A dream worth millions

Beginner's luck or a prophecy through a dream?

After dreaming that he played the lottery and won, an Israeli man in his mid-60s woke up and decided to purchase the first lottery ticket of his life. The grandfather of four, who lives in Israel's north, saw his dream come true and won that week's jackpot of NIS 12 million ($3.4 million).

“I had a dream and when I woke up I decided to enter in the lottery,” said the man, whose name has not been released. “I knew I was going to fill out a winning ticket; it was clear to me. When I arrived at the ticket booth I had no idea what I was supposed to do until the seller explained the process to me. I began to fill out the boxes and when that became exhausting, I asked for an automated ticket.”

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After spending 47 shekels ($13) on a ticket, the man tucked it away in his diary until the lottery numbers were announced on television on Saturday night. “I wrote down the winning numbers and then began to compare them to the numbers I had chosen,” he said. “I went line after line but no combination was the winning one and I was beginning to give up. Then I saw the last row had the right numbers.”

Despite having dreamed of the moment, the winner said he was overwhelmed. “Even though I was sure I would win, I suddenly could not believe it,” he said. “I went online to double check the winning numbers because I was still hesitant.” He held off on sharing the news with his wife until he called the National Lottery offices the following day to check yet again that he truly had won.

Since this was the man's first time at playing the lottery, when he finally did tell his wife he was met with total bewilderment. “I was shocked,” his wife said. “I asked him, 'Since when do you play the lottery-' I just stared at the ticket in astonishment.” She said her husband told her, “Tomorrow is your birthday and this is your birthday present.”

The couple already know what they plan to do with the winnings.

“We are settled in life and due to lots of hard work we've been able to raise our children in a good and stable home,” the wife said. “We have a house and cars and are not in need of anything. But now we are able to also help our grandchildren and ensure a sound future for them ... It is a fantastic feeling, not needing to worry about them and their future financial situation, and for that we thank God.”

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