Do dreams have a higher purpose, or should they be ignored?
By LEVI COOPERsleep 88(photo credit: )
A significant few pages of Talmud are devoted to the subject of dreams, their integrity and interpretation (B. Brachot 55a-57b). A perusal of these pages reveals a variety of approaches as to how dreams should be viewed.
The first approach views dreams as true harbingers of future events. In this spirit, the Talmud details the meaning of various objects and images seen in dreams: a well, river, bird, pot, reed, gourd, various animals or famous people and the list continues.
A second approach suggests that the portentous value of dreams lies solely in their interpretation. A dream that has yet to be interpreted - suggested one sage - "is like a letter that has not been read": it foreshadows neither good nor bad. How a dream is understood and even the initial response to a dream is of prime value. Great care should be taken in responding to dreams for the response definitively and at times harshly dictates the effect of the dream, as one sage opined: "All dreams follow the mouth."
The power of interpretation may truly be potent, as one sage described how he took his dream to 24 different dream interpreters in Jerusalem. Each offered a different explanation, yet all the interpretations were realized and each prediction was accurate! Thus after a foreboding dream, one sage would recite the biblical verse: Dreams speak lies (Zechariah 10:2). That same sage, after a positive dream, would recite the same verse, albeit with a different intonation: "But do dreams speak lies?! Isn't it written In a dream I will speak to him (Numbers 12:6)."
The Talmud offers methods for improving foreboding dreams or for ensuring that a neutral dream is a fortuitous omen: "One who sees a dream and his soul is distressed should go and have it remedied in the presence of three people." The Talmud continues, detailing the texts to be said as part of the remedy ritual.
Alternatively, one who has a dream but is unsure whether it signifies good tidings or bad news, should stand before the kohanim as they intone the priestly blessing and recite a supplication beseeching the Almighty that the dream should be a positive omen. This short prayer should be concluded as the kohanim finish their blessing, such that the congregational amen affirms the dreamer's supplication in addition to the priestly blessing.
A third line suggests that dreams are of mixed matter. No dream reflects the entire reality: Each dream contains an element of truth, yet that truth is intermingled with fanciful images. "Just as it is impossible to have wheat without chaff, thus it is impossible to have a dream without some senseless things." A dream, therefore, is not an accurate herald of the future: "A positive dream will not be fulfilled in its entirety nor will a negative dream be fulfilled in its entirety."
Even Joseph's dream in which the sun and the moon and 11 stars bowed down to him contained an inaccurate aspect (see Genesis 37:9). The sun and the moon represented Joseph's parents, while the 11 stars signified his brothers. Yet at the time of the dream, Joseph's mother, Rachel, was no longer alive. Thus the complete realization of Joseph's dream - his entire family bowing down to him - was impossible. Sifting through the dream to weed out the imaginary and the bizarre, while retaining the kernel of truth is the mastery of dream interpreters.
A variation on the "mixed matter" approach suggests that not all dreams herald the future; certain dreams may be dismissed out of hand. If a person dreams while fasting, he can attribute the dream to his empty stomach and not see it a portent of the future (Rabbi Natan of Rome, 11th century). On the other hand, one sage enumerated three types of dreams that are potent: dreams in the morning before waking, dreams about friends and a dream interpreted within a dream. To this list some added a dream that is repeated.
A final approach views dreams as unindicative of imminent events. Dreams merely provide a window into the subconscious and have nothing to do with the future. "A person is shown nothing but the product of his own thoughts." Thus one sage points out that imagination-defying images, scenes that are beyond the pale of reality, are not seen in dreams: "Know that a person is never shown a palm tree of gold nor an elephant entering the eye of a needle." Such impressions cannot be contemplated while awake and hence will not appear in dreams.
The power of suggestion can induce dreams. The Talmud relates that the Roman emperor once turned to a sage and commented on the Jewish people: "You say that you are exceedingly wise; tell me, what will I see in my dream tonight?" The sage replied: "You will see that the Persians will press you into service of their king, and they will seize you and force you to pasture pigs with a staff of gold." The Roman emperor pondered this worrisome image for the entire day, and at night actually saw it in his dream.
According to this last approach, do dreams have a higher purpose, or are they merely images, thoughts and feelings experienced while asleep that should be ignored?
Our scholarly forebears who preferred this last approach - such as Rabbi Eliezer Papo (1785?-1828, Bulgaria) who among his ethical advice wrote: "It is good not to be concerned about dreams" - nevertheless identified the value of dreams.
Thus, for instance, Maimonides (1135-1204, Cairo) suggested that a fast after an ominous dream would not necessarily directly affect the future; rather, such a fast should be part of a general return to the Almighty and a recanting of previous misdeeds.
In a similar vein, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888, Germany) noted that our sages doubted the authenticity of dreams. Nevertheless, a dream is a tool in the hands of the Almighty used to implant ideas in our hearts that can awaken us to walk on a divine path.
The writer is on the faculty of Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and is a rabbi in Tzur Hadassah.
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