בס"ד
The Talmud (Brachot 55) spends a number of pages discussing dreams. Its general point of view is that dreams are one sixtieth of prophecy and that a dream that is not interpreted is like a letter that is not opened. Typically a person is shown in his dream only the thoughts of his heart. In addition, even a dream that will be fulfilled contains some element of nonsense.
As an example it brings the story of Yosef who dreamt that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. The stars represent his brothers, the sun his father, and the moon his mother. However, Rachel, his mother, had passed away years ago. Generally though the dream can be interpreted as saying he was being made the leader of the family above any of his brothers, his father, or his father’s other wives. In any case it doesn't fit perfectly. There are other dreams in the Tanach particularly in the book of Daniel. Concerning Yosef, the Gemara points out that it took twenty-two years before it came true.
Some of the signs that a dream will be fulfilled are a dream of the morning, one that is interpreted within a dream, or if it is repeated. If a person wakes up and a specific verse comes to mind, it is considered a minor prophecy. Concerning good and bad dreams the Talmud advises to say “dreams speak falsely” (see Zechariah 10:2) for a bad dream. For a good dream, “I speak with him [a prophet] in a dream”, (see Numbers 12:6) can be said. Other formulas are also brought if a person is confused or distraught. One advises after religious services for a person to assemble three people as an ersatz beit din who will proceed to interpret and change the dream for good. The text can be found in many prayer books.
The Talmud explores the statement, “All dreams go after the mouth”. It starts with the story of Rabbi Bena’a who explained that there were 24 interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem. Once he dreamed a dream and he consulted all of them. Each of them had a different interpretation and all of them came true (see Berakhot 55b).
The Gemara then relates that Bar Haddaya was an interpreter of dreams. For one who gave him a fee, he would interpret the dream favorably, and for one who did not give him a fee, he would interpret the dream unfavorably. There was a series of incidents in which both Abaye and Rava saw an identical dream and they asked bar Haddaya to interpret it. Abaye gave him money and paid his fee, while Rava did not. What follows is a series of dreams with a good and bad interpretation.
Both Abaye and Rava were vintners. In one dream they said to him, “We saw meat on the mouth of barrels”. For Abaye the interpretation was that his wine would be tasty with meat and everyone would buy it. On the other hand he told Rava that his wine would turn to vinegar and everyone would use it to soak their meat. In another dream they saw a pomegranate taking root on the mouth of barrels. To Abaye he said that your business will multiply like a pomegranate has seeds. To Rava he said that your business will spoil like a pomegranate. In the end Rava finds out that these bad things happened to him because the dream follows the interpretation. He then curses bar Haddaya and horrible things happen to him (see Berakhot 56a).
It would seem that dreams tend to enhance the power of suggestion provided they have the ring of truth. In some situations they determine the course of world events through their influence on the metaphysical world as was the case with Yosef. Generally though they reveal what is in a person’s subconscious mind and may provide solutions to life’s difficulties.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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