From Imagination to Reality

A wife desperate to be a mother, Chana pleads with G-d to bless her with a child. Her husband, Elkana, already a father from his second wife. A story similar to that of Sarah, Chana was tormented by her inability to conceive. Alive during the time of the mishkan, Chana had big dreams for her unborn child to serve Hashem. While beseeching G-d, Chana asks specifically for a son and goes on to describe what he should look like and his intellectual capacity. She expects him to be as spiritually advanced as Moshe and Aharon, she anticipates him anointing the next king. She lays out his future before his conception.

Hashem fulfills her request. She births a son according to her exact specifications. 

What are we to make of Chana’s brazenness? To demand her desires of Hashem down to the most minute of details?

A prophetess as great as the greats, Chana is known for her prayer. For, in fact, changing the dynamics of prayer for all time. We learn to move our lips and speak so we and no others can hear. We learn to cry out from our depths with real emotion and real tears. We learn to beseech G-d. 

But moreso, we see how Chana understood her profound connection to Hashem. She understood she was not to stand by meekly in her pain. Chana had the confidence to clearly ask for what she wanted and was determined in her expectation she'd receive it. Chana, through her deep faith in both Hashem and herself, manifested for herself a son and his future. 

The Hebrew word for imagination, dimyon, is closely related to that of man, adam, setting us apart from other life forms through our higher consciousness. It is this G-dly spark within us that enables us, demands of us, to partner with Hashem in creation. We were given this power to “choose good, to choose life”. 

It's through our imagination we give form to our ideas and goals. It is there we visualize ourselves already realizing our ambitions, feeling the positive emotions associated with success enabling our minds to believe it to be already accomplished. Done repeatedly, this gives our subconscious the roadmap to our achievements, allowing G-d to partner in actualizing them. 

Chana’s imagination is no more powerful than our own. We all have this power embedded into our very existence. Start small, experience G-d, strengthen your trust and then reach higher. With the foundation of complete faith and trust in Hashem, we too can imagine ourselves to great heights. We too can close our eyes and move from imagination to reality.