A major theme of this week’s Torah portion is dreams. At the beginning of the portion, Jacob is escaping his brother Esau. On the way, he falls asleep and dreams of angels going up and down. God also speaks to him, telling Jacob that He will always be with him.
Later on in the portion, Jacob is in his father in law Laban’s house, and is tending his flock. He and Laban are deciding what sheep Jacob will keep. Laban eventually changes Jacob’s salary many times and tries to trick him in other ways as well. One night, Jacob has a dream seeing ringed, spotted, and flecked sheep. These are the sheep Jacob is supposed to receive. But he also sees an angel, who tells him to return to his homeland.
The Hasidic master R. Tsadok Hakohein of Lublin writes (shortly before Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams) that dreams are a reflection of the unconscious. That being the case, they reveal the true state of our hearts better than our outward consciousness. For example, R. Tsadok writes, a person may be very religious, but if he dreams about things that are improper, it shows that his unconscious must still be developed.
R. Tsadok explains that Jacob’s dreams show us how righteous he is. Even Jacob’s dreams reflect his devotion and attachment to God.
A major theme of this week’s Torah portion is dreams. At the beginning of the portion, Jacob is escaping his brother Esau. On the way, he falls asleep and dreams of angels going up and down. God also speaks to him, telling Jacob that He will always be with him.