Godception

As Jacob grows into a man, he begins to look for a suitable wife. Like Abraham and Isaac, he seeks a wife in Abraham's hometown of Haran. In Haran, Jacob meets Laban, and he becomes enamored for Rachel, Laban's daughter. When asking permission to marrying Rachel, Laban and Jacob strike a deal. Jacob agrees to work for Laban over the course of seven years in order to marry Rachel. After such time passes, Laban tricks Jacob. At the wedding, Jacob's bride wears a veil for the entire ceremony. Unknown to Jacob, it is Leah under the veil, rather than Rachel. Laban tricks Jacob fairly, but they strike another deal of seven years' labor for his new bride. After fourteen years, Jacob and Rachel marry, but they continue to reside with Laban for another six years. In that time, Leah, Rachel, and their two maidservants bear eleven of the twelve sons who become the tribes of Israel. The family barely escapes Laban's clutches after Jacob spent twenty years in Haran.

This Torah portion greatly involves dreams. On his way to Haran, Jacob rests somewhere along the path. When he goes to sleep, Jacob sees a ladder that reaches up to heaven. Angels are climbing up and down the ladder, which causes Jacob to deem the area a holy spot. God stands next to Jacob and confirms his covenant formerly promised to Abraham. God swears that protection Jacob on his search for a wife until he returns to his Promised Land of Canaan. God also promises to watch over Jacob on his expedition with a careful eye. Since he comes in contact with a man as tricky as Laban, it is quite fortunate that God reminds Jacob of this covenant through his dreams. In Jacob's other dream, God demands Jacob leave Laban in his twentieth year of residence. God notes that staying there would put Jacob in danger, and God is therefore maintaining the agreement from the last dream. In both dreams, God enters Jacob's dreams with a specific purpose. One could compare God to Leonardo DiCaprio's character in "Inception". In addition, the dream sequences foreshadow the talents of a future dream interpreter in Genesis, Joseph. God utilizes these dreams to carry out a message.

Dreams are funny. No psychologist can determine their purpose. Some dreams are about love or success, while others derive from the most horrifying, dark corners of our souls. Dreams bring the conscious and subconscious together, all while we are asleep. I do not memorably dream often, but when I do, I often enjoy it. Even nightmares are fulfilling in some way. After a really deep sleep, a remarkable dream makes me feel like the puzzle of my human soul is closer to being put together. Perhaps, God is trying to tell me something as I sleep. However, I can not remember a dream where God was involved. Do we need to open our minds to allow God to come to us? Jacob's dream nearly seems like a lucid dream because of his full intention to listen to God. Dreams are the basis of imagination, and almost anything can happen in them. Some can be as silly as a competition between two basketball teams comprised of zebras, or they can be as meaningful as a nightmare I once experienced. My sister and I were thrown into a concentration camp, and we came into direct contact with Adolf Hitler. Dreams force us to dig deeper within ourselves, whether we want to or not. It is necessary to listen to mental phenomenon that drives dreaming. For instance, my Holocaust nightmare further proved to me that my sister is the most important person in my life, and I will not allow anything or anybody to come between us. It may not always be God calling, but dreams are the manuscript of the soul.