rabbis in the east (70 to 1000 ce) 283
R. Hisda also said, ‘A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which
is not read.’ R. Hisda also said, ‘Neither a good dream nor a bad dream is
ever wholly fulfilled.’ R. Hisda also said, ‘A bad dream is better than a
good dream.’ R. Hisda also said, ‘The sadness caused by a bad dream is
sufficient for it and the joy which a good dream gives is sufficient for
it.’ ... Ben Dama, the son of R. Ishmael’s sister, asked R. Ishmael, ‘I dreamt
that both my jaws fell out; [what does it mean]?’ – He replied to him, ‘Two
Roman counsellors have made a plot against you, but they have died.’ Bar
Kappara said to Rabbi, ‘I dreamt that my nose fell off.’ He replied to him,
‘Fierce anger has been removed from you.’ He said to him, ‘I dreamt that
both my hands were cut off.’ He replied, ‘You will not require the labour
of your hands.’^24
Rabbinic interest in astrology reflects, even if it did not lead, the
incorporation of astrological notions into worship by the wider Jewish
community at least in Palestine from the fourth to sixth centuries.
Depictions of the signs of the zodiac were a common feature in the dec-
oration of synagogue floors, from the charmingly rustic representation
at Beth Alpha to a more sophisticated version found more recently at
Sepphoris. The ascription of responsibility on the mosaic itself for the
zodiac image at Hammat Tiberias, one of the finest such depictions, to
a donation by a certain Severus from the household of ‘the illustrious
patriarchs’, makes it hard to argue (as archaeologists were initially
inclined to do) that such zodiacs were evidence of a type of Judaism of
which the rabbis disapproved. For the magical practices reflected in the
Babylonian Talmud, confirmation has emerged from Iraq in the form of
thousands of bowls on which magic spells were painted in order to trap
demons and prevent harm to the inhabitants of the houses where they
were placed. The bowls use distinctively Jewish Aramaic terminology
and seem to have operated in exactly the same way as those produced
by contemporary Christians and Zoroastrians. In this respect, at least,
the Jews of Babylonia, including the local rabbis, adopted local customs
in the last centuries before Islam.^25
Such variation in the surrounding cultures may be responsible for the
acknowledgement within rabbinic circles that local practices in some
important areas of Jewish life varied, and that such variety should be
respected and upheld. The Mishnah already recognized the different
betrothal customs of Judaea and Galilee, and laid down a general rule
that ‘in order to prevent conflicts, no one should depart from local cus-
tom.’ A Jew should observe the strict custom of both his place of origin