I Had a Bad Dream: Priestly Blessings Explained on five Levels ברכת כהנים

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Aaron L Raskin’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

At the beginning of the parsha Vayeishev, at the end of the parsha Vayeishev, at the beginning of parshas Mikeitz, we talk about dreams. And so this morning, I would like to dedicate the class to dreams. What should you do if you have a bad dream? The Gemara in Brachot says, on page 55b, Haiman d'chaze cholma v'lo yada machaze, if a person had a dream and they don't know what they dreamt, what should they do? Let them go to the synagogue where the Kohanim are making the priestly blessings, when they are stretching forth their hands, and then their dream will be healed. And the Gemara goes on to say they should say this blessing. Now, this blessing is brought down in the Kodesh Chumash, is brought down in the ArtScroll Chumash, and it's taken from the Gemara nun hei amud beis, 55b. And you are to recite these words, Ribono shel Olam, master of the universe, anishlach, v'chalomosi sh'lach, I am yours, my dreams are yours. May be the will of God that all my dreams should be for good. And then it goes on to say, if my dreams are like Yosef the tzaddik, Joseph, who dreamt that one day he would be the viceroy of Egypt, let it be fulfilled. But v'im tzrichim refuah, but if my dreams need to be healed, refa'eim, you shall heal those dreams. K'Chizkiyahu, Hezekiah, the king of Judah, that was sick. And the prophet told him he would die right there and then. And he prayed to God, he turned to the wall, and he cried. And God gave him 15 more years. He was

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1. 0:00At the beginning of the parsha Vayeishev, at the end of the parsha Vayeishev, at the…
2. 2:49Furthermore, says the Gemara, and we say this again in this prayer. And like in the…
3. 5:27number one, to heal someone from a fatal illness but it also heals those from discomfort…
4. 8:11priestly blessing brings refuah, it brings healing." He told the Rebbe, "But I can't even walk…
5. 11:20removes the toxins of our soul. And this brings about strength and healing. And therefore, when…
6. 14:05cohen, uniting with the Levites, uniting with the Israelites, this brings about the peace for your…
7. 16:43day of Rosh Hashanah, God writes down everything. On Yom Kippur, he seals everything. So, we…
8. 19:55that just like you healed the waters of Marah through Moses and just like you healed…
9. 22:43the Jew who comes in once a year, not at the beginning of Yom Kippur, but…
10. 25:17Another chossid. And they said to the Rebbe, "What should we do? The government is putting…

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