by Rabbi Koval
There are 2 kinds of people in our family: those who remember their dreams in the morning (and can recall every single, bizarre detail) and those who have absolutely no recollection whatsoever. (Those whose gene-pool are Koval-heavy Koval fall into the latter category.)
Last month I went to pay a shiva call for Mrs. Kaplowitz, a Holocaust survivor living in an old, stereotypical house on Warrensville Road. Her son, Rabbi Kaplowitz is a rabbi/teacher family friend of ours. He told me an unbelievable story: over Chanukah, his son (the late Mrs. Kaplowitz's grandson) from New Jersey (an old friend of mine!) came to Cleveland to visit with his family. Before he left, he went to say goodbye to his grandmother. He said his usual, "I'll see you in a few months, Grandma." She replied, "No, not this time. My mother [who had perished in the holocaust] just came to me in a dream and said to me: 'I'm waiting for you.'" She passed away shortly thereafter.
Think about the whole idea of what dreams really are. It's really spooky. I mean, here we are, rational people, who experience irrational experiences every single night. During the day, we know that they are nonsense. But while we're dreaming, we think and feel that they are real. It's literally like entering a new dimension of reality. Every single night! It's surreal. We don't even think about it in those terms because we're so used to the idea.
Jewish mystical sources comment that our Creator intended just that with our dreams: to show us that there is indeed a different, deeper dimension of reality to life. In fact we are reminded of it every single morning. (Especially if you're the dream-remembering type!) This way, it's easier for us to get out of our rational head-space, our intellectually grounded belief/feeling that there's only one dimension of reality: our physical reality. Dreams teach and remind us that other dimensions of reality also exist. This way it's not that much of a leap of faith to believe in a spiritual dimension of reality as well!
Think about that...
Do you remember your dreams? Do you attach any significance to them? Do you feel/believe that our dreams contain messages for us to decipher, or are they too in the "random" category? Hit reply to share your thoughts with me.
