Dreams

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Permalink Reply by Chaim on September 7, 2008 at 4:54pm

Did either of these dreams inspire you to do more mitzvos?
Did you do more learning keeping in mind that it might help caught neshamas?
Did you empathize with your neighbor's possible need and daven for her daughter's health strongly?

If a dream can inspire you to high quality mitzvos, why ever would you be nervous about experiencing more dreams?

After an inspiring dream myself, once, I considered that if it had been a message from beyond and I did improve myself on account of a permitted action by a neshama then it was proof that in fact one can earn more mitzvos after death, and I did have the opportunity to verify this thought with a [living] rabbi... that a neshama can earn mitzvos just not all alone, only through someone still living.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Balofsky on September 8, 2008 at 7:41pm

I would speak to your Rabbi or Rebbetzin about it. I don't know enough about the dreams but there are certain dreams that have meaning. The 2 I know of is if you have a dream of your teeth falling out or you see a Sefer Torah fall you should fast.

On a secular level - Are there any additional or new stresses or things making you anxious? These stresses do not have to be related to the people in the dream, it can be regarding anything. On a sub conscious level you have had these fears of things happening and now they are able to surface since you are more insecure due to your stress.

The general census of dreams is not what it used to be in the old days when it was perceived as prophesy but talking to your Rabbi/Rebbetzin is not a bad a idea .

I hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Hadassah on October 8, 2008 at 11:11am

Rivka-- this is a subject i have studied extensively. Not so much in the secular world (as i found exactly ZERO answers). Bu tin Torah, there are very specific formulas in the text to outlines dreams that are from HaSh-m. Study for yourself, and you will find that when a dream is from HaSh-m, you will see that for Jews:
A.) you wake up straight away. (as opposed to later on and cannot remember it)
B.) You are moved deeply
C.) You will KNOW what the meaning is, whether of yourself or an immediate interpreter. (there is not the confusion normally associated with say, an extra big meal before bedtime, extra-ordinary circumstantial pressures, typical outside stressors, etc.) Tanach scriptures bear this out (even Shmuel,though he didn't know straight away what to do, was given a guide and he followed instructions and then quickly knew what to do) also look at Yaakov in the wilderness, etc.

Strangely, even goyim who have these messages, are given someone to interpret immediately--i.e. Yoseph to the Pharaoh's dream of the kine. So the formula stands. The interpretation is always there, and clear.
D.) This is the only one not always consistent-- although the other factors ARE), You will know what to do about it. *For instance: I dreamt about the explosion on 9/11, approx. 3 months befor eits occurence. I told MANY people about it because I was TERRIFIED by my dream. Even my dearest friends who have relied upon me as a solid source of counsel for many years thought I had "had a bad dream and was overreacting". It was humiliating to have such a sense of emergency and no one paying attention. I had no notion as to the reason for attack, author, nor response. Only the even t itself. Then, when it happened, a half a dozen friends started looking at me strangely as though it were something odd they should stasy away from lest they catch it! I have had only one such dream since then. About the explosion in England and I kept my mouth shut. Obviously. It should be noted here tha tI havesince heard of about seven people-- all religious women who likewise received "warning dreams" as I call them with specific reference to 9/11. So I am not unique in this. What I will tell you is to daven, daven daven. I have never experienced a dream where telling the person involved helped them in any way. Even when it explicitly had to do with them. Keep your mouth shut and daven for them. What HaSh-m reveals to your heqrt does not necessarily mean He has revealed it to theirs, and it can only bring distress. I have been "pestered" with these since childhood. I know what I am talking about. Sorry to seem so intense, but as I said, i KNOW what I am talking about. They are for your prayer life, not for others. I have never experienced otherwise. It doesn't make you a prophet. Just sensitive about what to pray about.

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Permalink Reply by Hadassah on October 8, 2008 at 11:33am

Sorry, it didn't save my change: I meant to write: *For instance: (under letter D) you will see that Yaakov knew to build an altar by faith, Yosef knew to store up food for the coming famine, and Shmuel knew to prophesy against teh sin of the sons serving in the Temple, etc. HOWEVER, it has NOT been my experience that I knew what to do. Most likely due to the obvious fact: I am NO WHERE holy as these great patriarchs. So, for modern day, clearly there is something missing. But in Tanach, the same always happens with truly prophetic dreams. It is a litmus test, if you will, to see if what you dream is truly a message, or, well... just a dream.

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