I may Be Dreaming, But I'm NOT Sleeping--The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership #3

In episode #2 we discussed how to balance ambition and acceptance.

Accept the reality of today, including the things you don’t love, and by accepting them, you keep them from overwhelming your entire worldview, which in turn allows you to move forward. Acceptant mindfulness has two components: One, the embrace of what there is to love in life, and two, the acceptance of the difficult and painful.

We learned how Joseph was a master of this craft, and how he helped keep things straight for his mother, at the same time, he expanded his fathers mission. We have learned of Joseph as a youngster. We saw what he meant to his parents and got to peek at his potential. But now is the time to see this great tzadik emerge. What happens to us when we leave the cute childhood behind and try to make our dreams come true in the ‘real’ world? How do our childish dreams translate into actionable goals?

The Start of Dreams: 

Step one: be present. Being present to the moment gives you the peace of mind to sense the quiet voice of inner power and potential. It is only through an honest, realistic view of our current standing that we can hope and yearn for more. Otherwise our dreams are completely non-realistic. Dreams shouldn’t contradict reality, they should expand reality. 

Now we can begin to dream, not as a total fantasy but a dream of expressing our truest essence. 

Joseph was a dreamer, so are many, the difference is that his dream of greatness and leadership came to fruition. His dreams are prophetic, yet still require time and process to become actualized. Joseph’s brutally honest appraisal and acceptance of reality led him to a deep, faith-based sense of where he was at the moment and where he needed to go -- this being the basis of true dreams. This then allowed him to dream, to see well beyond the horizon of his present circumstances. In turn, it gave him the courage to face his most trying moments. Because he wasn’t limited by that moment, he saw way beyond it to a better tomorrow. 

What are dreams?

Dreams and imagination work through imagery, the polar opposite of purely abstract intellectualization (Moreh Nevuchim 2:73). On a more basic level, thinking with images only, is symptomatic of being enmeshed in the physical world. But Yosef is able to show that even here on this earthly land of dreams, if the earthly is fully aligned with the spiritual, there is pure, unadulterated, spiritual truth. Dreams are imaginative, the furthest possible from reality, and yet for Yosef, dreams represent the truth, and he is able to carry the emes to the farthest places, most distant from the Source –Hashem.  

Kabalistically, Yosef represents the attribute of Yesod, which connects heaven and earth. Yosef the dreamer stands at the border of freewill/malchut and divine knowledge/higher realms: Creativity Vs. Structure. Acceptance Vs. ‘pushing forward’. This is the tightrope that Joseph walks.

Yosef has the potential for perfect alignment, he can realize the Will of Hashem by his own self development without there be any contradiction between his will and that of his Creator. His free will and the realm beyond it meet in his dreams. He can realize the deepest Will that originates from far beyond self, with the daily building blocks of exercising his own power.   

What it has to do with us.

Rav Tzadok Hakohen writes that we each have a dream, a secret yearning to be a king or queen. This isn’t a result of visiting Buckingham, but an expression of a yearning that has roots deep within our psyche. You see, our soul, our deeper self, is rooted beyond the superficial reality.

The dreamer faces two major challenges. One, uncovering our inner essence which is deeply veiled by the busyness of life, and muffled by the incessant chatter of the ego.