Printable PDF available here. Previous pieces on Miketz are available here and here.
Rav Kook (Based on Midbar Shiur, 25)
“It came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.” (Bereishit 41:1)
In various places in Jewish history, we find that Israel’s development and advancement occurs through the means of a dream. Yosef’s dreams prefigured his attainment of power in Egypt, which in turn set the stage for the exile, the Exodus and the formation of Klal Yisrael as a national entity. In this week’s parsha, Pharaoh’s dreams play a role in advancing this process as well. Similarly, in the Babylonian exile, Daniel role to power by interpreting a dream for Nevuchadnezzar. Why do dreams have a role in the Divine plan for history, and what is the spiritual purpose of dreams in general?
To answer this question, let us examine a puzzling teaching of our Sages in Gemara Berachot (55a-b), where we learn that no dream has a fixed meaning. Instead, “A dream that has not been interpreted is like a letter left unread … All dreams are fulfilled based on the interpretation given to them.” As an illustration of this principle, one rabbi even reports that he received 24 different interpretations of a dream, and that as a result, all of them were fulfilled! The question is obvious – how can an interpreter affect the meaning of a dream and alter the future accordingly? Even if a dream is some form of prophecy, a foretelling of the future, why does interpretation have such a powerful impact?
To unravel this puzzle, we need to understand why G-d endowed us with the ability to dream. A true dream is meant as a wake-up call, an exhortation to bring out hidden potential or correct something that has gone wrong. As Iyov (33:15-16) declares, “In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls upon men, in the slumbers on the bed, He [G-d] opens the ear of men, and delivers them reproof.” Dreams are the way that G-d, in his infinite wisdom, grants a purified and spiritual mind a vivid vision of the future – one that cannot be accessed by the normal conscious faculties that operate while we are awake.
Of course, not all dreams are prophetic. Before the sin of Adam and Chavah coarsened humanity’s spiritual perception, every dream reflected profound truths. But now, most dreams are largely a confusing amalgamation of strange images, pointless thoughts and unusual flights of imagination – what our Sages refer to as “a mixture of wheat and chaff.” So let us be clear that we are talking about dreams as a category, as a part of the ideal religious experience, and not necessarily any particular dream that one of us may have had.
With that caveat, let us delve into the inner function of dreams. Dreams are a fundamental part of the framework by which Divine Providence operates in this world. The Zohar (Parshat Bo) teaches that Divine Providence is not just a top-down system where Hashem decrees what will happen and we benefit (or suffer) accordingly. Every person’s soul has a wonderous inner quality (lit. סגולה) based on his or her moral stature and level of spiritual development. The way G-d has designed the world, our soul’s inner quality draws toward us the situations and events that correspond to our spiritual level and what we are meant to accomplish in life. If we change our ways, this inner segulah changes as well, which then manifests a different set of circumstances and responsibilities.
Dreams are a part of this system of Divine providence. When one receives a profound vision of the future in a dream, he or she is not meant to be a passive recipient, like an audience member enjoying a show. The dream is supposed to be transformative, to affect the soul’s inner quality and spur a rectification, the realization of previously potential, or some other spiritual advancement. But how can a person make sure the dream affects them to their very core, and is not forgotten the moment he or she awakens from slumber?
This is where the concept of dream interpretation comes into play. As our Sages taught, “A dream that has not been interpreted is like a letter left unread.” When someone else interprets a dream, its images become more intense and vivid and take deeper root in the dreamer’s consciousness. The impact on the soul becomes far stronger. Of course, dream interpretation is itself a skilled discipline, one that requires penetrating to the inner message of the dream and separating the “wheat” from the “chaff.” Not everyone is qualified to discern the points of the dreamer’s soul that are reflected in a dream. Even if one is qualified, there are many ways to ‘connect the dots’ and even a single dream can have 24 different interpretations, as our Sages teach. A positive interpretation of a dream will helps develop and manifest positive traits hidden in the soul of the dreamer, while a negative interpretation, on the other hand, will promote negative traits.
