Wild Dreams

Newsletter April 21st, 2025 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

Lately, I have had all kinds of wild dreams eve everything from terrible fights for survival, to grand visions of enjoying conversations with deceased loved ones.

And I’m not alone. Some of you have told me about dreams involving great feasts, and even a dream about me rapping at your upcoming wedding! That would certainly fulfill a dream- for me and for you! Ha! Is it a season of dreams? Maybe.

The Jewish people are a people of dreamers. Ever since Jacob dreamt of a ladder ascending to heaven, or of an epic wrestling match between him and an angel, we have struggled to make sense of our night visions.

And there is the dreamer, but then there is the interpreter of dreams who also has an important role in what we do with dreams. Pharaoh famously had intense dreams which our ancestor Joseph made sense of, and successfully saved not only the Egyptian people and the Hebrews, but also the entire world from death by famine. The dreams and the way they were successfully interpreted provided a lifeline.

Dreams were clearly lauded an revered in the times of the Torah. God even promises to appear to prophets in visions and dreams.

But the rabbis of the Talmud had more mixed opinions about them.

In the Talmud (Berachot 55a) Rav Hisda said three important things about dreams:

First, he said that an uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter. This assures the dreamer that there is some message to be received from a dream. What that is, though is a mystery.

Second, he insists that neither a good nor a bad dream is fulfilled in every detail. This may be comforting inasmuch as a person should be able to recognize that while dreams may point to truths, they do not deliver whole truths.

And finally, Rav Hisda insisted that bad dreams were better than good ones. Why? I'm guessing that waking up from a bad dream and realizing you're actually safe is better than waking up from a good dream and realizing that you're actually stuck in a comparatively unsavory reality. It's also reassuring to know that having a bad dream is preferred.

So, even Rav Hisda who appreciated that dreams had significance, wasn't quite so sure what what to make of them exactly. Were they messages sent down from the divine hinting at how to prepare for our future? Were they remnants of the journey our soul had taken in our unconscious state? The only certain thing to say about dreams is that they are unclear. And, as such, they will keep us musing for a long time to come.

Constantly exploring the world around us, in reality and in our dreams is how we keep it sacred.

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred…

Rabbi Heather Miller,

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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