The Jewish tradition is rich in ideas, rituals, and practices for use in mining the meaning of your dreams. Vanessa Ochs is the Ida and Nathan Kolodiz Director of Jewish Studies and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia; Elizabeth Ochs is her daughter and a student at Brown University. They have gathered many Jewish resources together in this user-friendly volume.
In an adaptation of Job 33:14-17 we read:
"For God speaks to us,
time and again
When we are deeply sleeping,
Though we may not perceive it as God's voice.
In a dream, in a night vision,
When we are deeply sleeping,
When we slumber in our beds.
Then God opens up our
understanding,
Teaching us, leaving a divine mark."
The authors present bedtime rituals to help prepare for dreaming; practices for interpreting dreams and responding to nightmares; ways to seek healing through dreams; blessings for dreaming; and practices for linking your dreams to Torah. We appreciated the guidelines for being a dream interpreter. They note that a basic tenet of Jewish dream interepretation is "every dream, even a seemingly horrific one, presents us with the potential to transform it into something good." They also advise that not all parts of a dream will make sense. "As the Talmud teaches, 'There is no dream without elements of nonsense.' "
Finally, here is a blessing to use for a dream that has made your wiser: "Blessed is the Source of all illumination and all wisdom, who guides us in using the knowledge we have required in our dreams for sacred purposes." This book will be of great benefit to those who listen for God's messages in their dreams.
