Light Up Those Dreams

A thought for Parashas Vayeshev and Chanukah

We all have dreams.

We all have nightmares.

Some of us have fears.

Which others may not have.

Yaakov struggled mightily with his fears.

His son Yosef did too.

Each of his children struggled in their own way.

As do each of us.

Yet each had their own strength as well.

As do each of us.

This struggle is often hidden and sometimes on full display.

At times, the strength is on display.

Often it is hidden as well.

We never know what another is going through.

Be it a child, a neighbor, a sibling or a partner.

What we can learn from our Parsha is to be a friend.

Respect each other.

Be a source of light in what can sometimes be a very dark world.

Don’t be so quick to throw another into the pits of darkness.

Take the time to understand them and show them how can they best express their unique colors.

We all have our dreams.

Don’t destroy the dreams of others, causing them to give up on the world.

Even if we feel we lost our dream, remember that on Chanukah, God gives us back our dreams.

Light their candle and give them the ability to see their dreams true and lift them up.

Rav Moshe Weinberger teaches that the world is built by people who are completely and totally dedicated to their idea, to the exclusion of other ideas. Chanukah is a glimpse of a world in which all our small lights combine to form the flame of our people. It is a look into the future in which we will see how all our lights and dreams complement each other.