Literature review 3: Insights from the “Dream Book” of the Babylonian Talmud

 


Citation: Kramer, M. Insights from the “Dream Book” of the Babylonian Talmud [200–500 ce]. Sleep Vigilance 2, 79–85 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41782-017-0012-y

Summary: The Babylonian Talmud (also just called "The Talmud") is a central Jewish text. Part of it is the oral tradition of the Old Testament written down, and the other part is commentary and opinions from many rabbis. "The Dream Book" is an extensive review of all the dreams discussed in The Talmud and the various opinions given on them. There is comparison to Freudian dream theory. Where Freud focuses on dreams representing the past, The Talmud indicates that dreams represent the future, and must be interpreted as such. Regardless, not all the rabbis agree with that, and many still agree with Freud's version of dream interpretation. There are many mentions of symbolism and what certain objects represent in dreams. There is a discussion about good vs bad dreams, and a part which focuses on sexual dreams. 

Author: Milton Kramer is retired from being a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati. He has written and edited over 450 works, several of them books on dreams. 

Key Terms: Babylonian Talmud, Dream Interpretation

Quotes: "The Talmudic dream is prophetic in nature so it is future oriented while the Freudian dream is past oriented toward childhood." (Abstract, line 2-3)

"And Rabbi Yohanan concludes: “Every dream becomes valid only by its interpretation”." (The Dream of the ‘Cracked Granary,’ last line)

"R. Samuel b Nahamani said in the name of R. Jonathan: ‘A man is shown in a dream only what is suggested by his own thoughts." (Only Dream About What is on Your Mind, line 1)

Value: This article has many examples of dream interpretation in Judaism. A lot of the opinions are compared to Freud. There is also a table of every dream that is written in the Old Testament that will likely come in handy. This will be a good source to use in my paper when I compare different Jewish classes of thought on dreaming and how they may have influenced Freud's theories. 




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