Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
The average person sleeps between six and eight hours a night and works around eight hours a day, leaving little time to accomplish much else. I’ve heard of great rabbis who solved this problem by subsisting on minimal sleep. What was their secret?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds
Sleep Is A Tool To Serve Hashem
A person should certainly strive to maximize every moment he has to serve Hashem (God). This includes avoiding excessive sleep for the sake of comfort or indulgence. In fact, one of the 48 qualities listed by our rabbis as necessary to acquire Torah is mi’ut sheinah, limited sleep.
That said, a person should not deprive himself of the sleep he truly needs, as someone who is tired cannot serve Hashem to the best of his ability. This is especially true for Torah study, which requires the full use of one’s mental capacity. A person who is well rested will have a much quicker and easier time grasping and retaining what he is studying; what an alert person can learn in one hour can take a tired person two or more. So there’s no reason to feel bad about getting the sleep you need to function properly throughout the day, as you may be saving time rather than wasting it.
Rabbi Moshe & Rabbi Yaakov
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, two of the greatest rabbis of the previous generation, were very close friends, and would visit each other often. On one visit, Rabbi Yaakov noticed that Rabbi Moshe looked upset. When he asked why, Rabbi Moshe explained, “I was told that elderly people require less sleep, so I was looking forward to getting older, thinking I would have more time to study Torah. But now I see that I need just as much sleep as before, and sometimes even more.” Rabbi Yaakov reassured him, “Most elderly people need less sleep because they’re not as active during the day. Since they expend less energy and do less overall, they simply don’t require as much rest. But you are learning and accomplishing as much as ever, which is why you still need the same amount of sleep, if not more, to maintain your level of activity.” Hearing this, Rabbi Moshe felt a little better.
Passion Gives You Strength
In truth, however, even in his youth, Rabbi Moshe didn’t sleep much, and as you mentioned, many great people were able to thrive on very little sleep. The reason for this is not a mystery—we see it in businessmen and others deeply invested in their work. When people are excited and motivated by what they’re doing, it gives them the energy to keep pushing forward. They become so engrossed in their work that the adrenaline keeps them going, so they can often function on minimal sleep without feeling tired.
Similarly, a person who is deeply excited about serving Hashem will often find he needs less sleep. People involved in chessed (kindness) may work tirelessly around the clock to help those in need, fueled by a passion for their cause. Likewise, those who study and teach Torah often stay up late into the night, fully immersed in completing a topic or preparing a lecture.
If we truly appreciate how special it is to serve Hashem, we will be invigorated with a true sense of meaning and purpose. This will naturally give us the energy to keep going—often reducing our need for sleep—as we become fully immersed in the mitzvos we are involved in.
In short: A person must be sure to get enough sleep so he can function properly. At the same time, the more excited you are to serve Hashem, the less sleep you’ll need.
Written by Rabbi Aaron Shapiro
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