Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, is liberated from captivity in Egypt and attains a position of great prominence. Why doesn’t he let his family know where he is? The great commentator, Ramban, puts it sharply: “Even if it was his will to make his brothers suffer a little, how could he not have compassion on his aged father…How could he not send one letter to his father to inform him (that he was alive) and to comfort him, because Egypt is only about a six day trip to Hebron? Respect for his father would have justified a year’s journey…” (Ramban on Gen. 42:9).

There are many answers to this question among commentators, but perhaps the most common is that Joseph believed he needed to fulfill his dream. He envisioned his brothers coming to bow down to him and thought it was his destiny. Therefore, he would not do anything that might upset what he understood as God’s design.

There is a caution in this for the rest of us. We live in a society that constantly encourages us to pursue our dreams, but dreams are not always cost-free. On New Years, perhaps we made resolutions to pursue this or that dream. Did we also consider how it would affect, for good or ill, those we care about?

The Jewish poet, Delmore Schwartz, wrote a short story with a title borrowed from Yeats: “In dreams begin responsibility.” There is great wisdom in that phrase. Our dreams are not solo performances we enact on a stage by ourselves. Too often, we ignore or elide the social context that everyone lives in and neglect the power of dreaming together.

The greatest example of an enunciated dream in our culture, Dr. King’s famous speech, envisioned not his own achievement but great social change. As we get older we recognize the ways in which all of our individual hopes are intertwined with one another. Perhaps that is why the prophet Joel spoke this in God’s name to Israel: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old will dream dreams, your young will see visions.” (Joel 2:28).

In the coming year, may we dream for the good of all and wake to a better world.