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The Shulchan Aruch writes: “A person should spend an hour is no greater running away from Hashem Hashem than the to disconnect himself from life, that he wants to die. Therefore,
before praying, preparing to direct his heart to God and one hour craving for sleep, which is in its essence a craving to cast off sleep is absolute evil. And so it is always forbidden to want to sleep.
after praying, so that it will not appear as though he considers the the yoke of heaven.
prayers a burden that he is rushing to leave behind” (Orach Chaim The Beginning of Calamity
93). And the Mishnah Berurah comments (1): “The students of Therefore, we may say about sleep what the sages said about
Rabbeinu Yonah proved from the Gemara that although usually the children of Israel in the desert: it is true that a person needs to In Numbers, prior to a description of all of the transgressions
an ‘hour’ means a short amount of time, here it means an actual sleep, but his choice is to decide how he will sleep. It is true that and sins of the children of Israel the letter nun is written twice,
hour.” a person needs to renew his mind, to strengthen himself, to renew backward. Why is that? Our sages say, “So as to separate the first
his powers—but in no way whatsoever should he want to sleep. calamity from the second calamity. What was the second calamity?
The Gemara states that this practice is particularly that of the To sleep is to run away from Hashem. That is the beginning of
pietists—i.e., people who are strict upon themselves—and not every calamity and of all transgressions: at first, at a person wants ‘The people were complaining’ (Numbers 11:1). What was the first
for the people as a whole. But Rabbi Yeshaya Pinto Hakadmon’s only to sleep and forget about Hashem. Afterwards, he craves, he calamity? ‘They traveled away from the mountain of Hashem’ (ibid.
10:33).” This raises the question: What is calamitous about the fact
commentary on the Ein Yaakov says that although sitting for an complains, he whines, he slanders and creates dispute—as happened that the Jews traveled away from the mountain of Hashem? They
hour before prayer is a practice reserved for pietists, spending a with the children of Israel (as described further on in the book of had to do so. That was Hashem’s will. But our sages say that they
literal hour after prayer and—how much more—spending an actual Numbers). wanted to travel away from the mountain of Hashem. Like a child
hour in prayer itself are practices that are appropriate for the
people as a whole. The halachic authorities cite this in the books of On the other hand, the tzaddikim have always been with Hashem: running away from school, they sought to flee Hashem. Therefore,
that is called a calamity! It is true that you must travel, but the
halachah, even though it is a pietistic practice, from which we learn “I am always with You” (Psalms 73:23). Therefore, there is no way question is: how will you do so—with the will to run away from
that this is not a mere stringency but a noble aspiration pertinent for the evil inclination to gain access to them and confuse them. Hashem or with the will to proceed together with Hashem?
to every Jew. They always cling to their purpose. Even when they sleep, they go
to sleep with Hashem. As the verse states, “I am asleep, but my Only now—in consequence of the exodus from Egypt, the giving
Clearly, it is good to recite the entire prayer service at length, heart is awake” (Song of Songs 5:2).
plus spending periods of time before and after prayer. But the main of the Torah and the erection of the tabernacle—did the children
thing is to recite at length the essence of the prayer service, which Wakefulness of Israel bond with Hashem. A person can and must proceed with
Hashem. Hashem is dwelling in our midst. “May Hashem please go
is the Shemoneh Esrei. Although this is hard for everyone to do in our midst” (Exodus 34:9).
in our days, nevertheless you must aspire and want to recite the As I have explained, the evil inclination of sleep is the greatest
Shemoneh Esrei for an hour. Try at least once a day to take the evil inclination of all, and the essence of the evil inclination. That is
opportunity to pray the Shemoneh Esrei at length. because the evil inclination is the angel of death, and sleep is death. Your Leaving Is Difficult for Me
The entire goal of the evil inclination is to anesthetize a person
An Hour a Day so that he will sleep away his days. Therefore, all encouragement In Uman, where Rabbi Nachman is buried, people have often
to serve Hashem is called “awakening,” because overall the evil told me, “It is hard for me to part from the tzaddik.” I tell them,
“You are not leaving the tzaddik. You have bonded with him, and
People ask how it is possible to pray the Shemoneh Esrei for an inclination consists of sleep and slumber, whereas overall the service
entire hour. But when they learn and review the practical guidance of Hashem is the opposite of sleep, which is wakefulness. Hashem now you are going together with him. He will accompany you,
that I have written here regarding the blessing of “He Who has no satisfaction from a person who sleeps away his days, even because he is bound to you.” Similarly, it is hard for a person to
separate himself from the Sabbath and holidays. But a person must
graciously grants knowledge” and they understand and internalize if he learns Torah and prays. As Rabbi Nachman says, “There are
the simple principles that are explained in this book, as well as people who sleep away their days. Although it appears to others that know that he is not separated from the light. The light remains with
him and bound to him for his entire life. The children of Israel were
the introductory principles that Rabbi Nachman gives and teaches they are serving Hashem, learning Torah and praying, nevertheless supposed to travel with Hashem—but instead, they traveled like a
us—that all of a person’s life is determined in accordance with his none of their work gives Hashem satisfaction, because all of their
will, and that the time during which the will truly determines and work remains below, and it cannot be elevated and uplifted” (Likutei child running away from school. All calamity begins from the
fact that a person is running away from Hashem. And there

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