In This Moment: A Rabbi's Notebook
Among the many similarities of Israel and America’s autocrat wannabes is their preoccupation with sleep.
Bibi is basing his reelection campaign completely on the claim that he was asleep on the job on October 7, not awakened when the first alarms were coming through and therefore not responsible for Israel’s unconscionably tardy response. Meanwhile, As Trump prepares for an active campaign season (if any candidate invites him), he actually does fall asleep at seemingly every televised meeting and is trying to convince us that he is the embodiment of vigor. He’s even changed his hair again in an attempt to look younger. With Trump it’s whether we can trust our eyes. With Netanyahu it’s our noses - and his accusation of being deliberately not awakened doesn’t pass the smell test.
Earlier this week, the Times of Israel demonstrated that no matter when he was woken up on the fateful day, Netanyahu’s greatest malpractice was committed in the months and years before, with his secret plan to funnel money from Qatar to Hamas that allowed Hamas to prepare for the Oct. 7 attack right under Bibi’s nose.
And on Friday, Israel’s Channel 12 ran a report detailing what the Prime Minister did - and did not do - in the fateful hours after he was awakened. What he didn’t do was contact the IDF and Shin Bet chefs for hours. More malpractice.
See below1 the Times of Israel’s summary of the Channel 12 piece.
Much like Ben Franklin, the Talmudic sages felt it best for people to awaken early - preferably before a massive attack from Gaza. Had he been awake at the wheel, Israel would be all the more “healthy, wealthy and wise” today.
See this classic passage describing exemplary character traits one should have, Pirke Avot 6:6. Noteworthy among those traits, or middot as they are called in the field of Jewish practical ethics (Mussar) is Miyut Shayna, “a minimum of sleep.”
The book of Proverbs also recommends a minimum of sleep, warning often (13:4, 10:4, 18:9, and many more2) that laziness leads to impoverishment. The book is obsessed with the consequences of laziness and procrastination. It viewed the ant as an exemplar, who works ceaselessly without a leader barking out orders.
ReformJudaism.org shares more commentary on this concept:
The commentator Ralbag (Rabbi Levi ben Gershom) explains that with a minimum amount of sleep and relaxation one’s periods of poverty and want will soon pass.
As a Jewish ethical value, the concept of miyut shanah encourages an individual to maintain a minimum amount of sleep in order to be wakeful for the study of Torah. As Rabbi Reuven Bulka has written, “An individual who is excited about Torah opportunities will want to stretch the day. One way of doing it is by sleeping less.” (As A Tree By the Waters, p.255)
A caution is included in the comment by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, “In order to gain time for studies, one who is desirous of acquiring Torah wisdom must limit the hours of sleep to the minimum that is necessary for the preservation of health.”
The story of a lazybones’ attitude to study is found in the Midrash. “When a lazybones is told, ‘Your teacher is in the city nearby; go and learn Torah from your teacher,’ the lazybones replies, ‘But I fear there will be a lion on the road.’ When the lazybones is told, ‘Your teacher is in your township, get up and go to your teacher,’ the lazybones replies, ‘I fear that the lion may be in the streets.’ When the lazybones is told, ‘Behold, your teacher is at home,’ the lazybones replies, ‘If I go to my teacher’s home, I am certain to find the door bolted.’ Then the lazybones is told, ‘But the door is open.’ At that point, when the lazybones is at a loss to reply, the lazybones says, ‘Whether the door is open or bolted, I want to sleep a bit more.’” (The Book of Legends, Sefer Ha-Aggadah, Bialik and Ravnitzky 429:267)
If you are interested in what Jewish law has to say about sleep, you can check Halachipedia to find the whens, wheres, how much, what to wear, what sleeping positions and who else can be in the room4. It’s fascinating - if a bit obsessive.
I see this middah not as a call for sleep deprivation but a recognition that every waking moment needs to be used wisely. It’s a call against laziness, somnolence and procrastination.
It’s a call to Netanyahu to take responsibility not only for his waking hours, but for the fate of his nation even while he is asleep. And it’s a call to Trump to stop lying and lying down on the job - and to cease hiding his illnesses from the American people.
