JACOB, JOSEPH, DREAMS, VISIONS

Jacob and his family’s epic move to Egypt in the first book of the Torah is foreshadowed by and guided by dreams and visions.

There are nine of these episodes that lead to this momentous emigration. In the Torah, these epiphanies heighten awareness, provoke conflict, demonstrate maturity, and introduce certainty. In some cases, the dreams dramatically move the narrative.

The first dream is when Jacob was fleeing his brother Esau, who had threatened to kill Jacob for usurping the birthright blessing from their father Isaac. With this deceit, Jacob received the spiritual mantle which Isaac had intended to hand down to Esau.

Following their mother Rebecca’s instructions, Jacob fled his brother by traveling to Charan (also referred to as Parad-aram, the house of Rebecca’s father Bethuel), where Rebecca’s brother Lavan lived. He would hide and be protected there by Rebecca’s brother Laban. Rebecca even tricked Isaac into advising Jacob to seek a wife in the house of Bethuel. This episode occurs in Parasha Toldot, Chapter 28, verse 2, in the Book of Genesis.

During the journey, Jacob fell asleep and dreamed the most well-known dream in history: It was the story of the ladder stretching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it. This dream, Jacob’s first encounter with God, helped him to overcome fear and learn determination.

He interpreted his own dream. His spiritual journey began in earnest at this point. He was transformed by the experience.

His next nighttime encounter with the Divine was after coming home and preparing to face the wrath of his brother Esau. Jacob was alone and wrestled (struggled) with a man (an angel? A vision? A dream? God?). The upshot of this moment was an epiphany for Jacob, after being given the new name “Israel.” At this time, Jacob became at one with his destiny as the father of a People of God.

Jacob’s Hebrew name, “Yaakov,” means “heel” or “heel-grabber.” It implies a characteristic of ”holding on” or “determination.” The new name, “Israel,” means “struggle.” Struggling reinforces determination in life. Living a full life implies building the determination to struggle against the obstacles we encounter.

Jacob had been growing into his role as the heir to Abraham. Now he had learned to apply his innate determination in the struggle to overcome adversity. This episode represents his defining maturity and growing spirituality.

His son, Joseph, then had 2 dreams.

When Joseph is first introduced, he was young and inexperienced. He lacked common sense and did not have the filters that guide mature speech. When he had a thought, he expressed it, like a child. Consequences of his actions and speech were not considered.

Joseph associated with his half-brothers, who took advantage of his immaturity. There was rivalry among Joseph’s brothers. Some of the men made critical remarks to Joseph about some of the others, suggesting he should bring these “evil reports” to their father. In this way, they persuaded their naïve brother Joseph to participate in the sibling rivalry.

Jacob recognized Joseph’s lack of maturity. He feared that Joseph may act inappropriately and get hurt. He may have envisioned his young son wandering into a hunt and being mistaken for a target. Thus, Jacob gave Joseph a brightly colored coat to avoid tragedy.

The brothers misinterpreted these motivations. They believed that their father’s actions indicated that Joseph was Jacob’s favored child. They neither recognized nor understood Joseph’s ineptitude. They became resentful of their younger brother. Like his grandfather Isaac, Joseph bungled his way through this youthful phase of his life.

Isaac and Joseph both required special care and guidance.  

Isaac’s mother, Sarah, intervened for her son by directing Abraham to send his elder son, Ishmael, into the wilderness. (When Sarah had been unable to conceive, she gave her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abraham so that he could father a son, Ishmael. Sarah knew that Ishmael should not receive the spiritual inheritance form Abraham, which was destined to be given to her son, Jacob.) She recognized the danger to Isaac if the boys were allowed to play with each other. She wisely saved his life.  

Since Joseph’s mother Rachel had died, Jacob had sole responsibility for parenting. In order to save Joseph, Jacob gave the boy the famous coat of many colors. Rachel was not around to advise her husband how to properly protect and raise their son. She may have come up with a different solution for Joseph’s incompetence.

Both Isaac and Joseph were nearly killed in order to awaken their spiritual and worldly potentials. Isaac when he was almost sacrificed to God by Abraham. Joseph when he was cast by his brothers into a pit of death. See my blog: JOSEPH GOES INTO A WELL, 12/16/2022.

Both had their souls aroused, setting the stage for each to exert spiritual power in their lives. The near sacrifice of Isaac did not heal his mental deficiency. Joseph acquired maturity and wisdom from his trial.

Isaac was almost sacrificed. Jacob experienced death in the well.

Joseph’s two dreams triggered his being thrown into the pit, also termed a well. Joseph’s ordeal was far more consequential than Isaac’s.

Joseph’s dreams carried the same message using different metaphors. The first dream told of his brothers’ sheaves bowing down to his sheaf. The second told of the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. They foretold his future role as a great leader.

He knew the dreams had meaning but could not discern the interpretation. It was disturbing to him. He sought help from his family. He optimistically assumed that his brothers or father could interpret them. Instead of seeing the dreams as Joseph’s future role in realizing God’s prophecy for the Israelite nation, Jacob and his sons became upset (even jealous) of Joseph.

The brothers were angered and wanted to harm Joseph. Jacob was reflective and did not know what to do. His wife Rachel was not here to help resolve the conflict within him.

