Wake UP
And Smell
The Coffee
The Good, Bad
And Ugly
What are dreams, anyway?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Special to the Jewish News
I
n sleep, we enter a different dimension.
The Tanach tells of prophets who dreamed as they
slept. As they did so, their souls passed from the world
we know to an entirely different realm — not one that can
be measured by time or space, but one that Rabbi
Elimelech Silberberg of the Sara Tugman Bais Chabad
Center in West Bloomfield describes as "a different fre-
quency. ,,
The rest of us mere mortals also dream, of course, and by
our actions we usually determine which "frequency" we
enter — whether we are with God, or not with Him.
What exactly are dreams?
According to the Talmud, "sleep is 1 /60th of death." Just
as the soul leaves the body after death, at night one's soul
enters another place.
Here, Rabbi Silberberg explains, one may experience
many things — a tug at the heart for poor behavior during
the day, or perhaps a vision of what is to come in days
head. The source of it all is God.
"The kabbalistic approach is a recognition that every-
thing in life is directed and influenced by two different
types of energy forces," Rabbi Silberberg says. "Ultimately,
in order for anything to exist, there must be perpetual
Divine energy to sustain it."
The two forms of energy are the positive, or "pure energy
of God," and the klippah, or "distorted".energy.
"God is all pervasive," Rabbi Silberberg says. "But He
also creates distorted energy that allows for a feeling of sep-
aration," the results of which are negative personality traits,
such as greed and jealousy.
To put it simply: When you're doing what you're sup-
posed to be doing, you should feel pretty good in life,
whether you're awake or asleep.
When, however, all is not right between you and God,
then you will know that, too — and it won't be pleasant.
Insights For The Soul
Rabbi Silberberg says that one's actions during the day
often affect his dreams.
If you have acted properly during the day, you may have
a chance to experience the "pure energy of God" with
sleep.
"When one has behaved righteously, then [at night] the
soul is privileged to enter the chambers of holiness," Rabbi
Silberberg explains. "Here, the soul will be given insights"
— perhaps into what is written in the Torah or what is
going on in the world. The greatest tzadikim, or righteous
souls, may even be able to divine the future.
If, however, you've been rotten, during sleep you may be
connected with the forces of klippah..
Just how bad can this be?
According to the Zohar, Jewish mystical writings, one
can be "tormented" in his dreams if he deserves t6 be.
At the same time, Rabbi Silberberg notes that not all
nightmares are necessarily merely a punishment. They also
can serve as a "cleansing process." It all depends on you.
If you're struggling to do good, the "cleansing process"
can be beneficial. If you're going to intentionally continue
doing evil, don't expect to have a good night's sleep.
Those who struggle to do God's will find bad dreams a
kind of purification, a "mikvah for the soul," Rabbi
Silberberg says. (Just as a woman, after menstruation,
enters the waters of the mikvah,
ritual bath, and finds herself in a
different state, so, too, can a
dreamer emerge from a night-
mare a different person.)
Interested in learning more?
Rabbi Silberberg recommends the
Talmud, tractate Brachot. Here,
the Talmud discusses the manner
in which tzadikim learned to
Rabbi Elimelech
understand their dreams.
Silberberg: "When one
Or, try reviewing prayers with
has behaved righteously,
which you may already be famil-
then [at night] the soul is iar. On holidays, when the
privileged to enter the
Kohanim (priests) give their bless-
chambers of holiness."
ing, the congregation asks God
to nullify any effects of ominous
dreams, praying that "all our dreams should be for good."
And if not — if dreams bring bad omens — "we beg you
to nullify the consequences of those messages." ❑
Dream On
A feu) facts to think — or dream about.
• In the Torah, the words dreamer," "magician" and
"prophet" are all related.
• Though Jewish texts clearly identify some men as able
to interpret dreams, Genesis 40:8 assures that the final
interpretation of any dream rests with God.
"Dream books," often seen for sale at drugstores
(alongside those pamphlets offering to give you "lucky
numbers" for the lottery), have been around for thou-
sands of years, predominantly in Egypt.
• While some cultures hold that not just the dream but
where it was dreamed is important, this is rarely the case
in Judaism. The one example in the Torah that does
focus on the place of the dream is that of Yaakov
(Jacob) in Beer Sheva (see Genesis 46:1).
• Joel 3:1 states that in the future all persons will be able
to have prophetic dreams.
• One skeptic as to whether dreams revealed mystical
thoughts and provided clues to the future: the biblical
Jonathan, who said, "A man is shown in a dream only
what is suggested by his own thoughts."
• In ancient days, it was popular to fast after one had a
bad dream.
• Unfortunately, the Web has little to offer on Judaism
and dreams. One place you might want to visit for more
information:
wvvvv.jewishmag.com/39mag/dreams/drearns.htm
— Elizabeth Applebaum
Some insights
on dreams
from the
Torah, scholars
and authors...
"Dreams are like a micro-
scope through which we look
at the hidden occurrences in
our soul."
— author Erich Fromm
"To fly away like a dream ..."
— The Book of job
"Obviously one must hold
oneself responsible for the
evil impulses of his dreams.
In what other way can one
deal with them?"
— Sigmund Freud
"Every dream has a particle
of prophecy in it."
the Talmud, Berachot
"In sleep, thoughts come to
your mind to reveal the
thoughts of your heart."
— adapted from Daniel
2:29-30
"During the night [dream],
a man's soul testifies as to
what he did during the day"
— the Zohar
"There are 24 dream inter-
preters in Jerusalem — and
each gives a different inter-
pretation."
adapted from the Talmud
`;'61 bad dream can be worse
than a flogging."
— the Talmud
"Three kinds of dreams are
filfilled: the dream of early
morning, a friend's dream
about you and the dream that
is interpreted within the
dream. To which some add:
The dream which is repeated"
— the Talmud
`A person who has a bad
dream must fast on the fol-
lowing day so that he will
examine his deeds and
repent."
— Maimonides
— Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
12/6
2002
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