaning."

A dream not interepreted is like a letter not read – it was the brothers interpretation of the dream that was the problem, not the dream itself. When the brothers condemn Joseph first to death, then to exile, calling him a dreamer, they are teaching Joseph how to interpret dreams – he wouldn’t tell them his dreams if he had known what they meant. What do the brothers teach Joseph through their interpretation?

Immediately thereafter, Joseph dreams another dream. It goes like this (p. 228)

בראשית ל״ז:ט׳-י״א

(ט) וַיַּחֲלֹ֥ם עוֹד֙ חֲל֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וַיְסַפֵּ֥ר אֹת֖וֹ לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּ֨ה חָלַ֤מְתִּֽי חֲלוֹם֙ ע֔וֹד וְהִנֵּ֧ה הַשֶּׁ֣מֶשׁ וְהַיָּרֵ֗חַ וְאַחַ֤ד עָשָׂר֙ כּֽוֹכָבִ֔ים מִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֖ים לִֽי׃ (י) וַיְסַפֵּ֣ר אֶל־אָבִיו֮ וְאֶל־אֶחָיו֒ וַיִּגְעַר־בּ֣וֹ אָבִ֔יו וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ מָ֛ה הַחֲל֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָלָ֑מְתָּ הֲב֣וֹא נָב֗וֹא אֲנִי֙ וְאִמְּךָ֣ וְאַחֶ֔יךָ לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֺ֥ת לְךָ֖ אָֽרְצָה׃ (יא) וַיְקַנְאוּ־ב֖וֹ אֶחָ֑יו וְאָבִ֖יו שָׁמַ֥ר אֶת־הַדָּבָֽר׃

Genesis 37:9-11

(9) He dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: And this time, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (10) And when he told it to his father and brothers, his father berated him. “What,” he said to him, “is this dream you have dreamed? Are we to come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow low to you to the ground?” (11) So his brothers were wrought up at him, and his father kept the matter in mind.

Who does he tell this dream to?
Who interprets it this time?
What does the final line mean: "And his father kept the matter in mind?" What matter? The brother's jealousy? His interpretation of the dream?

Then what happens? Jacob, ridiculously, sends Joseph to check on his brothers when they are off shepherding -- he finds them, they decide to kill him, Reuven saves him, and then Judah saves him, and he gets sold either to a band of Ishmaelites or Midianites, or according to Rashi, to both, in stages. He is employed by Potiphar, framed by Potiphar's wife, thrown into prison, and there he shifts from dreaming to intepreting dreams

Let's look at that moment:

בראשית מ׳:ה׳-ח׳

(ה) וַיַּֽחַלְמוּ֩ חֲל֨וֹם שְׁנֵיהֶ֜ם אִ֤ישׁ חֲלֹמוֹ֙ בְּלַ֣יְלָה אֶחָ֔ד אִ֖ישׁ כְּפִתְר֣וֹן חֲלֹמ֑וֹ הַמַּשְׁקֶ֣ה וְהָאֹפֶ֗ה אֲשֶׁר֙ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲסוּרִ֖ים בְּבֵ֥ית הַסֹּֽהַר׃ (ו) וַיָּבֹ֧א אֲלֵיהֶ֛ם יוֹסֵ֖ף בַּבֹּ֑קֶר וַיַּ֣רְא אֹתָ֔ם וְהִנָּ֖ם זֹעֲפִֽים׃ (ז) וַיִּשְׁאַ֞ל אֶת־סְרִיסֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אִתּ֧וֹ בְמִשְׁמַ֛ר בֵּ֥ית אֲדֹנָ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר מַדּ֛וּעַ פְּנֵיכֶ֥ם רָעִ֖ים הַיּֽוֹם׃ (ח) וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו חֲל֣וֹם חָלַ֔מְנוּ וּפֹתֵ֖ר אֵ֣ין אֹת֑וֹ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם יוֹסֵ֗ף הֲל֤וֹא לֵֽאלֹהִים֙ פִּתְרֹנִ֔ים סַפְּרוּ־נָ֖א לִֽי׃

Genesis 40:5-8

(5) both of them—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—dreamed in the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. (6) When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. (7) He asked Pharaoh’s courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you appear downcast today?” (8) And they said to him, “We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” So Joseph said to them, “Surely God can interpret! Tell me [your dreams].”

Who does Joseph say will interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker?

This is the end of this parshah -- when Joseph interprets their dreams, but we know that as a result of this act of interpretation, he is called upon to interpret Pharoh's dreams and this catapults Joseph into an immense position of power, one which enables him to have a reckoning with his brothers, and kicks the historical machine of exile and redemption into high gear.

So I want to wrap up our discussion with some thoughts on Joseph's transition from dreamer to interpreter of dreams. Joseph begins as a clueless dreamer, as someone who doesn't understand his own dreams, someone who tells these dreams to others to intepret, at his own expense. This happens not once, but twice. Joseph's brothers interpret the dream for him and criticize him and then he turns around and shares another dream, not just with them, but with his father Jacob, the consummate dreamer, who also criticizes him for it.

What happens in the interim that turns him into an interpreter of dreams, and as an interpreter of dreams, a catalyst for the unfolding of Jewish history?

Let's think for a moment, together, about the entire enterprise of interpretation within the Jewish tradition. In the story of Joseph there is a clear differentiation between dreaming and interpreting dreams. At the beginning of the story he does not understand the significance of his dreams, otherwise he would not share them with his brothers and father. He does not understand what it means to move beyond the primary source, beyond the dream itself and to extract meaning from it. He learns to do so, in time, with experience, with trauma, and in the end he understands that interpretation is everything. But he doesn't take credit for it. He gives it over to God. Not only is he no longer ignorant of the symbolism of dreams and the need to interpret them, but he is also aware of the danger of being an interpeter of dreams, and he relinquishes control over that capacity -- to God. We are a nation of interpreters -- the text means nothing without interpretation. Indeed, the text, uninterpreted, might be a source of danger (An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, ben sorer u-moreh, etc. ). But accepting the yoke of interpretation is a serious undertaking, one which might change one's or others' destinies. We need a partner in interpretation -- that's why we embrace the idea of chevrutah in our tradition. oseh lekha rav ukneh lekha haver. For Joseph, God was his chevrutah, his partner in interpretation. For us, that might be the case as well.