As an aside, procrastination actually has deep Jewish roots. There was Moses, who lingered on the mountain for forty days, and Esther, who delayed and fasted three days before meeting with the king. El Al used to stand for “Every Landing Always Late.” There is little that we know about the Messiah, except that they tarry.5
So what is at the root of procrastination? We call it Jewish Time.
According to the Urban Dictionary, Jewish Time means not perfectly on time; possibly somewhat late, but no harm is done as a result. Other ethnicities have similar ideas. A clergy colleague has often described “Lutheran Time” in the same manner. The implication is that there is no need to be exactly on time, and starting a little late is acceptable. The term comes from Jewish culture, which is often relaxed about punctuality. Go to a traditional synagogue and see how many are there at the beginning of services and you’ll see what I’m saying. There is a built-in build-up of 20-30 minutes before you get to the main prayers.
Leo Baeck, the early 20th century German rabbi, always arrived on time to his lodge meetings, but often at the beginning it was just him and the treasurer. One day he decided to bring to a vote at the very beginning of the meeting a proposal to provide lots of money for the publication of a new Bible translation by Martin Buber. Only two of them there, and they voted to approve, and none of the others were ever late again.
You know what’s even later than Jewish time? Rabbi time. But I try to arrive on time for things when I can. I don’t want to be referred to as “the late Rabbi Hammerman.”
But despite a history rich in procrastination, Judaism also understands that a minute wasted is a minute that is gone forever. The Torah reminds employers that, “the wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning.” When we waste time or delay, it doesn’t just affect us, it affects everybody else too.
As Hillel said, “If not now, when.”
I wish Netanyahu had asked that question while he dozed on his feet on October 7 - long after he was supposedly awakened. Could have used an extra cup of coffee.
Times of Israel report on the Channel 12 story
Book of Proverbs, on laziness (from Open Bible):
Consequences of Laziness
Consequence 1: You will bring harm to yourself.
15:19 – The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
10:4-5 – A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in the summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
19:15 – Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
Consequence 2: You will cause harm to others.
Best-case scenario: 10:26 – Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
Worst-case scenario: 18:9 – Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
Social scientist Charles Murray identifies what he calls the “New Lower class: pleasant, inoffensive folks who consume more than they produce…They may break no laws and break no windows, but by not contributing, they are destroying.” A society can absorb the underproduction of a few people, but when that number reaches into the millions, the consequences are high for everyone.
Characteristics of Laziness
Characteristic 1: You have trouble starting your work.
24:30-34 – I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
14:23 – In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Alexander MacLaren, a nineteenth century Scottish preacher, says this about procrastination: “No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant.”
Characteristic 2: You have trouble finishing your work.
12:27 – The slothful will not roast his game; but the diligent man will get precious wealth.
20:4 – The sluggard does not plow in autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
19:24/26:15 – The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
Characteristic 3: You have made an idol out of leisure.
21:17 – Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
John Piper famously challenges the American dream of retiring early and seeing the rest of life as one uninterrupted vacation on the Florida beaches. When God calls us to give an account for the last 20 years of our lives, our massive seashell collection won’t seem very impressive.
Characteristic 4: You are undisciplined in your sleep.
6:9-11 (24:33) – How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
19:15 – Slothfulness casts into deep sleep; the idle person will be hungry.
20:13 – Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes and have plenty.
26:14 – As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.
Characteristic 5: You are prone to making excuses.
22:13/26:13 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”
Characteristic 6: You are restless with unsatisfied desires.
13:4 – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
21:25 – The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.
Bruce Waltke writes, “The appetite keeps normal people alive by driving them to work to satisfy it, but it kills the sluggard because his hands refuse to satisfy it. His unfulfilled craving kills him both by starvation and frustration.”
Characteristic 7: You are wise in your own eyes.
26:16 – A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.
One college professor wrote, “Even in engineering classes, many of the U.S. students expect to be given A’s for inhaling and exhaling, and look at you like you have four heads if you suggest that perhaps coming to class, doing homework, and studying might improve their grade.” Our pride and over-exalted self-image has made us lazy.
Halachipedia, on sleep:
Maimonides’ 12th (of 13) principle of faith:
