עברית
Faith
Dreaming of a Teething Baby
Question
A friend asked me a question, and I am unsure how to respond. My 8-month-old son is about to get his first tooth. I dreamed that I woke up with him in the morning and saw that he had suddenly sprouted about 8 teeth. Of course, I was excited and took pictures to send to the whole family on WhatsApp. Beyond that, I don't remember more. Please interpret this.
Answer
To the questioner,
Apologies for the delay in response.
It is possible that dreams are influenced by the thoughts a person had during the day (or even thoughts that occur in the subconscious, of which the person is unaware, that manifest as ideas in dreams at night), as the Mishnah Berurah wrote in Section 244 (Sha'ar HaTziyun, Subsection 1) regarding the sorrow a person feels during the day, which may subsequently appear in their dreams at night.
Therefore, it can be said to the friend that she was likely thinking about the tooth coming in the day before the dream, and that feeling emerged through the dream. And although he is meant to receive only one tooth, with Hashem's help, and she dreamed of eight, this is merely a strong expression of her feelings concerning the matter, which sometimes manifests in dreams as an exaggerated number, even though the image or number is not exact (and this falls under what our sages said: there is no dream without meaningless matters (Berakhot 55b).
Therefore, it is best to tell the friend that she should not worry about the dream and that she should merit to see joy from her son.
Best regards,
Rabbi Nachum
