Halachot of Sleep

The Torah attributes significance to all of a person's daily actions and there are halachic guidelines on how a Jew should conduct himself from the time he wakes up until he goes to sleep. See a closely related topic Bedtime Shema for the halachos regarding saying Shema before going to sleep.

Time to Go to Sleep

• Several passages in the Zohar praise sleeping during the first part of the night and arising after chatzot (Hebrew: חֲצוֹת; ḥaṣot; lit., 'midnight') to study Torah. Rabbi Moshe Greenwald similarly writes that nighttime Torah study should take place primarily after chatzot. The Babylonian Talmud, in tractate Berakhot 3b, records several accounts of King David's nighttime schedule. Rabbi Oshaya, citing Rabbi Acha, reports that David said, "Midnight never passed me in sleep." Rabbi Zeira explains that “until midnight, David would doze like a horse; from that point onward, he would strengthen himself like a lion.” Rav Ashi offers a different account: David studied Torah until midnight and recited songs and praises afterward. Rabbi Zeira uses the term mitnamnem, which denotes dozing or light sleep rather than ordinary sustained sleep. A separate Talmudic passage explains that the priests originally assumed that people would not come to the Temple during the night because they would be overcome by sleep. When the Talmud in Yoma 22a asks why priests nevertheless came for the nighttime arrangement of sacrifices, it answers anonymously, "Remaining awake is different from rising after sleeping." This indicates that continuing to remain awake may be easier than going to sleep and awakening later.

Writing about physical health, Maimonides (also known as the Rambam) recommends approximately eight hours of sleep toward the end of the night, arranged so that a person rises shortly before sunrise. Rabbi Moses Sofer (also known as the Chatam Sofer) observes that most Torah scholars customarily studied during the first part of the night and slept after chatzot. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef likewise supports studying late and sleeping afterward, citing the Talmudic observation that remaining awake is easier than rising after one has gone to sleep. Rabbi David Yosef reports that his father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, would study until after chatzot and then sleep until morning. Rabbi David Yosef adds that, whichever schedule a person follows, it is proper to be awake at chatzot to study Torah. Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai (also known as the Chida) questions why Rabbi Joseph Karo omitted this practice from the Shulchan Aruch. Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Margoliot also discusses the practice of arranging one's sleep in order to rise before daylight, citing Rabbi Moses Zacuto's recommendation to sleep during the first part of the night and rise at least half an hour before daylight.

• A person whose early rising would cause excessive fatigue or interfere with proper concentration during prayer need not follow a schedule of rising at chatzot. The person should arrange their sleep so that they can pray attentively and should take care not to miss communal prayer with a minyan.

Duration of Sleep

The appropriate amount of sleep varies according to a person’s health, strength, and individual needs. The sources discuss sleep not only in terms of duration, but also in relation to physical health, rising for religious duties, and maintaining alertness during prayer.

Maimonides writes that eight hours (i.e., or one-third of a twenty-four-hour day) is a sufficient amount of sleep. He recommends placing these hours toward the end of the night, so that the sleeper rises before sunrise. This recommendation forms part of his broader regimen for preserving bodily health. In the following section, he also advises sleeping on one’s side rather than face down or on one’s back, waiting approximately three or four hours after eating before going to sleep, and avoiding daytime sleep. His statements present a general regimen for a healthy person rather than an individualized medical prescription, though. Elsewhere in the same chapter, Maimonides specifies that a person who is ill, has an unhealthy organ, or has followed harmful habits for many years requires a regimen suited to that person’s particular condition. A practice of sleeping eight hours is also attributed to the Steipler.

The Mishnah Berurah discusses sleep in connection with the practice of rising during the night. It describes the religious value attributed to rising at midnight for Torah study and prayer, while recognizing that this practice is not appropriate in every circumstance. A person who is physically weak, or who knows that rising during the night would cause him to fall asleep during davening, should instead sleep as much as necessary. Even such a person should rise sufficiently early to prepare for prayer with the congregation. The Mishnah Berurah specifies rising an hour, or at least half an hour, before the synagogue attendant’s call, so that one can prepare to pray with the congregation and in a state of cleanliness.

