15 Q's with Roger Kamenetz
Rodger Kamenetz is an award-winning author whose books include the bestselling “The Jew in the Lotus” and “Stalking Elijah,” which won the National Jewish Book Award. His latest book, “The History of Last Night’s Dream: Discovering the Hidden Path to the Soul,” is a journey into the intellectual and cultural history of dreams, which ultimately leads to truths about our world and ourselves. Kamenetz is a professor of English and religious studies at Louisiana State University.
1. Fifteen Minutes (FM): Why are dreams important?
Rodger Kamenetz (RK): Dreams tell us the truth about our lives and they can deepen their feelings and they can show us the awesome.
2. FM: Is every dream we have significant in some way?
RK: I believe every dream we have is significant. That’s a better bet than dismissing dreams, which we usually do.
3. FM: Your idea of dream interpretation is different from Freud’s. You say that we should identify the “feeling” of our dreams. Once we identify that, then what do we do?
RK: Go deeper. I think dreams open us up to feelings that underlie many of the choices and emotions that govern our everyday lives.
4. FM: Why do some people have the same kind of dreams where they’re falling, or they’re teeth are coming out? Does this link humans together in a basic way?
RK: Absolutely. I ask people form all different walks of life to share their dreams. We find out that we’re much more alike than different. Dreams truly are common human experiences in a very deep way. Often dreams take us to certain scenarios, and if we don’t get idea of what were supposed to do or how we’re supposed to change, the dreams keep reappearing.
5. FM: Do you keep a dream journal? Do you suggest that everyone does?
RK: I keep a laptop dream journal! My handwriting is lousy. Also on Facebook I have a world dream party. It’s the “worlddreamparty” group on Facebook. We need Harvard members.
FM: I’ll try to recruit some.
6. FM: If our dreams affect our waking lives, can we change or manipulate them so that we change our reality? How?
RK: That’s a great question. The dreams change us, but if we try to change our dreams self consciously, we may damage them. So there’s a way to do it, but if I have to change who I am in the dream and when I do that the dreams change and I do too.
7. FM: You say that to really understand dreams we must “stay on the surface and treat the dream as if it were real.” If we do this, then is “reality” really different or more “real” than dreams?
RK: I think it’s real all the way through. Dreams are real and reality is real. The common antonym and the common distinction between dreams and reality is a mistake.
8. FM: You say that since Genesis, we have lost touch with the real image of the dream throughout history. What will happen if religions start to believe in it again?
RK: Think that in dreams we can experience the awesome and the miraculous and we can also find out who we are in essence, and these experiences of essence and miraculous are the ground or fundament of all religious experiences.
9. FM: Your most influential teacher was Marc Bregman, an ex-postman. How did he know so much about dreams?
RK: Through direct experience, and through 35 years of working every day with people’s dreams. He acquired a hands-on experience, and combinded that with a tremendous intuitive gift.
10. FM: What had you thought about dreams before you met Mr. Bregman?
RK: I’ve always been interested. My first book of poetry includes a poem in which my grandfather appears and encourages me to write poetry.
11. FM: Why do you think people are afraid of knowing the truth about dreams?
RK: Because you have to change. You must change your life and dreams are asking us to change. That’s very fearful, we put a lot of work into becoming who we are in the world and even if are not very happy about it, change seems more frightening.
12. FM: You’re a professor of English and religious studies at Louisiana State University. Do you incorporate your theories about dreams into your class curriculum?
RK: Primarily I’ve become a different kind of teacher, teaching same things, creative writing and literature, and religious studies, but I think I’ve become more of a fellow student and less of an authoritarian teacher.
13. FM: What do you think would Freud have to say about your book?
RK: I’m sure he’d love it! [Laughs.] No idea. Freud went alone into this world of dreams and had experiences that are incredibly profound assimilate with ideas...He brought in reason and science of his time, but he left behind his heart and feelings.
14. FM: Your book “The Jew in the Lotus” is credited with helping to start the Kabbalah “trend.” Do you consider yourself a trendsetter because of this?
RK: I think that book crystallized and gathered an audience who may not have known about each other. I think there were other authors who had written about the subject but never gathered that audience. Maybe it was the story [that was] was telling, but something about it clicked.
15. FM: Are you friends with Madonna? She’s a big Kabbalah fan…
RK: She hasn’t called me yet, but I’m waiting. I feel like I should meet her, but [she] hasn’t felt the same way.