Parashat Vayeishev: Divine Dreams
The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind. – Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900
From ancient times through today, we have always been tempted to learn the secrets of dreams. Long ago, dreams were thought to be signs from divine powers exposing their will. Today we are more apt to ascribe them either to the random firings of our neurons or to the messages of our unconscious. Yet, in the bible, the sender of dreams was clear – God connected with the Israelites and others through their dreams, and it was a powerful method of communication. Sometimes the messages in these dreams were direct and comprehensible, other times, vague and unclear.
Earlier in Genesis, in Parashat Lech Lecha, Abram falls into a deep sleep (Gen. 15:12), and the text says that a dark dread descended upon him. Then God said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried at a ripe old age. And they shall return here much later.”
With this vision, before Abram even becomes Abraham, we see our slavery and subsequent exodus from Egypt prophesied in dream form. We can understand from this that our time in Egypt is ordained even as early as the time of Abraham. Most other dreams are presented as coded visions filled with abstract symbols, and it is up to a wise person to decode the dream properly.
For instance, in this week’s parasha, Vayeishev, the first few dreams that we hear from Joseph are vague, and it is up to the other family members to interpret them. One dream involves the family binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly Joseph’s sheaf stands upright, while the sheaves belonging to his brothers bow low to Joseph’s sheaf. The brothers are quite angered at this – they yell at Joseph, “Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us?” (Gen. 37:8) And they hated him for his dreams.
Their hate and anger implies the power to which they ascribed dreams. Whether or not dreams were messages from the divine, they were certainly viewed as prophetic. Next week, in Parashat Miketz, we will hear more important dreams. In it, Joseph has been in Egypt for quite some time, working as a slave, and is presently in jail. While imprisoned, he becomes known as a master dream interpreter. Word gets back to Pharaoh, who enlists Joseph’s help for a particularly troubling dream. None of Pharaoh’s official dream interpreters were able to help the king understand his dream, so Joseph’s talent is much needed.
Pharaoh dreamt of seven sturdy cows which came up out of Nile. These healthy cows were followed by seven ugly and gaunt cows, who proceeded to eat up the healthy cows. The next night, Pharaoh dreamt of seven solid ears of corn. Yet behind these healthy ears of corn were seven thin and scorched ears, which went ahead and swallowed up the other solid ears of corn.
As you may recall, Joseph was able to correctly interpret the message of these dreams – there were to be seven years of healthy and abundant harvest, followed by seven years of drought and famine. This interpretation allowed the Egyptians to properly prepare and ration food in order to withstand the coming famine. Joseph’s talent at dream interpretation saved the land, the people, and the culture of Egypt, and he was named the royal vizier to Pharaoh!
Joseph’s power of dream interpretation is unique in Judaism, but not at all in Egypt. Professional dream interpreters were prominent in Mesopotamia and Egypt. An Egyptian dream manual from approximately 1300 BCE contains over 200 interpretations, such as “Dreaming of a large cat means a large harvest.”
While Egyptians were using a dream manual, our Jewish figures who engage in Dream interpretation use nothing but their own imaginations. This seems to bolster the idea that their gift of interpretation comes directly from God. The bible seems to say that Joseph, and later, Daniel, were merely decoding what was already in the dream, translating the will of God, exposing it, removing the veil of abstraction and making it understandable to the common person.
The interpretations of dreams in the Bible are not dependent upon astrology nor upon any other occult science, but are simple and candid. The dreams are interpreted symbolically. Seven fat cows mean seven fat years, etc. The recurrence of the dream means that it will surely come to pass within a short time, which is what enabled the Pharaoh to immediately act upon Joseph’s interpretation.
Although the bible contains many retellings of dreams, it ultimately has very few examples of dream interpretation. Later Jewish texts contain much, and it is the norm to pursue understanding of the dream. Very few of our sages dismiss the power of a dream.
The Talmud tells us that, even if we are unable to decode a particular dream, one-sixtieth of it is prophecy. That tiny part of it is true, and it is up to us to hear it. Using the biblical characters as a model, we don’t need to employ fancy dream books or to seek out the answer to our strange symbols from someone else. We can use simpler methods of understanding to figure out our dreams, Such as our own imaginations and associations.
Whether or not you believe your dreams come from God or, as Freud tells us, from your own unconscious mind, It is well within Jewish tradition to engage in the process of dream interpretation. I encourage you to keep a dream journal, or discuss your dreams with your loved ones. It could be a message from your higher self, or from the highest Self, God.
May all of our happiest dreams come true, may we use our dreams to understand our paths, and may we all have chalomot metukim, a night full of the sweetest of dreams.
Ken Y’hi Ratzon. Amen.
