Halachos of the Night: Learning, Sleep, and Tehillim

Topics

• The Night Determines the Morning
• The Night Was Created for Torah
• How Much Sleep Does a Person Need?
• A Missed Learning Commitment Must Be Repaid
• We Sleep at Night, but the Night Is Not for Sleep
• Learning Chumash at Night
• Mikra with a Peirush
• Tehillim Before and After Chatzos
• Shabbos and Yom Tov
• The Principle Behind the Details
• Children and Tehillim at Night
• Special Nighttime Customs
• Kriyas Shema al Hamitah and Hamapil
• Do Not Interrupt Between Hamapil and Sleep Without a Need
• The Test of Laziness
• Which Comes First: Shema or Hamapil?
• Hamapil After Chatzos
• What Is the Brachah of Hamapil?
• Torah and Sleep
• Kibbud Av Va’Em and Other Obligations
• The Lost Meaning of Bedtime
• Teaching Children Kriyas Shema al Hamitah
• Women and Hamapil
• Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Pesach Night
• Sleeping Alone
• The Night as an Avodah

Transcript

## The Night Determines the Morning

The *baalei mussar* would say: “The way a person goes to sleep is the way he gets up.” When the morning minyan is weak, one must first examine the previous night. What was he doing? How late was he occupied? How did he prepare himself to begin the next day?

A person may object to the very idea of a curfew: “I am not a child. Why should anyone tell me when to go to sleep?” But halacha does direct the structure of the night. It teaches what the night is for, how sleep should be approached, and how a Jew prepares himself for the following morning.

## The Night Was Created for Torah

The night is designated especially for Torah learning. It is not meant to be consumed by elaborate outings, endless socializing, idle conversations, and hours spent on a telephone without purpose. Those things may occupy the night, but they do not fulfill its purpose.

The Rambam writes that although the mitzvah of Torah study applies by day and by night, a person acquires much of his wisdom at night. He therefore warns that one must be especially careful not to waste those hours (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:13). Chazal likewise emphasize the special relationship between nighttime and learning (Eruvin 65a).

This is the basic halacha: a person is obligated to learn at night. The night is not merely the empty space between one day and the next. It is a time created for *avodas Hashem* through Torah.

## How Much Sleep Does a Person Need?

How long, then, should a person sleep? There is familiar guidance in the Rambam concerning healthy sleep (Hilchos De’os 4:4), but one must not turn a general guideline into an identical requirement for every individual. There is no single amount that fits every person. One person needs more sleep; another functions properly with less.

Nevertheless, the proper tendency is not always to assume, “Perhaps I need more.” A person should honestly ask whether he may require less. Sleep is not an independent goal. It recharges the body so that the person can serve Hashem, learn, daven, and function properly.

There were *bachurim* who became excited when a long Shabbos afternoon offered the possibility of sleeping for many hours. But sleep cannot become the aspiration of the day. We sleep because the body requires renewal. We do not live in order to sleep.

## A Missed Learning Commitment Must Be Repaid

When a person establishes a daily learning goal and cannot complete it during the day, he should make it up that night immediately. He should not dismiss the obligation by saying, “At least I learned something today.” If he committed himself to a particular hour, *seder*, or amount of learning, he should complete what he accepted.

A positive practice that a person repeatedly observes can acquire the force of a *neder* when it was not undertaken explicitly *bli neder* (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 214:1). How that principle applies to a program such as Daf Yomi requires thought. A person may begin Daf Yomi with the understood recognition that an occasional day could be missed. That may affect whether every missed daf is technically treated as a violation of a *neder*. But regardless of the precise *neder* question, a person should not use uncertainty as an excuse. He should finish what he intended to learn.

The instruction is to complete it at night *miyad*—immediately. Once a person says, “I will do it tomorrow,” tomorrow easily becomes never. The Mishnah warns, “Do not say, ‘When I have free time, I will learn,’ for perhaps you will never have free time” (Avos 2:4).

Before beginning a long supper, answering every message, or becoming occupied by nighttime distractions, first repay the Torah that was missed.

## We Sleep at Night, but the Night Is Not for Sleep

The central point is simple: night is associated with Torah. Certainly, we sleep at night. But there is a difference between saying that we sleep at night and saying that the night exists for sleep.

A person should sleep as much as he genuinely needs, not automatically as much as he is capable of sleeping. Too much sleep can itself leave a person tired and weakened. The purpose is to awaken able to learn and serve Hashem.

## Learning Chumash at Night

This leads to a separate question: may one learn Chumash or recite *pesukim* at night? This is a significant subject involving halacha and Kabbalistic practice. The discussion cannot be reduced to a slogan. Among the practical distinctions mentioned is learning *Mikra* together with Rashi or another *peirush*, which is treated differently from merely reciting the *pesukim*.

The essential lesson is that nighttime learning should be planned wisely. One should not wait until the night arrives and then discover that he has no *seder* and no direction.

