Dreams Interrupted Part One

Last night I had the strangest dream

I’d ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war

I dreamed I saw a mighty room

Filled with women and men

And the paper they were signing said

They’d never fight again

And when the paper was all signed

And a million copies made

They all joined hands and bowed their heads

And grateful pray’rs were prayed

And the people in the streets below

Were dancing ’round and ’round

While swords and guns and uniforms

Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream

I’d never dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war.

Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream

words and music by Ed McCurdy

 

It was difficult for a little boy to understand why the best month of the year, when there was no school and, because the yeshiva was closed, his father was available for family trips and fun, always coincided with the Three Weeks when so much fun was limited. There was no swimming during the Nine Days. We didn’t go shopping in any of the outlets we passed on our family trip. Our father spoke a great deal about the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and its affect on us. My summer dreams usually consisted of the Messiah’s arrival so we could have a ‘normal’ family trip (including the fact that somehow, once the Messiah arrived, my sister would either disappear or become a sweet person). The dreams were always interrupted by reality.

I dreamed of a world that didn’t hate Jews and Israel. I dreamed of a world in which people were consistently kind and considerate. I dreamed of a world without hatred. I dreamed of a world without mean teachers in school. All those dreams were interrupted.

José Saramago plays out the dream of a world without death in his, “Death With Interruptions.” On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is great celebration; flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great dream of humanity: eternal life.

Then reality hits home. Families are left to care for the permanently dying, life insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Hospitals and nursing homes are overwhelmed with new patients as the natural process that used to provide open beds stopped in its tracks. A new mafia forms to sneak dying relatives over the border to die.

Death realizes how difficult the adjustment is for the people of this country and sends a letter to the Prime Minister announcing that he will, indeed, begin to work again, “I feel it is my duty to admit that I was wrong, and that has to do with the cruel and unjust way in which I used to proceed, taking peoples’ lives by stealth, with no prior warning…from now on everyone will be given a week to put what remains of their life in order, to make a will, say goodbye and ask forgiveness.” Death announced that he will send the notice by mail.

The same people who were once jubilant when death was interrupted, then desperate for it to return, at least to others, refused to open their mailboxes. Postal workers were avoided on the streets.

Saramago’s book is a powerful commentary on politics, religion, business, and human behavior. It reminds us to consider the consequences of dreams realized, no longer interrupted.

To be continued…

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.