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Miketz 5768

So Par'oh dreams, seven fat cows devoured by seven scrawny ones, and he suddenly wakes up; he sleeps again, dreams, seven substantial stalks of grain devoured by seven withered ones, he wakes up - it's a dream. Evidently, he fell asleep again, for the Torah goes on to say, "And when morning came, vatipa'em rucho, he sent for and called his wizards and wisemen and told them the dream, but none could interpret it to Par'oh's satisfaction. Then the cupbearer remembers Yosef. He tells of what happened in jail, how Yosef correctly interpreted the dreams, Par'oh sends for him, he is washed and made presentable, comes before Par'oh, gives Hashem the credit for the correct interpretation of the cupbearer's dream, and precedes to hear and interpret Par'oh's dreams to Par'oh's satisfaction. What is vatipa'em rucho? Rashi quotes Onkelos, "his spirit was shaken" and goes on: "it was ringing inside him like a bell". The image is of the spirit clattering around inside one like the clapper of a bell, creating sound/noise each time it smashes into the walls of one's mind/consciousness. Rashi also reminds us that when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and awoke agitated, it is stated, vatitpa'em rucho - his spirit shook itself. Rashi tells us this is because, while Par'oh had only forgotten the meaning of the dream, Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten both the dream itself AND its interpretation. Dreams come with their interpretations, or at least the keys to their interpretation. This is the understanding of our tradition. Regarding the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, the Midrash tells us that each man dreamed his dream, and the interpretation of his fellow's dream. It was Yosef who was able to apply the interpretation to the correct dream. Dreams are revelations in potential - the Talmud tells us that dreams are 1/60 of prophecy. A dream which goes uninterpreted is like a letter which goes unopened and unread. So - we must interpret dreams. Further, the Talmud tells us, the dream follows its interpretation. So does that mean that however one interprets a dream, that's what will happen? No - recall that there were plenty of wise men willing to interpret Par'oh's dream - it was just that none of the interpretations they offered meshed with his inexpressible sense of what would constitute a real interpretation and not some mask imposed from without. When he heard Yosef's interpretation, he knew that that was the true one., and he said, "Is there such as this one to be found - a man whom the spirit of G-d is within him!". Only then did Par'oh's spirit find ease.

The clanging and banging of our souls starts up most every night when Hashem opens for us the palace of dreams. The chaos of the imagery we take from there is a cacophony of possibilities that rail against logic and pull at the fabric of our senses. In the morning, if we're lucky, our souls are at unease; someone is trying to tell us something but we just can't figure it out. It's good to remember that, often, the very telling of the dream, the refusal to dismiss its impossible images as so much stuff and let's get on with things, is the beginning of "ringing the changes." It converts that cacophony of inner sounds into a symphony of possibilities and directions being revealed to us by Hashem in the only way He can get things passed the chopper blades of waking, rational consciousness. Dream on!
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