These sources teach us how to feel hopeful and self-confident in setting lofty goals and being able to accomplish them... whether as a leader or in one’s personal life.
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Goal: To imbue a sense of hope and self-confidence to set lofty goals and be able to accomplish them, whether as a leader or in one’s personal life.
The idea is encapsulated in the words of Rav Weinberg who associates the idea of “having a dream” specifically with the way of Judaism, tracing the idea through Jewish history from Yosef along through the typical Jewish merchant of the Middle Ages who was banned from all normal professions and trades and forced to sell rags.
- Yosef never lost sight of the greater dreams of life.
- Discuss how this relates to NCSYers - situations that they may have that seem insurmountable, but still should not hold them back from having great dreams.
From page 2 until the top of page 3, we discuss how the faith one shows in having a dream is itself rewarded by G-d with fulfillment of one’s wish.
- Firstly, we see that if one mourns over Jerusalem, meaning he takes seriously the loss of the Beis HaMikdash and hashra’as haShechinah, G-d will let him partake in the fulfillment of his desire, to see Yerushalayim rebuilt.
- As humans, we don’t always feel confident in the future and in fact, the Yalkut cites that even Yaakov Avinu was not completely free of this flaw. Because he lacked the complete faith to rise up with the angels in the vision of the ladder, afraid that he would then fall, his descendants had to undergo exile. (Maybe because in exile they would be given more chances to pass the test of faith amidst difficulty, like the rag salesman mentioned above.)
- Rav Wachtfogel explains that, as we said, G-d rewards faith - this faith has the power to overcome obstacles. He is referring to the midrash above about Yaakov. Yaakov’s doubts would have been overcome if would have just had a little more faith.
Already in the case of Yaakov, we see that part of faith is not only in G-d, but in oneself.
- A reason to understand this is stated in the Sifrei, that G-d “believed in His world” and only then created it - this means that G-d has faith in every single thing he created - including us!
Often we find that it is the leaders of Bnei Yisrael that from whom it is demanded the most a sense of self-confidence. We will bring two examples below, Moshe and Yiftach. Yet, although here we are dealing with leaders, we know that in everyday life, we are constantly facing challenges of self-confidence. Discuss how this applies in the lives of the NCSYers.
- Moshe Rabbeinu (in Bamidbar 11) complained that the burden of leading the Jewish people was too great for him. After all, he said, he is not their parent. Rav Walkin analyzes what that comment means- apparently, if he had been a parent, he would have had the power necessary to supply the needs of the Jewish people even if that required supernatural forces.
- In Sefer Shoftim, we see even further, that Yiftach requested the title of “rosh” in order to take upon himself the war with the Ammonim. Rav Walkin explains that this was not an issue of honor, but because he felt that with the people’s accepting of him as their leader, G-d would make sure that he would be able to supply them with what they need. How does this apply to regular life for people who aren’t leaders?
- First, everyone is a leader in some way because they exercise influence on others. So if you recognize the positive effect you can have on others, you should be confident that G-d will fulfill your desire to follow through on it.
- Secondly, in every challenging situation, a person should feel that just as G-d had confidence when he created him, he had confidence in him being able to handle the situation he was put into. So if you take your position in life seriously, you should be confident that G-d will help you realize your potential.