We Were Like Dreamers

"A Song of Ascents. When G-d brought Zion out of captivity, we were like people in a dream. At the time, our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with cries of joy. At the time it was said among the nations, "G-d has done great things for them." G-d had done great things for us; we were happy. Let our captivity, G-d, be a thing of the past, like dried-up streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy." (King David, Psalm 126)


So goes the 1st paragraph of the "birkat hamazon" - the blessing we say after meals that include bread. Tonight begins what is known in the Jewish calendar as "the 9 days" - the sad period of time that led up to the destruction of the 1st & 2nd temples in Jerusalem on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of "Av". The above words by King David describe the time that will come - may it be very soon - when the Jewish people will be redeemed from exile and returned to the land of Israel in peace. Let's take a look at the exact words King David uses to describe our state of being during exile: "We were like people in a dream." What's the deeper meaning behind this expression of being in a dream like state?

What happens when we dream? One really cool thing about dreams, is that opposites can occur at the very same time! The impossible becomes possible. Not only can you fly and defy physics, but opposites can mesh harmoniously - like a massive elephant going through the eye of a needle. How is that possible? It's possible because, as we know, dreams are (primarily) full of falsehood and imagination, with no substance to them. Our intellect, when sleeping, seizes to wield its logical control over our thoughts and emotions - and they therefore run wild.

This then is what King David is teaching us: In our lives, living during this long exile, we are as if asleep like dreamers! Even while awake, we act in life as if in a dream, where opposites flow together like it's no problem! On Jewish holidays & Shabbat, we engage in holy matters, such as prayers and learning Torah. Many even engage in this every morning! Yet the very next day, or even later that morning, we can act as if G-d isn't running the world at all. We worry over everything, we act towards others and within our own minds as if totally unaware of the feeling of closeness to G-d and recognition of his providence we had just moments ago. Are we schizophrenic (G-d forbid)? Didn't you just leave the western wall a minute ago in tears of inspiration and now you're freaking out because the line at the old city pizza store is going too slowly? How can we be like that?

King David is telling us that it's all right. That's how galus - exile - affects our daily reality and mindset. But if we try, putting effort to really connect with G-d, sometimes we can have that connection actually affect our daily conduct afterward. We become awake, for however short a time it may be. And may these waking moments lead us to the ultimate, true time of reality, when we all be awake to a G-dly reality, speedily in our days. (Based on a Chassidic Discourse by R. Yosef Yitzchak Shneerson, Purim 1940)

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel