​Sleep. 


What is sleep? What's the purpose of it?
I look at the word sleep (in Hebrew ) sheina שינה and I see that it's very similar to the word for change (in Hebrew) shinui שינוי.

When we sleep we give our bodies and our minds the opportunity to "stock-up", to become rejuvenated and re-energized for a new day.  Our neshama (soul) actually goes back to HaKadosh Baruchu, it gets an infusion before coming back to us upon awakening.

Sleep allows the path to change.

When I have a hard day I go to sleep, and I tell myself that this sleep will bring me to a new day, a new beginning. Yes, sleep is a tool that can actually bring me to change.

What if I don't get any sleep?

It's a problem. I don't give myself a fundamental ingredient in the process of growth. Really, sleep has to be on the list of top priority. 

What if all I want to do is sleep? I'm feeling low, unmotivated, down? I don't want to face a certain reality.

It too is problem, I hold myself back from going forward. The purpose of sleep is so that we can wake up with strength to serve Hashem and trust that He can give me what I need to fulfill my potential for today. 

In both these circumstances I don't give myself what I need to make change happen or to get it started. 

Before I sleep at night I pray that whatever sleep I get-and we all know that at different stages of life the amount is and isn't in our control-should be exactly what my mind and body needs to restock for the next day. I pray that the sleep should be a catalyst for change, the pathway to a new beginning, a new day.

So what is sleep?

It's a fundamental tool. It's vital for my mental, emotional, physical and yes, spiritual well-being.

Sleep allows the pathway to change.

​Hashem came to us in the Sinai Desert (Midbar Sinai) in this week's parsha, Bamidbar, and told Moshe to "count us"- We were counted individually and counted according to our families. 

In the desert there is nothing.  No city. No big markets or stores. No buildings. It's desolate, apparently bare.

And in that is where Hashem counted us.

It was before entering into the Land of Israel, before Zebulun became a great tribe of merchants or before Asher produced rich oil. This was before Gad, Dan-were mighty warriors. Before we conquered the land. No one was yet a scholar or a great agricultural producer. And there in the desert, without working or settling, there Hashem counted us. 

There He told us, "You are dear to me, I love you. YOU count, just for being you. Just for the fact that are part of this nation, part of a family. Just for you, not what you do.

I'm not exactly sure why they call it in English the book of "Numbers" . במידבר-Bamidbar means "In the desert"...

Desert- Midbar, it's the place where at last we can "medaber מדבר" talk. 

The desert, where there are no distractions, extras or thrills, where there is nothing nor no one to compare him to, her to, you to. Where you find satiety in water and have the opportunity to see beauty-raw, pure beauty that exists in nature untouched by man. The desert, where there is nothing except for a massive space, a huge possibility to fill yourself up with the beauty of silence. Where you have the space and the quiet to listen to the words of Hashem, the words of your heart, the words of a loved one. It's the place where one is and not what one does.

Desert. Midbar. Medaber. Talk

Take one minute of your day and put yourself in the "desert". Close your eyes and block everything else out. 

Talk.

Talk to yourself, to your neshama.
Talk to Hashem.
Talk to someone you love after you turned everything else off.









I'm not exactly sure why they call it in English the book of "Numbers" . במידבר-Bamidbar means "In the desert"...

Desert- Midbar, it's the place where at last we can "medaber מדבר" talk. 

The desert, where there are no distractions, extras or thrills, where there is nothing nor no one to compare him to, her to, you to. Where you find satiety in water and have the opportunity to see beauty-raw, pure beauty that exists in nature untouched by man. The desert, where there is nothing except for a massive space, a huge possibility to fill yourself up with the beauty of silence. Where you have the space and the quiet to listen to the words of Hashem, the words of your heart, the words of a loved one. It's the place where one is and not what one does.

Desert. Midbar. Medaber. Talk

Take one minute of your day and put yourself in the "desert". Close your eyes and block everything else out. 

Talk.

Talk to yourself, to your neshama.
Talk to Hashem.
Talk to someone you love after you turned everything else off.