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his sleep, because he will have good dreams and he will he is overcome by weariness. Sleep begins to carry him away with
see holy sights. That is because he is involved with [his counterfeit sweetness. Then it is inevitable that the urge to sleep
mindfulness] throughout the day and he does not cease will steal into his heart, until it seizes him and casts him into
clinging to it. That sweetens his sleep. That is why the the net of sleep. A person is perfected when, as he goes to sleep,
verse says, repetitiously, “You will lie down and your he gathers together an amount of force to battle intensely against
sleep will be sweet.” Not only does he not fear—in having any urge to sleep. He only wants to serve Hashem and
cling to Hashem. As a result of his clinging to Hashem and his
contrast to people who do not attain such clinging, and forceful intent, his soul is bound to its Creator.
who do fear—but he takes delight from the midst
of his sleep in all of those delights caused by holy Do Not Pray for Anything
clinging [to Hashem].

Therefore, the truth is that a person who wants to attain holy
At Midnight I Will Rise sleep must know that when he lies down, he must not learn Torah
or pray, but only cling to Hashem. The proof for this lies in common
It is impossible to discuss the service of Hashem associated with experience. A person wants to learn Torah before going to sleep.
going to sleep and waking up without mentioning the crucial and He dozes off next to the table in the midst of his learning, and he
fundamental service of rising at midnight. This way of serving sleeps poorly, and even suffers. This is of no help to his physical and
Hashem has been engaged in by many Jews in all generations and psychological health, and he does not really learn. At some point,
in all countries across the world—whether Russia, Morocco, Yemen he gets up exhausted, broken and twisted, with only one overriding
or Iran—great and small, householders and Torah sages, simple, desire: to throw himself into bed and to complete his sleep and
sincere people and brilliant scholars. They all meticulously kept the make up for his suffering.
first halachot in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 1:2-3):
One would think that a person who falls asleep in the midst of
A person who gets up early to plead before his Creator learning Torah with utter dedication will get up with yearning and
should have in mind the times of the changing of the vitality to serve Hashem. But what do we see? When such a person
guards: the end of the first third of the night, the end of gets up, all he wants is to go back to sleep. There is not a drop
the second third of the night, and the end of the night. of life in him. That is a proof that he experienced no holy sleep
That is because the prayer that a person recites at those whatsoever. Therefore, our sages comment on the verse, “Slumber
times regarding the Destruction [of the Temple] and the will clothe [you] with tatters” (Proverbs 23:21), that if a person
sleeps in the study hall, his Torah is torn into tatters (Sanhedrin
exile is accepted [by Hashem]…. 71a). The same applies to a person who falls asleep while doing
hitbodedut. When he gets up, the entire next day he feels that his
It is proper for every person who possesses the fear of sleep was far from being holy.
heaven to be distressed and upset by the Destruction of
the Temple. A person must understand that experiencing holy sleep requires
him to prevail in a war—a war of life and death. The essence of his
And thus Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi states in his Shulchan strength at the time that he is sleeping is to intensify his might as
Aruch Harav (second edition 1): much as possible, not to allow anything to hold back his intent and
yearning until he clings absolutely to Hashem. Only that is called