The Dream - A Message from the World of Truth

The phenomenon of dreams, their causes, and so on, remain a mystery to scientists. Our sages, whose knowledge was not research-based or statistical, but derived from the inner workings of creation, maintained a tradition that a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy. That is, messages from the world of truth are sometimes transmitted through dreams, naturally to those virtuous individuals worthy of them. Each of us dreams, but those worthy have messages and instructions in their dreams according to their value and virtue. Although, in practice, one should not rely solely on a dream, the examples provided here demonstrate the significance and virtue of dreams. Shortly after the passing of our Rabbi (Yechiel Heilperin, author of 'Seder HaDorot'), a peddler set out on his usual route to the small towns in the Minsk district.

It was winter when snow covered the land, making travel very difficult. Suddenly, his wagon stopped, and the donkey strayed off the road and refused to move. When the wagon owner began to look around to understand the matter, he saw that the angel of Hashem, our Rabbi, was standing to his right, wrapped in his burial shroud. Overcome with fear, the man fainted. When he regained consciousness, he heard our Rabbi speaking to him, telling him not to fear and urging him to go to a certain side of the road, where he would find a house with a girl sitting inside in deep distress. He instructed him to knock on her window and tell her that her grandfather had sent him to advise her and her family not to disband. The Rabbi promised to watch over his wagon until the peddler returned, for he had no permission to go there himself. The wagon driver did as instructed.

Upon returning to his wagon, our Rabbi thanked him profusely for fulfilling his request and asked how he might repay him. The peddler requested that when his day came, he wished to be buried next to the Rabbi. Our Rabbi assured him that he would strive to fulfill this desire. The time came for the peddler to pass away, and it was once again a snowy, stormy winter night. However, the members of the burial society adhered to their city's custom that in no circumstance should a deceased be left unburied overnight. Although when they arrived at the cemetery, they found it covered in a blanket of snow so thick that paths and routes could not be discerned, they found a grave plot cleared of snow, as if prepared for this purpose. They buried him in this place and recorded in the burial society's register that so-and-so had passed to the next world on this day, though they did not know the exact location of his burial. Some time later, one of Minsk's scholars passed away, and the dignitaries wished to honor him and bury him next to our Rabbi.

When the burial society members arrived, they found the grave of the peddler next to our Rabbi and sought clarification on this matter. It was confirmed that this was, indeed, the same peddler mentioned earlier. The burial society wanted to move him from his grave and reinter him according to his merit. However, the Rabbi's son prevented them and ordered that the peddler's widow be called. The Rabbi inquired from her about her husband's character, but the widow could not recall any extraordinary virtuous deed he regularly observed. Eventually, she remembered the events of that night. Upon hearing the widow’s account, the Rabbi instructed them not to disturb his grave and noted the incident in the Minsk burial society's memorial book.