Introduction
We have now concluded our preparations for going to sleep. We have recited the bedtime Shema, and we are prepared to retire for the night. The following are a few rules to keep in mind.
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- Upon arising in the morning, it is forbidden to walk more than two meters before performing the Netilat Yadayim ritual. One should therefore plan ahead and have a large cup of water and a basin prepared at one’s bedside.
- Before going to sleep for the night, a person should touch the mezuzah and mentally ask G-d to protect him during the night.
- When changing from one’s daytime clothes into one’s pajamas, one should take care not to expose those portions of the body that are generally covered. A person who is undressing in a bedroom should therefore do so beneath a blanket or the like.
- When removing a garment, one should remove the left side of the garment before the right side. For example, when a person removes his shirt, he should remove the left sleeve first, followed by the right sleeve. The same applies to a pair of pants (the left leg should be removed before the right) and shoes (the left shoe should be removed before the right). When putting on one’s pajamas, however, the right side should be put on first.
- One should lie down to sleep on the left side, not on one’s back or stomach.
- One should not go to sleep while wearing shoes or sandals.
- It is recommended that one sleep in a house where other people are also present. If one is alone, a light should be left on in one of the rooms of the house. In any event, do not fear; the mezuzah protects us even when we are alone.
Preparing to go to sleep often feels like turning off the lights and putting away the office equipment at the end of a day of work—a series of actions that simply mark the end of one’s day. But in fact, going to sleep is not only the end of the day that has passed; it is also—in fact, even more importantly— the beginning of the day that is to come. The way that a person goes to sleep will have a powerful impact on the way he gets up in the morning, and it will have an effect on the entire following day.
One should therefore put some thought into what takes place during the final moments of the day. It is advisable to try to do one more good deed, to go to sleep after reciting the bedtime Shema or studying just a little more Torah, rather than going to sleep in a state of utter exhaustion. If a person goes to sleep in the proper way, the following day will be incredibly enhanced.
The Blessing of HaMapil
This is it. We are now in bed, enveloped by serenity and calm. Our eyes are closed and we are prepared to drift off to sleep. Now is the time to recite the blessing of Hamapil (which is printed in prayer books immediately after the bedtime Shema). In this brief blessing, we praise G-d for having given us the ability to sleep, and we ask Him for the night to pass by peacefully, without any frightening or disturbing dreams, and for us to awaken in good health in the morning.
- It is customary to refrain from eating, drinking, and speaking after the blessing of Hamapil.
Tikkun Chatzot
The middle of the night is a very special time, when many righteous people throughout the generations have customarily mourned over the destruction of the Temple. There is a special order of prayers and supplications known as Tikkun Chatzot, which many recite at this hour and which is printed in many prayer books.
This seemingly incongruous hour of the night was chosen for prayer because we are taught that G-d Himself “mourns,” so to speak, over the destruction of His Temple at this time. Kabbalah teaches us that at midnight, G-d’s Attribute of Mercy is dominant, and it is possible at that hour to transform the state of destruction of the Temple into a state of rebuilding, so that the Third Temple will soon be built.
Rabbi Alexandri taught: When a flesh and blood person is entrusted with new items, they sit in his possession and he returns them in an aged, worn out state. But G-d – we give Him [our souls] when they are worn and tattered, and He returns them brand new.
You can prove that this is true. A laborer works all day, and his spirit is tired and worn. When he goes to sleep, he is exhausted and delivers his soul into the Hands of G-d, and in the morning, it returns to his body like a new creation. As the verse states, “They are new in the mornings; great is Your faithfulness.”
