Leap of faith: Dreaming of a good year
A positive mindset is beneficial for all
I’m sure many in the Jewish world will feel glad to have put 2025 behind them. Even though New Year began for us months ago, as we begin 2026 I’m fascinated that it has coincided with the conclusion of the book of Genesis, and the story cycle of Joseph, during which all I can hear in my head is the music of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical!
For me, these events coming together are particularly interesting because the Rabbis have a lot to say about Joseph’s most famed pastime – dream interpretation. According to the Talmud, dreams are 1/60th prophecy, however in order to understand them, we should turn not to the cheesy dream interpretation book I had on my bedstand as a teenager, but to Torah itself. The
suggests we need to think of a positive line from Tanakh with which to interpret our dreams, before a negative quote occurs to us – in other words, think positive in order to find a good outcome – almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Talmud tells a story about a sage who went to 24 different dream interpreters, each one of which offered a different interpretation. Like the Torah itself, dreams can have multiple meanings, and we are all different in how we approach life and its challenges. If we set out with a negative mindset, we are more likely to experience things as terrible. Go on thinking positive, and hopefully we will experience them as positive, or at least have more of a chance to.
Our dreams have become symbols of hope, but they can also express our fears and our darkest thoughts. I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do, they tend to be epic sagas! But how I understand these brain exercises that occur while I rest is down to me. I can, of course, call on psychoanalysis or the pop psychology dream book of my teens, or I can take the advice of the Talmud and try to find a positive verse to apply before the negative occurs to me.
While we can’t control everything that happens to us, practising this way of thinking about things may, in and of itself, help make the new year a better one – training us to find the positive where we can, and hopefully be sources for creating a hopeful, good 2026 for all.
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers is at Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue
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