Dreams

Question

My grandfather, who passed away a few months ago, came to me in a dream and asked me to give him something to eat. He was angry that I’m not giving him anything to eat. This dream recurred three times. The last time, my grandfather sat down at a table and wanted to eat, but he choked on some water. At this moment I woke up crying hysterically. I want to understand what this all means!  

Answer

In our day and age dreams come as a result of what we were thinking during the day, and there is no reason to assign true meaning to them.

But if this dream is bothering you anyway, here is an explanation. When the soul is in the Heavens Above, it needs spiritual food. We, the descendants, can supply the soul with this spiritual nourishment by learning Torah and giving to charity. After a person passes away, he can’t create spiritual sustenance for himself; he is nourished from two sources only: from what he succeeded to do during his lifetime, and from what we, living, and especially his descendants, do for the elevation of his soul.

All this is true whether your dream was true, or not. However, rarely a person does merit to come down from the Heavens and to make a request of his descendants.

Women can learn Pirkei Avos for the ascension of the soul, and to support Torah learners.

May you have blessing and success

 

Source

Tractate Brachos 55b

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