Brachot 55 – An uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter

Three things prolong the days and years of a person: spending long time in prayer, at the table, and in a toilet. But we learned that one who prays long comes away with a broken heart!? – That is if he depends on his merit to have his prayer answered, however, if he only asks for mercy, it is good. Why at a table? – Because, if a poor comes along, he can feed him. Why a toilet? – Because it is good for one's health.

A Roman matron said to Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai, “Your radiant face resembles that of the pigbreeders and userers.” He answered, “I swear that both occupations are forbidden to me, but from my home to the study hall there are twenty-four privies, and I check myself in every one of them.”

Rav Chisda said, “An uninterpreted dream is like an unread letter.” He also said, “Neither a positive dream is fulfilled entirely, nor a negative one; in every dream there are false elements, just as there is straw with grain. When one sees a negative dream, its sadness is sufficient, and no more bad things will happen of those foretold in a dream, and for a positive dream – its joy is its own reward.”

When Shmuel saw a bad dream, he would quote from Zechariah, “Dreams speak lies.” When he saw a positive dream, he would say, “But do dreams speak lies? - No! For it is written, 'In a dream I shall speak to him', and this implies that dreams may have true significance.”

Art: Domenico Maggiotto - Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh's Butler and Baker