Finding Peace Through Dreams: How Shabbos Chazon Revealed My Path to Forgiveness and Growth by Solomon (Shlomo) Berezin, Transformational Nutrition Coach (CTNC)

On the Shabbos before Tisha B’av, every Jew has a vision of the Beis Hamikdash haShlishi, the Third Temple that will be built by G-d.

I don’t know about you, but I did not have a dream of the Temple. However, I did have a dream Shabbos night with very rich information. Seemingly, I was back in high school, there was a football field, then I walking through a locker room seeing many basketball teammates and my coach.

This dream revealed what I needed to work on in myself: to have shalom bayis, or peace in the home, with basketball, by forgiving myself and certain people in my past whom I felt hurt and betrayed by. In other words, I needed to revisit certain basketball experiences, be at peace with what happened, and rewrite the subconscious story around them. Ultimately, I had to let go of the pain and remorse, keeping the memories without the emotions holding me back from moving forward.

There's a great quote I once heard from Dr. Joe Dispenza: "When the thought of the problem [in this case, experiences with basketball] creates the emotion of freedom, you're living in the future instead of the past." When we can change the thoughts and feelings we have around the people, places, and things in our life, we return energy to ourselves to invest in a greater future.

To explain this concept further, it’s important to start with the well-known idea, “where you place your attention is where you place your energy.” Throughout the day, a person focuses on the things they have to do, the people they will see, the objects they own, and so on. If the person continues thinking and feeling the same way about those known things, they will keep reaffirming the same life, essentially re-creating the past. When a person’s attention is placed externally and they keep reacting the same way, it causes their inner world to become unbalanced. Therefore, it is important to be at peace with our past so that we no longer live by the emotions of the past.

Forgiveness

Forgiving others isn't about them; it’s an internal process. It’s about letting go of pain, resentment, anger, and frustration tied to past events. Forgiveness frees you from the emotional chains of the past, allowing you to move forward unburdened.

Reflecting on my dream, I realized it was in fact the Beis Hamikdash. It showed me how to be a Beis Hamikdash, a sanctified house, for G-d. As it says in Exodus 25:8, “Ve'asu li mikdash veshachanti betocham (וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם),” Make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell within them. Grammatically, the verse should conclude “betocho,” it. Chassidus explains that this brings out the purpose of creation. G-d wants a dwelling place in this material world and within each of us, meaning we should be aligned with our souls.

Everybody is shown a vision of the Temple. It’s only that the vision may get filtered down into a certain manifestation for each individual. It’s up to each one of us to decipher the wisdom from our subconscious mind, which can lead us to, G-dwilling, an unfiltered, clear, physical view of the Temple, and not in a dream.

Dreams in Judaism

Judaism offers deep insights into dreams. The Gemara in Berachot 55b teaches that the meaning of a dream depends on its interpretation. Dreams can provide valuable information, and many have received profound ideas through them. For example, Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, had a dream in 1845 that inspired him to create the lock-stitch sewing machine.

Jim Kwik, author of Limitless, shares in How to Remember Your Dreams, that we dream on average 4-7 dreams a night, about 1-2 hours, 6 years dreaming! He explains that, “while we sleep our subconscious minds continue to work on problems that our unconscious minds failed to solve.” Often, the answers come to us after we "sleep on it." It’s also recorded that Rabbis in the Gemara would ask a question before bed and receive the answer in a dream.

When I chose to meditate on forgiving people and situations from my past, particularly those related to basketball, I felt the release of old pain and the return of energy. Instead of being tied to the past, this energy was now free to propel me toward a brighter future. As I forgave, it felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders, leading to clarity and inspired action towards my goals.

I encourage you to pay attention to your dreams, journal them, listen to the class by Jim Kwik, and explore their meanings. Whether they offer guidance on how to heal from the past or suggest new directions for your life, remember to interpret them positively and act on their insights.

Questions to Ponder:

What are you dreaming about?
Where are you placing your attention and energy?
Whom or what in your past do you need to forgive? Try this meditation on Forgiveness by Guided Jewish Meditations.