The Ba’er Hetev likewise discusses sleep in the context of rising during the night. It records differing practices concerning which parts of the year require rising at night and then cites a view recommending eight hours of sleep. As an allusion to this amount, it notes that the numerical value of אז in the phrase ישנתי אז ינוח לי is eight. It does not, however, present eight hours as an inflexible rule, concluding that the appropriate amount depends upon the individual. Yalkut Yosef states, as a general health guideline, that a person should not ordinarily sleep more than eight hours or fewer than six. Accordingly, the six-to-eight-hour range is best presented as the guidance of Yalkut Yosef, rather than as a uniform position shared by all the authorities cited above.

Sleeping Alone in a Room

1. One should avoid sleeping alone in a room at night, recommends Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. When other people are sleeping elsewhere in the same house, some authorities permit a person to sleep alone in a room provided that the bedroom door is left ajar. This solution should not be used when leaving the door open would create a concern of yichud (Hebrew: יִחוּד; yiḥud; lit., 'seclusion'), the halakhic prohibition against certain unrelated men and women being secluded together.
2. Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef agrees with the Kitzur, maintaining that one should not sleep alone in a room. When a person has no alternative, the person should at least leave a light on in the room; Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu agrees.
3. Some authorities—namely, Rabbis Simcha Bunim Rabinowitz and Avigdor Nebenzahl—hold that it is sufficient for the bedroom door to remain closed but unlocked.

Sleeping in Shul or Bet Midrash

See Respecting the sanctity of the Shul.

Correct Position to Sleep In

1. One should sleep on one’s side and not face up or down.
2. According to Ashkenazim, a person should place his bed north south and not east west. According to Sephardim, one may place one's bed in any direction that one wants, however if possible it is preferable to situate the head of the bed in the east and the foot of the bed in the west.
3. One should not sleep with one’s head or feet directly facing the door "in a position that it looks like one was about to be taken out of the room".
4. There is no source anywhere in halachic literature for the custom not to sleep facing the door, therefore if one doesn't have this custom he does not have to adopt it.

Clothes to Wear to Sleep

• Some Jews have the custom of wearing a kippah while sleeping.
• Some also have the custom of wearing tzitzit—or a tallit katan—while sleeping. The Mishnah Berurah, citing the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (commonly known as the Arizal), records the kabbalistic practice of wearing one's tallit to bed. See also Tzitzit.
• Although the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch instructs one to remove one's ordinary daytime clothing before sleeping, some authorities, such as Rabbi Moishe Lebovits—note that the common practice is to permit sleeping in such clothing. One should, however, remove one's shoes before sleeping, recommends Rabbi Eli Mansour. It is uncertain whether this practice also applies to a short nap.

Sleeping during the Day

1. A person should refrain from sleeping during the day more than “Shitin Nishmei” which some explain as being more than 3 minutes, others say it is half hour, and yet others maintain it is 3 hours. Therefore, a person should be careful not to sleep during the day unless sleeping will result in one afterwards serving Hashem more effectively.
2. On Shabbat it is permitted to sleep during the day. However, one should not sleep too much because it will take away from one's time to learn Torah on Shabbat.
3. One who stays up all night to learn Torah may sleep during the day as is the custom on Shavuot morning.
4. A person who sleeps during the day for longer than Shitin Nishmei should wash their hands without a bracha.
5. No bracha of HaMapil or "Veyahi Noam" is said before going to sleep during the day and no "Elokei Nishama" is said upon waking up.

Placing Items under a Bed

1. One may not place food even if it is covered under a bed because there is a concern that ruach raah coming upon it. This applies to raw or cooked food and even water.
2. If one already put food under a bed some poskim hold that the food may be eaten, while others say that it should be thrown out.
3. Some say that this ruach raah only applies to food that was under a bed when someone was sleeping on it, but others disagree.
4. There is a discussion if this concern also applies to a bed of a non-Jew.
5. Some say that there is no concern of placing food underneath one's pillow.
6. There is no concern of ruach raah on utensils other than food.

Related Pages

• Bedtime Shema