עברית
Faith
What Does a Dream About Snakes Mean?
Question
My husband, a truly wonderful man, loves to give of himself and enjoys helping others. He puts on tefillin and is indeed a remarkable fellow who has been working as an independent contractor in a family business with his father and older brother for years. He has been dreaming about snakes for some time now, where he sometimes fights with them and occasionally gets bitten. The dream stays with him all day, giving him a heavy feeling. Please help us interpret this dream that has been recurring for about five years and won't go away! Thank you very much.
Answer
Hello,
I interpret dreams in a positive light, and as our sages taught, dreams about snakes are actually good omens. The Talmud (Berakhot 57a) states: "A snake in a dream indicates that one's livelihood is assured; if it bites, then it is doubled." The fact that your husband and his brother work together for their livelihood in a shared business and that they both fight with the snakes in the dream connects the dream to his business pursuits. He should only be careful not to kill the snakes he sees in the dream, as explained in that Talmudic source.
Nonetheless, if your husband is feeling uneasy, I suggest he go to the synagogue for Shacharit (morning prayers), and while the priests bless with the Priestly Blessing, he should recite this prayer: "Master of the Universe, I am Yours, and my dreams are Yours. I have dreamed a dream but do not know what it is. May it be Your will, Hashem my God and God of my fathers, that all my dreams, both for myself and for all Israel, be for good, whether I dreamt about myself or whether I dreamt about others, and whether others dreamed about me. If they are good, strengthen and empower them, and may they be fulfilled for me and for them like the dreams of Yosef the Righteous; and if they need healing, heal them like Hezekiah King of Judah from his illness, like Miriam the Prophetess from her tzara'at, and like Naaman from his tzara'at, and like the waters of Mara through our teacher Moshe. And just as You turned Bil'am's curse into a blessing, so too, turn all my dreams for good for me and for all Israel, and protect me, and have mercy on me, and be gracious to me. Amen:"
Good luck - Menashe Yisrael
