Vayeshev 1991

In the Torah portion Vayaishev we learn about dreams.  In fact, the whole Torah portion is framed by dreams.  It begins with the two dreams of Joseph and it ends with the two dreams, one of the butler and one of the baker, that Yosef interpreted. If we look at this Torah portion carefully we will see that after Joseph has been thrown in prison after he is falsely accused of trying to rape his master's wife, it says, "And the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him," meaning Joseph.  "That which you did the Lord made to prosper."  How is it possible to say that everything Joseph did was made to prosper?  After all, here Joseph was in prison.  If we look carefully at the dreams we will notice that there are two dreams at the beginning and two dreams at the end.  Why did Joseph have to have two dreams, and why were the dreams of the butler and baker so different?  Why was it that the butler’s dream predicted that he would be returned to his post, while the dream of the baker predicted that he would be hung?  If we look at Joseph's dreams we will see that the first one has to do with sheaves.  "And behold we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field.  Behold, my sheave got up and stood up and, behold, your sheave surrounded my sheave and they bowed down to my sheave."  Joseph's second dream was, "And behold the sun and the moon and twelve stars bowed down to me." Why do we have to have these two dreams?  They seem to be saying the same thing, but actually if we look carefully at these dreams we will see that they are not saying the same thing, that in the first dream Joseph was doing work.  He was preparing the sheaves, and the sheaves had to be gathered together.  In the second dream he was doing nothing.  It was just the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowing down to him.  We know that Joseph had many dreams, but it was difficult to see how Joseph's dreams were coming true.  After all, what was happening to him? He was exciting the envy and jealousy of his brothers.  He was sold to Egypt. In Egypt he seemed to be making a success but then immediately after his success seemed to be confirmed his master's wife tried to seduce him and he was unjustly accused of trying to rape her and he was thrown into prison.  There when he was

in prison it looked like he was finally going to get out and do something in Egyptian society, but immediately after he had predicted successfully that the butler would be freed and the butler said he would help him the butler forgot all about Joseph.
In order to have dreams it is not just enough to have dreams, but we must constantly keep our dream even though it looks like it is impossible for them to be fulfilled. The easiest thing to do with a dream is to forget about it.  When a person has a dream and runs into setbacks and difficulties and problems, the easiest thing is just to give up the dream.  That's why Joseph had to have two dreams.  The first dream told him that he had to work at it.  It was not just easy to have a dream, but that you have to work to make it come true, but even if you work to make it come true it does not mean that it is going to come true immediately. The second dream .told him that just as the sun and the moon and the stars are constant, that they will always be there, that your dream, too, has to be constant and always has to be there.  No matter what the setback we must continue on with our dream because if you ever give up that is the end of your dream.  Here, too, we learn the same thing about the sheaves.  Why did Joseph have to dream about sheaves?  After all, they were shepherds, but you can only gather together the sheaves once a year, and if something should happen that you cannot bring together the sheaves, if there is a drought or too much rain or an insect infestation, you have to wait until next year to bring the sheaves again, but you should not give up on your dream.  You should just come back and keep trying, and unless you are willing to come back and keep trying you will not be able to fulfill your dream.  Joseph had one setback after another, and Joseph could have given up. He could have thought that his dreams were impossible, that they would never come to pass, but Joseph never gave up.  Of course, Joseph is, in this instance, a symbol of the Jewish people.  No matter what the adversity we will not give up. We will continue to have our dreams.

