DREAMS

My dearest Aaron Hershel,

 

I am pleased to hear that you have stopped your traveling. Horses can be a good business, but you are gone too often and for so long. Sarah Leah and Masha Mindle must miss and need you. And now another child is on the way! I will do as you ask and send a bit of red ribbon to protect mother and baby. (A red ribbon was thought to ward off the Evil Eye.)

Do they believe in such things in your America? Here it is commonplace and yet I suspect most do not believe. Either in demons or the power of a red ribbon. But I will send it and I will tell you why. First, because you asked. But secondly, because while I do not believe in demons I do believe in anxiety. Looking at the red ribbon connects us with something higher that we intuitively feel is protective of us. It can allay worry and anxiety, and that can lessen pain. And for that I will send the ribbon. And, yes, I will bless it. It will come to you filled with love.

I had expected your letter would address the topic of hitbodedut and was surprised that instead you want to talk about dreams. You were right to remind me that in my last letter I mentioned that Neshamah opens to Chayyah and Yechidah through prayer, meditation, and dreams. We have spoken of the first two, now let us take up the third.

There are three ways to look at dreams. One, they are the meanderings of a sleeping mind; they mean and signify nothing. Two, they are omens of the future, warnings and signs that reveal what is about to happen; they are meaningful and must be unraveled. Three, that they are a mixture of nonsense and super sense; that is to say, some dreams are or contain the meanderings of a sleeping mind and other dreams or other parts of a dream offer insights from the world of Atzilut breaking through into the world of Beriah. I am interested in dreams from this third perspective.

Dreams are one of the voices of Atzilut; one of the ways the transcendent power of Atzilut is felt in the world of Beriah. There are others: music, art, and poetry, to name a few. But of all the voices of Atzilut, dreaming is the most common. Not everyone can write or paint, play an instrument, or even enjoy fine music. But everyone dreams. And the dream messages that come to us from Atzilut are all the same: “This way lies unity; that way lies separation.”

So what is the problem? The problem is that Beriah wants no part of Atzilut. Beriah fears Atzilut because Neshamah imagines that to access Chayyah is a kind of suicide. So Neshamah resists Chayyah; the smaller self seeks to block out the wisdom of the larger self. Neshamah is wrong in its thinking. Tapping into the wisdom and compassion of Chayyah can only enhance the way Neshamah experiences the world around it, but it is difficult to convince Neshamah of this. Nonetheless, there are times when Neshamah cannot resist the presence of Chayyah, and dream sleep is one of these times. In a dream, a meaningful not meandering dream, Chayyah points Neshamah toward wholeness.

When Neshamah is moving toward wholeness on its own, our dreams are affirming, pointing out further steps on our journey. When Neshamah is moving toward separateness our dreams are warning signs, sometimes frightening ones. Chayyah is trying to get Neshamah’s attention: “Look where you are going. This is the way of monstrousness and death. Turn around.”

As I am writing this I am reminded of a game you used to play as a child. You would close your eyes and your friends would hide a bucket somewhere nearby. Then with your eyes still closed you would search for the bucket. When you moved toward the bucket your friends called out words of encouragement. When you moved away from the bucket they called out words of warning. They only had one goal in mind: helping you find the bucket.

This is a fine analogy for dreams. Chayyah is your friend calling to Neshamah: “Yes, this way; no, not that way.” The bucket is the realization of the unity of self and other, Neshamah and Chayyah, Beriah and Atzilut. The bucket is the union of all opposites without negating any of them.

Our dreams tell us when we are moving toward unification and when we are moving away from it. But unlike your friends who shouted their message clearly, Chayyah speaks in symbol and metaphor. You have to interpret what Chayyah says to discover if it is affirming or warning.

How do you do this? You could come home and visit Feige the fortune teller. She will insist that each symbol of a dream has a set meaning. She will tell you what your dream says, and then you can do with it as you will. And, of course, she will charge you. But I would not recommend this.

The dream language of Chayyah is too rich to be reduced to one meaning. If you see a great painting, is there just one way to understand it? If you hear fine music, is there only one way to make sense of it? Of course not, and these, like dreams, come from Atzilut.

There is no one right way to understand a dream. There is only your way. Remember it is your dream, and only you can decide on its meaning. Here is my suggestion: Write your dreams down. Carry them in a journal and mull them over in your mind. Imagine all the possible ways they can be understood and all the possible meanings they may carry. Some will speak to you as being plausible; others will appear absurd. Work with the plausible, but don’t dismiss the absurd; they may become plausible over time. Ask yourself: “What might this dream be saying about my life and how I am living it? Is it affirming my path or warning me against it?” Just carry the dream with you and wait. In time you will know the answer. And then you can either heed the dream or ignore it.

What if a dream cannot be understood? What if no answer is ever forthcoming? Let it be. Perhaps it will make sense next month or next year. If a dream is so obscure as to defy understanding, do not break your head over it. Set it aside. Wait for other dreams. They may be clearer, and they may even help you understand the more difficult one.

Enough. It is getting dark and my eyes are growing dim in the darkness. I will sleep soon. And I will dream. And, God willing, I will grow.

 

B’Shalom