Judaism |
Kislev 6, 5770 / November 23, '09 | |
|
Published: 05/24/09, 11:19 AM
Is it Worth Losing Sleep Over?by Rabbi Aron Moss Mistakes we can correct on Shavuot. Question There is a Jewish saying, "There are two things you should never worry about - a problem you can't fix, because you can't fix it, and a problem you can fix, because you can fix it." And yet, how many hours have we wasted losing sleep for no good reason? We correct this mistake on Shavuot. If we have lost sleep over things we can't change, then we must counterbalance this by losing sleep over something meaningful. If we have wasted nights on needless worries, we must make up for it by staying up all night doing something productive. So, once a year we conquer fatigue and study Torah all night. We spend an entire night being absorbed in Divine wisdom. Think of it as insomnia with a cause. The great Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria, made a bold promise: "Anyone who stays awake the whole night of Shavuot studying Torah, is guaranteed that no harm will befall them in the coming year." Spend one sleepless night preoccupied with matters of the soul and you will be spared the worries that cause sleepless nights for an entire year. Sivan 1, 5769 / 24 May 09
|
Check It Out | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ![]() |