Divine Dreams

Think about your deepest wish. I don't mean an ice cream sundae or new shoes; I mean something really close to your heart, a deep-seated desire that strikes at your very core.

Develop this idea, so that you're imagining it in detail. Focus on it, emblazoning its image on the backdrop of your mind.

Now, how would you feel if someone made this wish a reality? Can you imagine the feeling?

Well, that's how G‑d feels when we live right.

The Torah teaches that "divine dreaming" is what gives rise to our entire existence. Before creation, G‑d "craved" something – a deep desire burned into the "divine psyche" – and created the world to "satisfy" this "craving."

[G‑d obviously doesn't have a "craving" as we understand the sensation. "Craving" is a Rabbinic metaphor for "deep-seated desire beyond our (human) understanding." So read craving as: deep-seated-beyond-the-human-ken desire].

What image is "emblazoned on the divine mind"? What is so monumental that it could grant G‑d "divine satisfaction"?

You.

And me.

And our struggles to live the purpose of our Creation.

I believe we all struggle. Maintaining a healthy perspective and balancing our values/priorities isn't easy, so morally-conscious people struggle to maintain their higher vision and balance.

For some of us, it's too many distractions. For some, it's the existential distress that comes with having too few distractions. But a meaningful life has its price: The Struggle.

And that struggle is what G‑d finds so precious.

In the Torah's Creation-narrative, we find G‑d's creative process metaphorically depicted as Divine Speech: "Let there be light."

G‑d "spoke" the world into being. But, thought usually comes before speech, so what was G‑d thinking?

Our Sages say that G‑d was contemplating a very deep-seated wish: That deep "mental image" was you and I finding the strength to do the right thing.

Sometimes it's "How do I deal with that annoying situation?" Sometimes it's "I know I have that family responsibility, but I'm just too tired."

Sometimes it will involve finding the moral strength to light Shabbat candles or lay tefillin.

So, at any given moment, recognize that you have something productive to do. Remember that G‑d contemplated this very moment.

And make His dream come true.