The whole misunderstanding was confusing to Joseph. He imagined himself becoming closer to his family as he shared his deepest anxieties as expressed in his dreams. They reacted horribly. The brothers almost killed Joseph.

They put him in a well which, according to the Torah, “contained nothing.” It contained NO life. He was experiencing death.

This is similar to the spiritual awakening that Isaac had being NEAR death when Abraham nearly carried out God’s commandment to sacrifice his son. The soul of Isaac was awakened to become the spiritual bridge between Abraham and Jacob. A bridge necessary for the tradition initiated by Abraham to father a people who would focus on representing the Eternal and Infinite God in the material world.

Joseph, in the well of nothing, experienced ACTUAL DEATH. Besides awakening Joseph’s own soul to the tasks ahead, he was shocked into quick maturity. He became the man who would interpret dreams to foresee the future. He became the man to lead the world through dark and fearful years of famine.

This impactful moment gave him a wisdom of life that few ever know. Never before or after has a mortal person experienced death directly and lived. (Moses wanted to when he requested to see God’s face on Mt. Sinai. Permission was denied.) Joseph was transported into the Heavenly realm inhabited by God and angels. In this moment, the boy gained the clarity and mental capacity to achieve his destiny.

Isaac never reached such clarity or wisdom. Though his soul flared alive to become the spiritual link between Abraham and Jacob, he continued to be a follower, as illustrated by the following episodes in the Torah:

1. His mother sent his half-brother Ishmael away to protect Isaac’s fragile personality.
2. His wife had to influence the decisions and actions of her husband and son (Jacob) to be on the correct path for God’s agenda.
3. Isaac dug wells where his father had dug wells. He did not research and discover new wells. He gave the wells the same names as Abraham had given.
4. When Rebecca first saw Isaac, the man was wandering around in the desert. Some say he was praying. He may have been trying to settle his confused mind.
5. Unlike Jacob, Isaac needed a wife to support him emotionally and otherwise before he was able to overcome the grief of from his mother’s death.
6. When Isaac’s parents were traveling (Chapter 20 of the book of Genesis), his father Abraham claimed that Sarah was his sister to save his own life. During a famine in the Land, God appeared to Isaac and told him not to leave the Land (Chapter 26 in Genesis). Isaac, when men asked him about beautiful Rebecca, he also claimed she was his sister to save himself. He used the same pretense as his father did in dealing with how other men looked at their wives.

Joseph had two dreams with the same meaning, which he could not understand. The transition through the well of death helped him grow to the point where he could interpret and advise the dreams of others. His own dreams paralleled the two dreams of the King of Egypt, which also both had the same interpretation.

The sons of Jacob showed their mettle in the episode of the rape of their sister Dinah when they massacred the men of Shechem. This was in Chapter 34 of the Book of Bereishit. They were violent men, like their Great Uncle Ishmael and their Uncle Esau. More parallel stories.

Joseph, with his newly developed worldly wisdom, saw himself in relationship to God and God’s purpose for the Israelite people. He administered the estate of Potiphar flawlessly. He resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife admirably. He could correctly decipher and explain the dreams of the wine steward and the baker. He deciphered the truth of Pharoah’s dreams.

These episodes exhibit a rapid and marked turn from being the naive boy to becoming a wise and mature man. Joseph’s mind had quickly grown from being in the well. The experience shocked his sudden transformation into the emotionally disciplined and intellectually exceptional hero of the Torah in a very short time.

Joseph’s miraculous transfiguration in the well parallels the amazing and revolutionary transition Moses experienced when he encountered God at the Burning Bush on Mt. Sinai. Moses went from lacking self-esteem to becoming a strong and holy leader of a nation.   

When Pharoah needed explanation of his dreams, the only person in the entire civilized world with that capability was Joseph. He had climbed Jacob’s ladder. He became one with the Divine goals prophesized by God to Abraham.

The final dream, night vision, or encounter with God in this tale was Jacob’s. As he prepared to travel down to Egypt, the Patriarch instilled into his mind and heart the future of his descendants. They would become a great nation in Egypt, and God would bring them back up to the Holy Land.

This dream or vision was obvious, and no interpretation was necessary. An ultimately maturing event.

What does this tell us about dreams and other nocturnal visions? In the Torah, they move the narrative and establish legitimacy. Not so in our lives. We are not Jacob, Joseph, or Pharoah. We cannot allow dreams to guide our lives. We must follow the waking dreams that we set for ourselves as we ponder life and our futures.

What about the coincidences of parallel experiences that are referred to above? I think that when experiencing a confluence of events, one should stop and carefully consider that it might offer an opportunity. Life throws these encounters at us. We cannot know if they are important, but we should give them some attention.

People wonder at the amazing coincidences in their lives. Most people have experienced such events. We may recognize something interesting or extraordinary had just occurred. We should take a moment and not casually overlook possible significance.

Serendipity certainly plays a role in life. Rather than summarily dismiss such an episode, we need to thoughtfully examine whether it is worthwhile. Is it a moment of truth suggesting life-altering action?  Or was it just a nice but meaningless interaction? These nodal moments demand at least some reflection.