The sleepy month of Kislev, with its long nights, seems made for dreaming.
"His brothers then said to him, 'Would you then reign over us?...And they increased even more to hate him-because of his dreams and because of his words."
Who is this hated boy? He relates his dreams though they incite antipathy. Later he comes to know every language. His very appearance is a message, preened and color-coated. Tears express his compassion. The kabbalistic attribute of yesod, relating and giving oneself over, is represented by Joseph. Joseph is the master of self-expression.
The commentators have asked why someone of Joseph's stature would say things that would so obviously provoke his brothers. The Vilna Gaon says Joseph's dreams are prophetic and a prophet is required to express his prophecy. The prophets are famous for deriding their generation in order to compel them to teshuvah. Rashi reports "they increased even more to hate him…because of his words" means "because of 'the evil reports about them' which he would bring to his father." Joseph is the prophet who, seeing the wrong of his generation, must express what he sees. Similarly, rabbis of the Greek exile derided the descent into the depravity of Hellenistic ways. The healer must state the diagnosis before a cure can be administered.
(Of course, we must be very careful about this. To paraphrase the Lubavitcher Rebbe, "One who sees something wrong, it is the piece of the world Hashem left for him to fix. But one who sees only the wrong, it is him who needs fixing." To be a "critic" is not a Jewish trait. We strive to see the beauty in God's creation.)
The beauty of Joseph and his brothers is their lack of agenda. Rashi explains that "they were not able to speak to him peaceably" points to a refreshing directness, "that they did not speak one with their mouth and another in their heart." This requires faith that the feelings Hashem planted in their hearts is not to be suppressed, come what may. And Joseph told over his dreams despite their inciting hatred, come what may. Faith in Hashem's plan, though it may seem impolite and sometimes cruel, though it may seem to make enemies, still, we must not be shy to say our dreams out loud. Get them ready, get yourself ready, and let it happen.
A man has to be open to identify and firm to pursue his dreams. These dreams are God-given and it is not in our interest to ignore or downplay them. He inspires us to these dreams for a reason, and it is not necessarily within the power of our own reason to figure out whether they are good or bad. You just don't know what will happen in the future. "Strengthen yourself and He will encourage your heart; and hope to Hashem" is ultimately what we can do.
Chanukkah reminds us to dream, to stand up for that dream, even though everybody else is telling you you're wrong....it can't be done…you're not the one to do it… When Mattithyahu expressed himself with a sword and started a war, he proclaimed his dream of a free Israel: "All that are for Hashem come with me." It is not in our logical mind to plan that the overthrow of Greek Imperialism would come from an untrained skeleton crew from the priestly class. This divinely-engineered success was so unexpected, later rabbis were embarrassed into emphasizing the miracle of the lamps.
Rabbi Noson Slifkin calls the winter the season of faith. God will shelter us and will provide us spring crops. It takes faith just to be ourselves, whether that self is embarrassingly at odds with our self-image or whether we are frightened at the magnitude of the vision of our evolving self. Our faith is bolstered by the blessings that unfold of a Torah lifestyle, but there is a faith of being simple, of knowing a God Who relates to us personally, fostering a trust that moves Him to bring us in on His plan, that even allows us to be His mouthpiece. But, often those inhibited to speak up are those whose message most needs to be heard.
May each of us become master of a self-expression born of faith. May we follow the way of the dreamer not afraid to dream, the relater not afraid to relate, come what may.