All of these concepts are true on the national level as well. The Jewish People have a hidden inner potential for spiritual greatness and leadership of humanity. All of history is the Divine effort – and ours as well – to spur on the realization of this inner quality. The Divine hand has many ways to advance this process, and one them is through dreams (as we see by Yosef and Daniel). Perhaps this is the meaning of the enigmatic phase in Tehillim 126 (recited before Birkat haMazon), describing the ultimate geulah, where David declares “When G-d restores the captivity of Zion, we were like dreamers. Then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of praise.” Why does David declare that we “were like dreamers,” in past tense, instead of “will be like dreamers” in future tense? Based on everything we have said, it seems that the answer is clear. G-d has put us in this long and dark galus so that Israel can realize its inner essence and develop its true potential. But we are still “dreaming” and have not yet reached the end of history. But eventually, the complete geulah will come, and the Jewish People, then awakened from the centuries of dreaming that brought them to that point, will look back and declare, “We have been like dreamers!.. The Lord has done great things with us!”
Food For Thought
Rabbi Ya’akov Sasson (Contemporary): The Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 288) states that a fast to offset a bad dream may even be observed on Shabbat, for this fast serves as one’s true enjoyment on that specific Shabbat…. Nevertheless, Rav Amram Gaon and Rabbeinu Klonimus write that nowadays, one should not fast on Shabbat to improve a bad dream since we are not experts in interpreting dreams to determine which dreams are good and which are bad. Although the Tur quotes their opinion, Maran Ha’Shulchan Aruch does not. Nonetheless, Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l… quotes the opinion of Hagaon Rabbeinu Eliyahu Ha’Kohen who writes that “although one may observe a fast to improve a dream on Shabbat, it seems that this only applies to the times of our Sages when they were experts in interpreting dreams, as opposed to nowadays. There are dreams which seem bad but are, in fact, good….
Rabbeinu Mordechai Yaffeh (author of the Levush) writes in his Sefer Levush Ha’Ora (Parashat Vayeshev) that everyone knows that a vast majority of dreams are complete nonsense without even an ounce truth to them. Maran Ha’Chida writes (Ma’arechet Gimmel): “I know that a great person who was not concerned at all about dreams. He said that there was a certain Torah scholar who would spend most Shabbatot observing fasts for bad dreams. One Shabbat he came to ask me and I told him not to fast. He then stopped having bad dreams on Friday night.”
Indeed, Hagaon Rabbeinu Eliezer Papo writes (in his Sefer Peleh Yo’etz) on the topic of dreams that the best thing is not to be concerned about dreams at all, not to be scared of them, or tell them over to anyone since dreams are usually nonsense anyway. This is especially true in our times when there is almost no one who is revealed anything about the future in one’s dreams and one’s dreams are usually fueled by one’s imagination and thoughts.
Although this is generally the case, there is no iron-clad rule here and every situation should be individually probed. With regards to the above question about a “scary” dream, there are many dreams that have no actual meaning and just scare the person (i.e. nightmares). It seems from the Gemara (Yoma 22b) that a frightening dream (called “Siyuta” in Talmudic terminology) is a different type of dream that has no bearing on the future at all. This is especially true nowadays, as we have explained.
Ramban al-haTorah (42:9): But we have to ask, after Yosef had been in Egypt for many years, and held a senior position in the household of an important Egyptian nobleman – how could he not have sent a note to his father, to inform him and to comfort him? For the distance from Egypt to Chevron is [a journey of] about six days; even if it were a journey of a year, it would have been proper for him to notify him, out of respect for his father, who would have paid a huge ransom to redeem him. But [Yosef] saw that having his brothers prostrate themselves before him, along with his father and all of his descendants, could never happen while in their land. And so he awaited his arrival in Egypt, to behold his great prosperity there, and especially after he heard Pharaoh’s dream, which made it clear to him that all of them would come there and all of his dreams would be fulfilled… Were this not the case, Yosef would have been guilty of a grave transgression in causing anguish to his father and bringing prolonged bereavement and mourning upon him, for Shimon and for himself. Even if his intention would have been to cause some anguish to his brothers, how could he not show compassion to his elderly father? He did all of this in the proper time, so as to bring his dreams to realization, for he had known that they would come true.
Questions for Discussion
- New Age philosophy makes a big deal about something called the Law of Attraction, which Wikipedia explains as follows: “[This is] the belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life. The belief is based on the ideas that people and their thoughts are made from “pure energy”, and that a process of like energy attracting like energy exists through which a person can improve their health, wealth, and personal relationships. There is no empirical scientific evidence supporting the law of attraction, and it is widely considered a pseudoscience.” Is Rav Kook’s theory of dreams akin to the Law of Attraction? Or is he saying something different? If so, how?
- What are some dreams that the Jewish People have had and realized in the last century?
- Do you think your dreams mean anything?
- Other than Yosef and Daniel, where else do dreams figure in Tanach?
