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a person’s wakefulness and focus. If a person sleeps little but with If this is the case, why do we need to sleep? For people like
the proper quality (as we will learn), the next day he will be alert us, sleep is an unfortunate necessity, a species of punishment, and
and attentive, and his mind will be clear and sharp. But if a person we need to learn how to approach it in the proper fashion. But
sleeps a lot, loves to sleep and sleeps so deeply that he finds it hard why then do great tzaddikim sleep? The sleep of the tzaddikim
to wake up, he will be drowsy and tired the entire day. His mind involves secrets and rectifications. At the time of sleep, they cling
will be fatigued and enervated, and he will not reach clarity about to Hashem and rectify matters in accordance with the decree of His
anything. That is literally so in the simple sense. A person who tries wisdom. But to say that sleep gives energy is falsehood and heresy.
this will see this in actuality: when he has little sleep and he feels a Only Hashem gives energy.
little tired, if he shakes off his sleepiness, he can concentrate and
understand his learning clearly. But if he is tired as a result of having He Will Not Grow Tired and Not Exhausted
overslept, then even when he learns he sleeps, and everything is
foggy. And so the Tiferet Yisrael comments on this mishnah: “As Everyone knows stories about tzaddikim who slept very little. This
a result of much sleep, not only does a person lose time, but his cannot be understood intellectually. It goes against all medical studies
mind grows old and he loses his keenness.” and findings of sleep experts. These stories present living proof

that a person actually does not receive life and refreshment from
A Thread of Kindness sleep, but solely from clinging to Hashem. In Shem Hagedolim,
the Chida writes (10:134) that over the course of 40 years the
Perhaps this is the meaning of the Gemara: “When a person Maharitz did not sleep in a bed but on a board with his legs dangling
engages in Torah at night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over the side, and he would get up at midnight to learn Torah. And
upon him a thread of kindness the next day” (Chagigah 12b). Since the children of the Vilna Gaon tell that he slept two hours a day, in
a person learned at night instead of sleeping, the next day he will four half-hour segments.
be filled with wisdom, which will illuminate his face. This may be
described as a thread of kindness drawn onto him. The Maharsha It is well-known that the Maharsha would tie his sidelocks to the
explains (Avodah Zarah 3b) that in general when a person has been wall so that he would not be able to doze off. There were tzaddikim
awake the entire night, the next day his face is dark. But when a who immersed their feet in cold water so that they could learn
person remained awake at night in order to learn Torah, his face is Torah the entire night. And all of the tzaddikim made their nights
beautiful. And the Meiri says, “What is ‘a thread of kindness’? That like days, as the Gemara relates (Moed Katan 25b). This is not only
means that when a person is asked a question he answers properly.” a figure of speech, but literal truth. Therefore, they attained what
And that matches exactly what I wrote here: that when a person they attained and became world-class masters of the Torah.
sleeps little, he is focused and clear, and so he is able to learn
Torah, because “determining halachah requires clarity” (Eiruvin 65). These are only a few of many well-known and recognized stories.
Thus, a person who removes sleep from his eyes gains clarity and This phenomenon is true not only of early tzaddikim, but about
success in determining the halachah, and his face shines brightly! tzaddikim of the last generation as well. They learned with focus
and clarity, in uninterrupted sessions lasting more than 24 hours.
Rabbi Moshe Dovid Valli, a student of the Ramchal, writes in his Only then did they rest a little and then they returned to an equally
commentary on Proverbs: long session of learning Torah and serving Hashem. And in this
generation too I know people—tzaddikim and Torah sages—who
Sleep is the great obstacle to engaging in any useful sleep an unbelievably small amount of time and yet still function
endeavor…. Although lying down strengthens a person’s perfectly. They learn clearly, pray at length and engage in many