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ShareShe thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out
"She's laughing up at us from hell!"
— Taylor Swift, 'Anti-Hero', Midnights (2022)
ואמר רב חסדא: חלמא דלא מפשר כאגרתא דלא מקריא.
And Rav Ḥisda said: A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read.
This means that if a dream is not interpreted it cannot be fulfilled.
What is the purpose of interpreting dreams?
ואמר רב חסדא: לא חלמא טבא מקיים כוליה ולא חלמא בישא מקיים כוליה
And Rav Ḥisda said: A good dream is not entirely fulfilled and a bad dream is not entirely fulfilled.
Not all of a dream has to come true, whether it is good or bad (but if it's good, it could come true up to 22 years later!)
Do you think dreams can come true? Both good and bad?
ואמר רב חסדא: חלמא בישא עדיף מחלמא טבא.
And Rav Ḥisda said: A bad dream is preferable to a good dream.
A bad dream is seen as better than a good dream, because a bad dream causes you to feel remorse for all your mistakes and repent.
Is this dream a good dream or a bad dream? Does the earlier lyric 'I wake up screaming from dreaming' affect how you understand this dream?
Rav Huna said: A good person is not shown a good dream and a wicked person is not shown a bad dream
If this is a bad dream, does that mean the persona in the song is a good person?
Taylor Swift says the song is about her insecurities, and needing to come to terms with the parts of herself she doesn't like. What do you think our dreams say about ourselves?
אמר רב הונא בר אמי אמר רבי פדת אמר רבי יוחנן: הרואה חלום ונפשו עגומה, ילך ויפתרנו בפני שלשה. ״יפתרנו״?! והאמר רב חסדא חלמא דלא מפשר כאגרתא דלא מקריא?
אלא אימא: יטיבנו בפני שלשה. ליתי תלתא ולימא להו: ״חלמא טבא חזאי״. ולימרו ליה הנך: ״טבא הוא וטבא ליהוי, רחמנא לשוייה לטב. שבע זימנין לגזרו עלך מן שמיא דלהוי טבא, ויהוי טבא״. ולימרו שלש הפוכות, ושלש פדויות, ושלש שלומות.
Rav Huna bar Ami said that Rabbi Pedat said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who sees a dream from which his soul is distraught, should go and have it interpreted before three. The Gemara is surprised by this: Interpreted? Didn’t Rav Ḥisda say: A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read?
Rather, say as follows: He should better it before three. He should bring three people and say to them: I saw a good dream. And they should say to him: It is good, and let it be good, may God make it good. May they decree upon you from heaven seven times that it will be good, and it will be good. Afterwards they recite three verses of transformation from bad to good, three verses of redemption, and three verses which mention peace.
If you have what feels like a bad dream, you can make it a good dream by following this procedure.
Have you ever managed to turn bad dream into a good dream?
The Gemara lists many of these, for example:
If you dream about a river, a bird or a pot, it symbolises peace (same with wheat);
If you dream about one goat, your year will be blessed; if you dream about multiple goats, your years will be blessed;
If you poo in a dream it is a good omen; as is shaving your head.
In all of the many strange examples they give, neither being killed (by your daughter-in-law) or anything about money. What do you think these could symbolise? Remember, the rabbis tried to understand everything in a positive light!