In fact, if we will look carefully at the dreams of the butler and the dreams
of the baker we will see that that same lesson is repeated.  What was the dream
of the butler which caused him to be returned to his post?  In this dream it said
that there were three branches and they were budding and its blossoms shot forth
and the clusters brought forth ripe grapes, and the butler continued, "And the
cup of Pharaoh was in my hand and I took these grapes and I squeezed them into
the cup of Pharaoh and I gave the cup on the hand of Pharaoh."  In other words,
the butler did not become passive.  He did not either make his dreams into a fantasy
where he would just be completely passive and wait for them to occur, but he did
something.  He squeezed the grapes.  He never gave up on his dream.  It is interesting
to note that the word for vines also means to intertwine.  All things are intertwined
and we must not give up.  If we give up and do not do our share then our dreams
cannot come to pass.  If anybody has ever seen a vineyard in the winter they look
like dead dry horizontal trees.  You would never think that they would be able
to bring forth any blossoms or any fruit, but they do, and when they do you must
take advantage of it and you must work and produce and make things happen.  That,
of course, is what the butler did.  His dream looked like he was dead but he did
not stay passive.  The dream came again, the opportunity came again, and he took
the grapes and he squeezed them into the cup of Pharaoh.  On the other hand, what
was the dream of the baker?  The dream of the baker was, "Behold, there were three
baskets of white bread on my head and on the uppermost basket there was all kinds
of baked foods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them from the basket which was upon
my head."' In this dream the baker did nothing.  There were three baskets of already
made bread on his head and the birds were eating it.  It showed how passive this
man was because normally an animal will not come near a human being.  An animal
will not attack anything that is attached to a human being.  We can see that in
life where maybe a big, strong man but once your soul leaves you the animals have
no fear of you and will attack you.  On the other hand, a little baby, for the

most part, who has no strength at all, the animals will leave alone.  This man was so passive that birds would even eat from the food that was in the basket on top of his head.  In order for dreams to come true we must never give up hope. We must keep working at our dreams even though we have had severe setbacks.
Also we learn in this Torah portion that we cannot take moral shortcuts.  Joseph could have gone back to get the garment that his mistress had, but he knew he could not do that.  He could not use force against her.  He also knew that he could not give in.  After all, the easiest thing would 1 have been to allow himself to be seduced. After all, he would have an assured position in the household, but to make his dreams come true through immoral conduct would only be to turn his dreams into ashes.  We see earlier in the Torah portion how Judah used immoral means to cause his dreams to come true.  He wanted the love of his father, as all the other brothers did.  The brothers thought that the love of their father was being directed just to Joseph.  They thought if they would get rid of Joseph they would have the love of their father.  They used immoral means to obtain their dream and it ended up that they got no love whatsoever.  Yaacov was inconsolable.  Yaacov, who was always able to face all the problems of life with equanimity and overcome them, this problem he could not face.  This problem he could not handle, and after this happened he was driven into a shell and he had no love for anyone.  He only had time to mourn. Judah, too, by taking this type of a stand, by trying to use immoral means to accomplish his dreams, ended up eventually in this Torah portion by cavorting with someone who he thought was a prostitute.  It turned out it was his daughter-in-law who had pious motives, etc., but Judah sank.  His dreams turned to ashes, because he used immoral means.  In order for us to achieve our dreams we must, one, never give up, but must persevere no matter what the setbacks and, two, never use immoral means, shortcuts, to achieve our dreams because they will only destroy our dreams. They will not make them into reality.  So from this Torah portion we learn something very important, and that is never give up on your dream and never use immoral means

to try to achieve it.  Do not look for shortcuts, because if you do it will just end in disaster.
I am reminded of the story they tell about a man who took out his girlfriend to a very fancy restaurant, of course, a kosher restaurant, and during the course of the meal he took out a ring.  He gave it to her and said, "I love you very much. Will you please marry me?"  The girl looked at him and said, "I can't marry you because I love another."  The man said, "Who do you love?"  The girl said she could not tell him.  He wanted to know why.  She said, "If I tell you you will go pick a fight with him and I don't want you to pick a fight with him."  The man said, "Who wants to pick a fight with him?  I just want to sell him my ring."  No matter what the problems, no matter what the setbacks, we should never give up on our dreams.  Our dreams will be fulfilled if G-d wants them to be fulfilled if we continue to persevere and if we do not use immoral means to try to achieve them.  G-d has given us all talent and He wants us to use these gifts He has given us in the world, but we must never give up and must never use immoral means.  If we will never give up and never use immoral means then I am sure our ultimate dreams will be fulfilled and the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.