Sefer Yetzirah, one of the most ancient of all Kabbalistic texts, assigns a “sense” to each of the months. The five bodily senses are joined by seven others. The “sense” of the month of Kislev is sleep.[1] Since Kislev is the month usually nearest to the winter solstice (December 21), its nights are some of the longest in the year, making the sense of sleep very appropriate. But by sleep, Sefer Yetzirah is not referring just to the literal act of sleeping. One of the deeper meanings is that sleep refers to a sense of calmness, an important attribute in serving God. In the introduction to the Tanya, the classic text of Chasidut, it is written that the purpose of the book, and of Chasidut in general, is to come to an inner state of calm. Another explanation of the sense of sleep is that it refers to a sense of dreaming. Although almost all people dream, not everyone has a “sense” of dreaming.
In the Five Books of Moses, there are ten incidents where dreams play a significant role. All ten dreams occur in the book of Genesis. Many of these are among the most famous and beloved of all Biblical “stories.” Dreams continued to play a major role in the lives of the judges, kings and prophets, and are recorded in the books of the Prophets and the Writings.
The main themes underlying all the dreams of Genesis are the notion of dreams being either a channel of Divine inspiration and prophesy, or as the means through which Divine messages or signs are transmitted to the dreamer. There is no doubt that the main thrust of Biblical dreams is prophetic in nature or the instrument of Divine intervention.
A beautiful allusion to the connection between dreams and prophesy is seen in the following numerical correspondence. In the Book of Genesis, there are 48 words whose root stems from the root of “dream” (חלמ) and another 7 words in the other four books of the Pentateuch. These numbers correspond exactly to the statement in the Talmud that there are forty-eight male prophets and seven female prophetesses among the Jews whose prophecies were written in the Bible.[2] This numerical correspondence alludes strongly to an essential connection between dreams and prophetic states of consciousness. The Talmud in fact states that dreams are considered one part in sixty of prophesy.[3] This means that even ordinary people at times may experience an glimmer of prophecy in a dream.
It is important to note that although each calendar year is different, the variations in the first three months are minor, and therefore in almost every year, the Torah portions read during Kislev include almost all ten dreams mentioned in the Pentateuch.[4] These include two dreams of Jacob, two dreams of Joseph, the dreams of the butler and baker that Joseph correctly interpreted, as well as the two dreams of Pharaoh, which Joseph also interpreted correctly, leading him to be appointed as the viceroy of Egypt. In the very month where the sense of dreaming is dominant we read almost all the dreams of Genesis! This obviously strengthens the idea that the sense of Kislev is dreaming.
Yet, despite the fact that the ten dreams of Genesis are all prophetic in nature, the Talmud surprisingly explains that there are many types of dreams and most are far from being prophetic. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani in the name of Rabbi Yonatan questions the entire concept of dreams being prophetic by stating that a dream is nothing more than a product of the dreamer’s own thoughts. Rav Chisda said: “A positive dream is not fulfilled in its entirety, nor is a negative dream fulfilled in its entirety.”[5] In other words, even a dream that is fulfilled has some extraneous non-sensical elements. Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, that just as it is impossible to have wheat without some chaff mixed in it, so too it is impossible to have a dream without some senseless matters mixed in.[6] In fact, an opinion is presented based on a verse in Zechariah that “Dreams speak lies,”[7] thus one should not pay all that much attention to dreams in general. When the sage Shmuel would have a negative dream, he would recite that verse.
In order to understand our dreams, we must realize that they are mirror images of our own conscious, unconscious and subconscious thought, and our imagination, be it rectified through the study of the Torah’s homiletic part of distorted by non-Torah media. The word for imagination in Hebrew is dimyon (דִּמְיוֹן). The last three letters spell Yavan (יָוָן), the name for Greece, whereas the first two letters spell dam, (דָּם), meaning blood, associated with the body and the lowest level of soul, the nefesh.
