The Bedtime Shema

15 Adar I 5782

“Then I will remove My hand, and you will see My back but My face shall not be seen.” (Shemos 33:23)

G‑d protected Moshe with His hand, so to speak. The full Divine revelation was simply too much to handle, even for somebody of Moshe Rabbeinu’s stature. So too each of us on our level is protected from being exposed to more than we can handle. We survive every day, spiritually and physically, by Divine assistance. Just as this assistance supports us from below it also limits us above, so we a) don’t become overexposed and b) in order to give us merit by climbing at least partially through our own efforts.

“Let him further consider his dreams. For the most part, they are ‘vanity and an affliction of the spirit,’ because his soul does not ascend heavenward during his sleep, since it is written: ‘Who shall ascend the mountain of the L-rd? He that has clean hands and a pure heart.’ Furthermore, ’those originating from the ’evil side’ come and attach themselves to him and inform him in his dreams of mundane affairs…and sometimes mock him and show him false things and torment him in his dreams,’ and so on.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 29)

When we are asleep, we are divested in a certain way from physical reality. This also means that some of the above described Divine assistance wears away. For the truly righteous this divestment from reality leads to a more fruitful and pure interaction with holiness. Indeed, there are many recorded instances of great Torah scholars who had Torah insights revealed to them in their dreams. Rabbi Yaakov of Marosh wrote a whole book of the 89 responses he received via dreams under the title Shailot U’teshuvot min Hashamayim (“Responsa from Heaven”). For us however, sleeping can be a very dangerous time. With only limited control over what goes on in our head, we can sink to very low levels in our dreams.

“On the day of my distress I sought my L‑rd. My wound oozes at night and does not abate; my soul refuses to be consoled … During the night I recall my music, I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches” (Tehillim 77:3&7)

For one, this can serve for us as a lesson in humility. Who are we to have big egos when we reflect on the oozing wound in our own heads most every night? However, we must also know that we are not completely powerless. The most potent “weapon” at our disposal is the Bedtime Shema and the serious reflection, cheshbon nefesh (accounting of the soul), that precedes it, in which we recall the music of Hashem’s oneness and search our own spirit in depth.