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Berachos 55b

ברכות נ״ה ע״ב

Berakhot 55b

Learn Berachos 55b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 55b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Dreams: their fulfillment, interpretation, and how to respond to them

Overview

This amud is mostly about dreams. It opens by finishing the proof from יוסף's dream that even a true dream has a part that does not come true. It then counts 22 years before his dream was fulfilled. רב הונא teaches that a good person is not shown good dreams, and the גמרא works out what this means for someone like דוד. Next comes a procedure for making a troubling dream favorable before three people, using three sets of three verses. אמימר, מר זוטרא and רב אשי then share new teachings: a prayer during ברכת כהנים for a forgotten dream, protection from עין הרע, and when to reveal an illness. The amud ends with ideas about which dreams are true and the power of interpretation (כל החלומות הולכים אחר הפה), and with the teaching that dreams come from a person's own thoughts.

Opening lines

וְהַהִיא שַׁעְתָּא אִמֵּיהּ לָא הֲוָת.

And at that time, his mother was no longer alive.

אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי:

Rabbi Levi said:

לְעוֹלָם יְצַפֶּה אָדָם לַחֲלוֹם טוֹב

A person should always anticipate a good dream

עַד עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנָה.

for up to twenty-two years.

The steps (44)

  1. Resolutionיוסף’s mother was no longer alive
  2. StatementKeep expecting a good dream for twenty-two years
  3. ProofThe two verses that begin the calculation
  4. ConclusionThe years add up to twenty-two
  5. StatementGood and bad people are shown different dreams
  6. Proofדוד and אחיתופל illustrate the teaching
  7. ChallengeA verse challenges the earlier teaching about dreams
  8. ResolutionOthers may see the dream instead
  9. ChallengeIs having no dreams a good sign?
  10. ResolutionHe dreams but does not know what he saw
  11. StatementAn initial instruction for someone troubled by a dream
  12. ChallengeWhy seek an interpretation?
  13. ResolutionThe instruction is to make the dream favorable
  14. StatementWhat the dreamer and the three people say
  15. StatementThe three verses about transformation
  16. StatementThe second group: three verses of redemption
  17. StatementThe third group: three verses of peace
  18. StatementThree sages agree to each share something new
  19. StatementA prayer during ברכת כהנים for a forgotten dream
  20. StatementThe prayer continues: heal bad dreams and turn them to good
  21. StatementTiming the ending with the כהנים, and a short backup prayer
  22. StatementProtection from עין הרע when entering a city
  23. ProofA second source: יוסף's descendants are like fish
  24. StatementIf he fears his own evil eye
  25. StatementDo not reveal an illness on the first day
  26. Proofרבא's practice when he got sick
  27. ProofWhy an enemy's joy can help the sick person
  28. Statementשמואל's response to a bad dream
  29. Statementשמואל's response to a good dream
  30. Challengeרבא points out that the two verses contradict
  31. ResolutionAngel dreams are true; demon dreams are false
  32. StatementTwenty-four interpreters, and every reading came true
  33. ProofAll dreams follow the mouth
  34. ChallengeIs 'All Dreams Follow the Mouth' Really a Verse?
  35. ResolutionYes, It Comes From a Verse About יוסף
  36. Statementרבא's Limit: The Interpretation Must Fit the Dream
  37. QuestionHow Did the Baker Know the Interpretation Was Good?
  38. ResponseEach Officer Also Saw the Other's Interpretation
  39. StatementA Verse on Waking Is a Small Prophecy
  40. StatementThree Kinds of Dreams That Come True
  41. StatementSome Add: A Repeated Dream Also Comes True
  42. StatementDreams show only what a person was thinking about
  43. ProofA second verse proving the same idea
  44. ProofProof from experience: no one dreams of impossible things