The battle between Greek culture (Hellenism) and Israel is commemorated on Chanukah, whose first 5 or 6 days are in the month of Kislev. This was more than merely a military battle. It was a confrontation between civilizations with contradictory world views, philosophies, and lifestyle. The Greek mindset, based on physicality, nature, and the glorification of the body fed into an egocentric sense of imagination—dam Yavan.[8]
It is significant that the word for logic in Hebrew is higayon (הִגָּיוֹן), where again the last three letters are Yavan, i.e. “Greece.” The value of the first two letters—hei and gimel—is 8. Greek logic was based on rationality including the tenet that, “if you can see it, it is real; if not, it does not exist.” Jewish logic also believes in rationality, but the number 8 found in the Hebrew word for logical symbolizes that which is beyond our senses. It points to a higher source for logic, because the number 8 in Judaism symbolizes that which is above the natural world, which is symbolized by the number 7. In an ironic twist, it seems that in the past hundred years or so, science, once the flag-bearer of quantifiable, rational thought, has now become the epitome of counter-logic and paradox following the quantum revolution.
The Dreaming and Healing Stone
Another connection between the month of Kislev and dreams is seen in the twelve gem stones that appeared on the breastplate of the High Priest. Kislev is the ninth month of the year and the corresponding ninth stone is called “amethyst” (אַחְלָמָה), which shares the same root as “to dream” (לַחֲלֹם) and “to heal” (לְהַחֲלִים).[9] To deepen this connection, we need to explain in short, a basic foundation of the Hebrew language.
Words in Hebrew have three-letter roots, of which two are known as the gate (or two-letter root).[10] In “dream” (חֲלוֹם), the two essential letters are the chet and the lamed (חל). Word roots in Hebrew usually have many meanings, and this one, like many others, paradoxically, contains opposite meanings. The letters Ch-l are the root of the word “sick,” choleh (חוֹלֶה), “disease,” machalah (מַחֲלָה), as well as “weakness,” chalash (חַלָּשׁ). Yet, the same letters are the two-letter root of “strength,” chayil (חַיִל) or “soldier,” chayal (חַיָּל). Eishet chayil, which means “a woman of valor” or “a woman of prowess,” are the first two words of a section of Proverbs, traditionally sung by husbands to their wives every Shabbat eve.[11] In Aramaic, a language closely associated with Hebrew, the two-letter root chet–lamed means both bitter and sweet. Paradoxically, as we saw, in Hebrew it is the root of both sickness and healing, as well as of “to dream” and the gem stone “amethyst.”[12]
These same ideas apply to dreams. Dreams are like formless “raw material.” In fact, the Hebrew word for “dream” (חֲלוֹם) can be seen as a notarikon, or shorthand, for “raw material” (חֹמֶר גֶּלֶם). What this means is that how we shape the raw material of a dream will determine its positive or negative effect on us. A dream can drag us down to the depths of fear and despair or lift us up to the very heavens. The paradoxical nature of dreams is that they contain both the roots of sickness and health, weakness and strength, bitterness and sweetness. When we rectify our imagination, it clarifies our dreams which then strengthens and heals body and soul.
The Rebbe Rayatz, the sixth Chabad Rebbe, stated that if during the day a person is involved in Torah and mitzvot, he or she will be able to receive innovative ideas when dreaming. His statement is based on the above discussions that most dreams are a product of what we are thinking and doing during the day.[13]
Chanukah is the holiday of pure olive oil through which a miracle occurred. The contents of one cruse of oil that were enough for just one day burned for eight days. Pure oil in Jewish tradition represents the inner dimensions of the Torah. It is particularly through learning these secrets that the imagination is purified leading to rectified dreams.[14]
[1]. Sefer Yetzirah 5:9.
[2]. Megillah 48a.
[3]. Berachot 57b.
[4]. See Wonders issue 131 for a partzuf (model) of the ten dreams and more insights into this topic.
[5]. Berachot 55a
[6]. Ibid.
[7]. Zechariah 10:2.
[8]. Mivchar Shi’urei Hitbonenut, vol. 10, “Chodesh Kislev.”
[9]. Exodus 28:19
[10]. The three-letter root grammar has been used since about the 11th century. The two-letter root grammar was used by the rabbinic sages before then and remains the foundation of Sefer Yetzirah, the first book of Hebrew grammar and of Kabbalah.
[11]. Proverbs 31:10
[12]. See also Body, Mind and Soul, pp 127-131.
[13]. Mivchar Shi’urei Hitbonenut, vol. 10, “Chodesh Kislev.”
[14]. Ibid.
