Hamapil

Last week we spoke about the Bracha of Elohai Neshama. We normally think of the morning blessings as beginning when we awaken with the blessing of Elohai neshama. But many commentators claim that we actually begin the night before with the blessing of hamapil. [1]

This at first sight seems very strange. How do the blessings connect over 8 hours of sleep? Also, why do we consider a blessing before going to sleep to be the first of the morning blessings, isn't sleep the opposite of awakening?

For most of us, sleep is the well deserved rest after a hard day of work. It is a time to escape from the worries and troubles of the day. As such it is the final action of the day, a reward for a job well done. The Torah demands that we view sleep differently. Sleep is not the last action of the day, but rather the first.

Since the greatest good in life is the pursuit of wisdom, and in sleep we enter a fantasy world, sleep cannot be viewed as a reward, but rather a necessary preparation to regain our strength for the following day; if not for this, sleep would not be good. Therefore, sleep is actually the first action of the day, giving us the energy for a day of pursuing knowledge.[2]

In general the Torah demands that we serve God at all times and in all ways. Night cannot be an escape from divine service. The way we serve God at night is by using it for Torah study and for necessary sleep[3].

This is how hamapil connects to elohai neshama. Together they qualify our sleep as part of our divine service. At night we prepare our sleep to be useful in regenerating our energy for another day of seeking God, and in the morning we immediately start refocusing ourselves from the dream worlds of the night and preparing ourselves to stand before God in Tefillah

Furthermore, in spite of its necessity, sleep is a danger as well. In sleep our imaginations are let loose and we are susceptible to falling into a world of fantasy and false ideas. We must counter this danger to the degree possible by focusing our thoughts on the divine.

This is why we say Shema before going to bed. The Yerushalmi says that we say kriat shema for protection from the demons [lit. damagers]. The Meiri points out (on Brachos 4b) that these ‘damagers’ are false beliefs, since there is nothing more harmful.

Through the Shema, we reflect on God’s oneness and reinforce our attachment to knowledge and avoid falling into a belief in other powers. We recognize the idea of His oneness as the fundamental principle, which everything else depends on and the life of love and knowledge which derives from that.

Lastly, night is a time of fear. The darkness of the night make it dangerous and frightening and raises primal terrors which force us to face our own mortality. 

This is the framework for the Bracha of Hamapil.

First we thank God, who created drowsiness, and gave us sleep as a regenerative mechanism. Sleep refreshes us both physically and psychologically allowing us to awaken refreshed. [4]

Then we ask God to help make our sleep effective, and not allow it to become a source of harm and reattachment to fantasy.

We ask for success in a number of ways. That our sleep be peaceful without psychological disturbance; that it allow us to awaken refreshed and not disturbed by bad dreams; that it not overwhelm us with disturbing imaginations and wishes; that our bed also serve as the place where our sexual drive will be redirected towards having children who will grow up to be wise and righteous.

Finally, we summarize the Blessing by recognizing God, as the source of all enlightenment and flourishing. In this way we face our fear of death, and recognize God as the source of life, both physical life and the life of mind [5].

My brother Josh added an important point, the role of sleep in consolidating knowledge shows that sleep is not the beginning of the day per se, but rather the bridge between one day of avodah and the next.

[1] The technical argument which supports this theory is that all blessings must begin with ‘baruch’ unless they are part of a sequence. Since Elohai Neshama does not begin with Baruch, it would seem to be part of a sequence, but since it is said as one is waking up, the only prior blessing is ‘hamapil’ from the night before.

[2] An interesting corollary is that we do not view the best death as dying in your sleep but rather dying while actively involved in knowledge.

[3] see Hilchot Deot 3:3, note that it isn't only a question of the actions that we do but also our motivation for those actions

[4] In fact sleep is also directly important in the pursuit of knowledge since it allows the unconscious to work through issues of the day and can in many cases provide us new insight into the problems we are thinking about.

[5] Which as we noted in Elohai Neshama finds its ultimate expression upon our physical deaths.