Introduction:

As our day draws to a close, there is one final blessing to be recited together with a series of beautiful prayers called “Kriat Shema al Hamitah.” The Talmud teaches us (Brachot 4b) in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, “Even though a person recited the Shema in the synagogue, it is a mitzvah to do so again on one’s bed.” The Talmud goes on to ask, “What is the verse [that this ruling is derived from]?” Our Sages answer, “Tremble and sin not, reflect in your hearts while you are on your beds, and be completely silent” (Tehillim 4:5).

King David is teaching us that just the mere thought of sinning should be enough to make a person tremble. As the Kotzker Rebbe told his chassidim, “Your sins don’t bother me as much as the fact that you had time for sins!” A person who is busy learning Torah, davening, giving tzedakah and doing kind deeds should not have time to sin.

What is the connection between this verse and going to sleep for the night? Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908) was the Chief Rabbi of Navardok and one of the greatest Halachic authorities in his generation. In his magnum opus, Aruch Hashulchan (231:6), he writes this about going to sleep for the night: “One should have the intention that one is going to sleep in order to have strength to serve Hashem with energy tomorrow.” Accordingly, when we go to sleep in order to be able to serve Hashem with renewed vigor the next day, we are fulfilling a mitzvah.

However, there is more to sleep than “just” replenishing our strength for the next day. The Chofetz Chaim teaches us that when we go to sleep with spiritual thoughts, they will influence our nocturnal thought-process. That, in turn, will cause us to arise the next morning in a spiritual frame of mind, allowing us to serve Hashem with a greater sense of purpose.

Subsequently, in order to “upgrade” our tomorrow, the Chofetz Chaim rules (Mishnah Berurah 239:2.) that it is proper for a person to review their entire day before they go to sleep, in order to see how they can improve themselves. And, after identifying the sins that they did, they should accept upon themselves not to do them anymore.

Accordingly, one of the central themes of Kriat Shema al Hamitah is introspection – what is called chesbon henefesh in Hebrew. Before we bring our day to a close, we should spend some time going over it, to see what we did right and what needs rectification. After identifying the mistakes that we may have made, we can then try to work out how we are going to improve ourselves for tomorrow. To make tomorrow an even more successful day than today.

As Rebbe Nachman from Breslov teaches, “If a person is no better tomorrow than they were today, then what good is tomorrow to them?”

And, for this reason, we are commanded to bring our day to a close by falling asleep while saying words of Torah. The concept of influencing our sleep by focusing on the spiritual is an idea that was paraphrased by a non-Jewish Dutch philosopher who wrote, “Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite and worth remembering.”

There is nothing more exquisite than the Torah. And there is nothing more effective that has the potential to turn us into better people than the Torah. As we go to sleep with words of Torah on our lips, we are preparing ourselves for tomorrow. Our nocturnal thoughts are revolving around Hashem. They are subconsciously preparing us to begin the new day with a sense of spiritual purpose. Because, as our Sages teach us, we dream about what we think about, and we think about what we dream about.

Or, in the words of the legendary artist Vincent van Gogh, “I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” Kriat Shema al Hamitah is the first stroke on the canvas of a tomorrow that will ultimately become the unique masterpiece of today.

To be continued…