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an important principle may be derived: that going to sleep is not times (as written in the previous chapter). He must cry out and to sleep he should read Psalm 91, “The Song Regarding Evil
throwing off the yoke of Hashem but the service of Hashem. And call out to Hashem to guard him and rescue him from his greatest Occurrences,” because in sleep endless number of evil occurrences
we must truly intend that and feel it. enemy, which wants to uproot him from both worlds. And he and harmful forces that were caused by a person’s sins besiege him.
must repeat that another few times: once on behalf of his wife and He must plead with Hashem to keep all of those harmful forces
That is a halachah in the Shulchan Aruch that is relevant to a separate instance on behalf of each of his children. And when from approaching him and harming him. This psalm explains that
every Jew. Even a Jew on the lowest level must intend to serve his he recites hamapil, he should also have in mind that he is asking all of Hashem’s protection and safeguarding depends on a
Creator in sleep. And that can be accomplished only by a person Hashem to keep the evil inclination of sleep from overcoming him person’s holy will and yearning. As the verse states, “Because
who engages in the work of the will and experiences yearning at the and seizing him. he desired Me, I will rescue him” (Psalms 91:14). And so Likutei
time of sleep. Halachot (Birkat Hamazon 4:21) teaches:
To Learn from Experience
Those Who Make a Personal Accounting The lion, cobra, young lion and serpent (cf. Psalms 91:1)

A basic point in preparing for sleep that I have learned from my are “husks” and [creatures of the] Other Side. They are
The holy books teach that there is a tremendous usefulness in own experience and from the experience of many others is that it obstacles to holiness that obstruct and spread themselves
making a personal accounting before sleep. As the holy Zohar is vitally important to engage in the entire order of preparing for across the holy path like snakes, lions and serpents, and
teaches (Vayeshev 191): sleep while standing up, because when a person sits down, he is in they do not allow anyone to proceed on the path of
danger of being “seized.” Thus, the Ari states that it is preferable holiness. The verse promises a Jew that he will be able
Rabbi Yossi said “… A person must examine his sins that a person stand during the entire order of the Bedtime Sh’ma. to tread upon them, trample them and eradicate them
every single day….” Every day, when night arrives, a Also, if a person wants to learn a little before going to sleep, he by means of his holy will and desire, in keeping with the
person must contemplate and examine everything that should do that standing up as well, since this is a perilous time. As verses, “You will tread upon lion and cobra…. Because
he did that entire day, so that he will repent of [his Rashi explains (Berachot 4b), sleep attacks a person and overwhelms he desired Me, I will rescue him” (Psalms 91:1,14). The
wrong deeds] and gaze at them always. In that way, he his will. Similarly, when a person gets up in the morning, he must operative word is “desired.” The essence of overcoming
will do teshuvah before his Master. As the verse states, remain standing until he leaves the house. Sometimes the evil [negative forces] is desire and will.
“My sin is before me always” (Psalms 51:5)—meaning, in inclination tells him to sit down for just a minute or two, and he
falls asleep and finds himself awakening after an hour. Sitting is
order for me to do teshuvah over them. In particular, a person should focus on the verse, “In your hand,
dangerous, whether before or after sleep. Therefore, we must place
fences around the topic of sleep. I entrust my spirit. You have redeemed me, Hashem, true God”
And the Zohar also teaches (Korach 178): (Psalms 31:6). This is the central verse on which all sleep depends.
When a person is engaged in serving Hashem and sleep overcomes When a person says this verse, he should plead to Hashem with
A person who engages in a personal accounting [will him, he must be as mighty as a lion to stand and not sit, because tremendously deep feeling, “Master of the world, I deposit my
be saved from Gehennom. The sages] taught that every if he sits he is in danger of being seized by sleep. Therefore, on spirit only in Your hand. Please, Hashem, only You take my spirit.
night, before a person lies down to go to sleep, he must the eve of Yom Kippur, the young cohanim would tell the cohen Renew my soul and redeem me from all of the extrinsic forces
make an accounting of his deeds of that entire day. He gadol: “My master the cohen gadol, stand and cool [your feet] on that want to contaminate me. Have compassion on me, so that
must do teshuvah for [his wrong deeds] and beseech the [marble] floor,” so that the cold would wake him up (Yoma my spirit will be only in Your hand!” And when he lies down, he
Hashem to have compassion and forgive him. Why do 1:7). I knew a great tzaddik in Jerusalem whom no one ever saw should repeat that verse over and over again, with this intent, will
we engage in a personal accounting at that time? Because sitting. Because he would sleep very little in the evening and rise at and yearning. Then the verse will be realized in him, “When you lie
down, you will not fear. You will lie down, and your sleep will be
at that time the Tree of Death is in the world—[i.e., the midnight, he knew that if he would sit down he would fall asleep— sweet” (Proverbs 3:24).
powers of uncleanness rise in strength]—and everyone and so he always stood. Related to that, the verse speaks of “those
in the world tastes the taste of death in his sleep. who stand in the house of Hashem in the nights” (Psalms 134:1).