I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share with you an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman entitled "Positive Sleep" about what Bilam’s ‘blessings’ have to teach us about our nighttime routines. The full article can be found here - https://aish.com/positive-sleep/.
[…] As much as Bilam wanted to curse the Jews, God wouldn’t let him. Instead of curses, we read of some of the most beautiful blessings that speak straight to the heart of the strong spiritual characteristics that personify Bnei Yisrael. […] Other verses praise their spirituality; […] The blessings then abruptly switch from spiritual praise to physical prowess – “The people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion; It will not lie down until it consumes prey, and drinks the blood of the slain” (Bemidbar23:24). This is quite a radical transition from spiritual
loftiness to savagely guzzling down the blood of the enemy.
Rashi, following the lead of the Midrash, explains that even this physical praise is a spiritual allusion. Not lying down until consuming prey and drinking their blood is referring to the ritual of reciting the Shema before going to sleep. The connection requires some elaboration. What does saying the bedtime Shema have anything to do with slaying enemies?
The Talmud (Berachot 5a) relates in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak, that “anyone who recites Shema on his bed, it is as if he holds a double-edged sword” guarding him from evil, and that even the “demons stay away from him.” Some understand these demons, known in Aramaic as mazikin, as dangerous metaphysical entities that can physically harm people. Saying Shema in bed protects one from being damaged by them. Meiri, however, takes a more rational and psychological approach to the concept of mazikin, explaining the mazikin should be understood
as irrational, rebellious thoughts that can entrap people when they are not busy. Because one’s mind tends to wander into these negative thoughts before bed, it is essential to sanctify and unify one’s thoughts for spiritual purposes. Reciting Shema at night protects us from harmful thinking patterns.
The thoughts we think right before we go to bed have a profound impact on our sleep. Many people have trouble falling asleep, disturbed by anxious and other disturbing thoughts. By mindfully reciting Shema, we can ward off whatever “mazikin” we may have, allowing us to sleep more peacefully. By so doing we also have the capability of transforming the physical experience of sleep into a deeply spiritual endeavor.
Hoping and praying for a Shabbat Shalom from the Holy Land,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