## Mikra with a Peirush

The restriction concerning *Mikra* at night is not absolute in every circumstance. Learning Chumash together with Rashi is treated more leniently because the person is not merely reciting *pesukim*; he is engaged in explanation and Torah shebe’al peh as well.

There are also discussions concerning whether the custom differs for an individual and a congregation. These distinctions are complex and must be learned from an authoritative halachic source. They should not be reconstructed casually from isolated statements.

## Tehillim Before and After Chatzos

Another practical distinction concerns Tehillim. The shiur presented the practice that after *chatzos halaylah*, one may recite Tehillim even simply as *pesukim*. Before *chatzos*, the issue is treated more cautiously according to the Kabbalistic practice being discussed.

Nevertheless, halacha must be applied with judgment. A person who knows only Chumash should not be told to spend the night on his telephone rather than learn. It would be absurd to protect him from one spiritual concern by directing him toward something far more damaging. If his realistic choice is between learning *Mikra* and wasting the night, let him learn.

The same principle applies when Tehillim is being recited for a sick person. Where the need cannot wait, or where children are the ones saying the Tehillim and cannot remain awake until *chatzos*, the shiur advised allowing them to recite it. The tefillah of children is pure, and one should not prevent their tefillah for a person in distress merely because the ideal time has not arrived.

## Shabbos and Yom Tov

Shabbos and Yom Tov are also treated differently in this discussion. Friday night may be used to complete learning or to recite Tehillim according to the practice presented. Similarly, one who must complete *Shnayim Mikra* may do so Friday night when necessary, especially when learning the *pesukim* together with a *peirush*.

A related question arises before Simchas Torah, when the time available for completing the *parshah* can be limited. Here too, one should preferably arrange the learning earlier. But where that was not possible, the practical goal remains to complete the obligation rather than abandon it.

## The Principle Behind the Details

These matters contain deep Kabbalistic concepts, but one need not master every hidden reason in order to understand the practical balance. Night has its own spiritual character. Certain practices are preferred after *chatzos*, while other circumstances justify greater leniency.

The guiding principle is not to use a spiritual stringency as an excuse to stop learning. A *chumrah* that sends a person away from Torah and into emptiness has misunderstood the purpose of the halacha.

## Children and Tehillim at Night

Children should be trained to respect proper nighttime practice. One should not dismiss every concern by saying, “He is only a child.” *Chinuch* means introducing a child to the form that his *avodas Hashem* should eventually take.

At the same time, *chinuch* requires judgment. If children gather to say Tehillim for a sick person, they cannot reasonably be kept awake until after *chatzos*. In such a case, let them say Tehillim before going to sleep. Their words are said with purity, and one should not prevent their tefillah for someone in distress.

The point is not fear. The point is to recognize that the night has a spiritual order while applying that order with *seichel*.

## Special Nighttime Customs

Some communities avoid ordinary Torah learning on the night known as Nittel. That custom has its own background and belongs to a separate discussion. It does not change the general rule that the Jewish night is devoted to Torah.

There are also exceptional occasions when *pesukim* or Torah readings are recited at night as part of established communal practice. An established *minhag*, especially in the context of Yom Tov or public *avodah*, cannot be judged as though it were a person casually disregarding the preferred nighttime order.

## Kriyas Shema al Hamitah and Hamapil

Before sleeping, a person recites *Kriyas Shema al hamitah* and the brachah of *Hamapil*. The Gemara records *Hamapil* among the brachos associated with going to sleep (Berachos 60b), and the nighttime order is codified in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 239).

The shiur distinguished between going to sleep before *chatzos* and going to sleep afterward. According to the practice presented, one who slept before *chatzos* recited *Hamapil* with *Shem u’Malchus*. A later report was mentioned that this ruling may have been clarified or changed. That uncertainty matters: an outdated oral report must not be turned into settled halacha. The exact practice should be verified with one’s *posek*.

A Jew should learn the halachos of the night accurately. They are part of the ordered way he closes his day and places himself in Hashem’s hands.

## Do Not Interrupt Between Hamapil and Sleep Without a Need

A person should try not to speak between *Hamapil* and going to sleep. The purpose is to place the brachah as close as reasonably possible to sleep. Nevertheless, if he spoke, the brachah does not retroactively become a *brachah levatalah*. He should simply return to the proper nighttime order.

Necessary speech is different from idle speech. If a person becomes genuinely thirsty after reciting *Hamapil*, he may drink and recite the appropriate brachah. If someone needs his help, a child is crying, or an important matter arises, he may speak. Halacha does not demand that a person ignore an obligation or another person’s need merely to preserve silence.

The goal is to eliminate unnecessary interruption. One should not recite *Hamapil* and then resume an evening of food, drinks, telephone calls, and entertainment. *Hamapil* belongs at the point when the day is ending.

## The Test of Laziness

A story was told about Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz. During the night, he got out of bed, filled a cup with water, poured it out, and returned to bed without drinking. He explained that he had been uncertain whether he truly was not thirsty or whether he was merely too lazy to get up. He therefore rose from bed to ensure that laziness was not making the decision for him.

