Dreams and Politics

There was a time when men were kind

When their voices were soft

And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting

There was a time

Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high

And life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side

He filled my days with endless wonder

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me

That we will live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

There is a plethora, and a conflagration, of dreams in a small country in the Middle East.

There are those who dream of a religious state from coast to coast, perhaps ruled by a divinely sanctioned King, with a Temple on a mountaintop in Jerusalem.

There are those who dream of a secular, democratic, capitalist state modeled on the Levant of old, where traders, tourists, and wanderers unite to form a country living in prosperity.

There are those who dream of walking the footsteps of their prophets and ancestors, whether in dusty villages in the Judean Hills, or fishing towns in the Galilee, or in the hoof-prints on a rock.

There are those who dream of a State with laws that encompass religion and secular.

There are those who dream of a State with religious freedom, no religion being a part of governmental affairs any more than another.

There are those who dream of a State where the religious affairs are pluralistic, open to all, inclusive, and relaxed.

There are those who dream of enforced standards in religious affairs, of lofty ideals enshrined in law, and of a populace that accepts and lives by these strictures and scriptures.

There are those who dream of green clad teenagers in army uniforms saying "Never Again" in their words and deeds, valiantly protecting citizens from those who wish them harm.

There are those who dream of a country with no need of an army, peace reigning on the land.

There are those who dream of white stoned buildings inhabited by their brethren from the river to the sea.

There are those who dream of a multicultural and multi-ethnic populace living in those white stoned buildings form river to sea.

There are those who dream of a chicken in every pot, a pita dipped in Hummus for every laborer, a bag of Bamba for every child.

There are those who dream of religious awakenings, of a time when even 6 year olds are well versed in the intricacies and nuances of the divine law.

There are those who dream of being able to support their family in dignity, working for a living in a manner that benefits themselves and humanity.

There are those who dream of engaging in enterprises so vital and of recognizable import to a country's well being that they want to be supported by others in exchange for their efforts.

There are those who dream of freedom, in law and in commerce, in life and in opportunity, to realize their dreams.

There are many who dream many dreams, some who dream for them all.



The problems begin when people try to make their dreams come real...
There is perhaps no bigger dream destroyer than the political process. People become ideologues, reduced to parroting things of no import or chance of happening, choosing the identity of a party over the participating in a national discourse. Politicians cynically manipulate masses by trumpeting sound bites and talking points, steering the discourse into the waters they wish to sail, and engage in spin and lobbyist machinations.
The very act of voting seems to change the voter's opinions as much as express them - the simple act of choosing something creates an identity, a "brand" (double meaning intended) on their psyche that subtly rewires their opinions in to someone else's.
And sadly, after an election or two, the dreams of the voter are reduced to parroting platforms worn tired and warped twisted by life moving on.


One of the fallacies people have in their dreams is not starting far back enough to place them in context....
Israel is not a 65 year old enterprise. It is a 3500 year old enterprise, begun by Avraham Avinu. The ties one feels to the Land is NOT one of nationalism, of a particular political entity,  of some insane "we have guns now, so Jews can never be slaughtered again" pride.


The national debate in Israel continues to be about concepts and ideals like about Zionism, Judaism, peace, war, commerce, taxes, democracy, the price of cottage cheese, equality in army service, role models, women's rights, the economy, the role of the Rabbinate, the efficacy and ethicacy of Torah study, the role of the State in Judaism, the role of Judaism in the State, the ability for Jews in the Diaspora to be part of the national discourse, the diplomatic efforts to explain the country's views, the land policy, immigration, emigration, and so forth.

No one talks of a future vision of what Israel is meant to be, the dreams we wish to leave to our children, the visions and dreams that encompass all and one alike. It is as if the mechanism of having these conversations themselves is broken - a Meretz voter and a Shas voter can never have a rational conversation about their dreams, even if they ultimately are more alike (a livelihood with dignity, security) than different (religious or secular government and laws), because their conversation turns to sniping at each other using slogans and catchphrases long before. Their identities are so bound up in their politics that a question on one is an attack on the other...(This is my understanding of the tendency in the Israeli political system to never have centrist parties last more than ten minutes on the national stage. They get all the "issues" voters, the proverbial undecideds in an election, and do whatever they do - and the next election comes, they have no ideological identity driven base, and they flounder trying to position themselves on issues well enough to capture those voters again.)

And there can come a point where one's dreams are swallowed wholesale by the petty and corrupted national political discourse - life can kill the dreams you have dreamed!
For Man's ability to dream is clouded by his experiences, his beliefs, his petty and inconsequential smallness itself. No man's dreams encompass Reality, and those who try wreak more havoc on the universe than any other (Stalin and Hitler come to mind). We all dream within a dulled subconscious awareness that Reality marches on without caring much for our ideas; some decide to fight reality, and those who are open to Reality's contribution to the narrative and conversation are able to release dreams, to give up on them, to change their visions and act accordingly.




In Hebrew, the roots for "dream", "bread", "war", forgiveness", and "dance" all share letters. They also all share a common theme - the struggle for existence. (In fact, the Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language, by Mattityahu Clark and based off the scholarship and writings of R' Samson Refael Hirsch, translates the root L'Ch'M [normally translated as "bread"] itself as "struggle for existence".)
People's dreams are simply their visions for life. Some dream in the singular, others in the plural, still others in the global. And when they are done dreaming, they set out to accomplish those dreams. Realizing dreams is part of that noble struggle.

It is no accident that two times in the middle of the Priestly Blessing/Birkat Kohanim on Yamim Tovim we pray for dreams to be "healed" - our dreams may very well often need to be brought back in touch with the reality they are a part of, to be recalibrated and remade in light of the world's current state in and of itself, and where it stands in its evolution towards where it is supposed to be. Since we are not always able to do so ourselves, we ask for Divine Assistance in being Adam/Man, the Consciousness of evolution itself, instead of just some dimly self-aware creature standing apart from it.


It is in this healing, this reconnecting with the actual struggle for existence that IS humanity, that can be the only hope for those whose dreams have fallen out of touch with Reality itself, who rule as demigods of their own Kingdoms in their minds, and who, in doing so, destroy the dreams of those who dare to Be and Become themselves in a world whose entire evolution is for that very purpose.

And it is this, I believe, that Israel is meant to be - for it is a Land that enforces its inhabitants to be Alive, to be the Man who is the Consciousness of the Universe, living in connection to Reality, and in relationship with Reality. It is what the enterprise of Israel is all about.

And it is MY dream that I, and all of us, be zocheh to be a Ben Yisrael, b'Yisrael.
May it be G-d's Will this be so.