That is how a person who learns *mussar* examines himself. The issue was not the water. The issue was whether comfort had quietly taken control.

At the same time, the lesson should not be distorted. If a person is not thirsty, there is no reason to create an interruption after *Hamapil*. But if he genuinely needs something, halacha allows him to take care of the need.

## Which Comes First: Shema or Hamapil?

There are differing customs concerning the order of *Kriyas Shema al hamitah* and *Hamapil*. One approach places *Kriyas Shema* first and *Hamapil* afterward, allowing the brachah to remain closest to sleep. Other siddurim and communities place *Hamapil* earlier within the full nighttime order.

A person should follow the established practice of his community or the ruling of his *posek*. The deeper point remains the same: *Kriyas Shema al hamitah* is not another text to rush through. It is the closing *avodah* of the day.

## Hamapil After Chatzos

The shiur presented a practice that one who goes to sleep after *chatzos* does not recite *Hamapil* with *Shem u’Malchus*. Instead, it is preferable to say the text as a tefillah and supplication without the full form of the brachah. Certainly, when a person goes to sleep very near morning, the same concern applies.

This ruling was transmitted in the shiur as a particular practical approach. Because customs and contemporary rulings differ, the exact practice must be confirmed with one’s *posek* rather than generalized from the oral presentation.

## What Is the Brachah of Hamapil?

A question was raised: how can a person make a brachah concerning sleep when he does not control whether he will actually fall asleep?

The answer is that *Hamapil* is not a brachah on the accomplished act of sleeping. It marks the moment when the person has finished his day and places himself in Hashem’s hands. He is saying: I have reached the point of sleep; I now entrust myself to You.

This is why *Hamapil* belongs to the transition into sleep. It is not recited in the afternoon simply because a person may nap, nor is it recited whenever something happens to make him drowsy. It belongs to the ordered conclusion of the night described by Chazal (Berachos 60b; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 239).

## Torah and Sleep

There is an old observation that the *yetzer hara* is sometimes willing to let a person sleep as soon as he opens a sefer. The moment Torah begins, exhaustion suddenly arrives. A person must recognize the tactic. Torah can calm the mind, but it must not become merely an instrument for falling asleep.

## Kibbud Av Va’Em and Other Obligations

If a father or mother asks for something after a person has said *Hamapil*, he should answer and fulfill the obligation of *kibbud av va’em*. Silence after *Hamapil* does not override a mitzvah or a genuine responsibility.

A person also does not have to wait until his eyes are literally closing before reciting the brachah. Once he has gone to bed and genuinely intends to sleep, he has reached the proper time. But if he plans to remain awake reading, watching, or communicating for a long period, he has not yet entered “sleep time” and should not recite *Hamapil* prematurely.

## The Lost Meaning of Bedtime

Modern life has blurred the meaning of going to bed. A person can enter his bed and then remain active for another hour. In a normal order, going to bed meant that the day was over and the next activity was sleep.

That is the meaning carried by *Hamapil*: stop, become quiet, conclude the day, and place yourself before Hashem.

## Teaching Children Kriyas Shema al Hamitah

Children should be trained to recite *Kriyas Shema al hamitah*. At minimum, they should learn the first parshah of Shema and the basic bedtime order. *Chinuch* begins by making the close of the day itself an act of *avodas Hashem*.

## Women and Hamapil

The shiur noted differing customs concerning women reciting the full bedtime order and *Hamapil*. Where girls were taught in Beis Yaakov to recite *Hamapil*, they should continue according to that established practice. This is another area in which family and communal *minhag* should be respected rather than replaced by a casual universal rule.

## Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Pesach Night

*Kriyas Shema al hamitah* is recited on Shabbos and Yom Tov as well. Pesach night has a distinct practice because it is *leil shimurim*, a night of special protection (Shemos 12:42). The Rema records a shortened bedtime order for that night (Orach Chaim 481:2). A person should follow the wording and custom found in his siddur and community.

The prayer in which a person forgives those who wronged him also carries value on Shabbos. Forgiving another Jew is not the same as reciting Tachanun or dwelling upon aveiros. A person can release resentment even on a day of joy and holiness.

## Sleeping Alone

Chazal warn against sleeping alone in a house (Shabbos 151b). The shiur discussed practical distinctions between an isolated house and a residence situated within an inhabited city or shared building. It also cited a stricter view that treats sleeping alone at night with greater caution even in an ordinary residence.

Where a person has no choice and must remain alone, the shiur advised leaving a light on in the room. The precise application of these rules depends upon the house, its location, the presence of others in the building, and the accepted ruling of one’s *posek*.

## The Night as an Avodah

These halachos are not a collection of disconnected details. Together they teach that the night has a Jewish form.

A Jew learns before sleeping. He completes what he failed to learn during the day. He limits unnecessary distraction. He says Shema, forgives others, recites *Hamapil*, and entrusts himself to Hashem. Even sleep becomes part of *avodas Hashem* when it is approached with order, purpose, and awareness.