Torah Reading: Balak

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Your Extra Hour

by Rabbi Yaakov Salomon

Imagine if we needed less sleep...

Published: August 23, 2009

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Visitor Comments: 9

(9) Grace Fishenfeld, August 26, 2009 2:48 AM

Grateful

I do get sleepy. If I sit on the tufted leather couch in my den, I begin to nod away. When I get to bed, thoughts about the work I am doing stimulate me but I finally fall asleep, after I peacefully thank God for the life I lead with my loved ones and hope for Shalom. That settles me down. I Ican't wait to awaken early in the morning wash, say the mada anee and rush into my studio and work until my husband wakens and begs for food. We have breakfast and I feed two ally cats who found us. After I prepare the days food and place it in the oven on timer, I return to work. I respect my husbands wishes to stop, get into a bathing suit and go for a swim at our town pool. There I get the chance to talk to interesting people, make dates, settle worldly conflicts and dry out on a lounge chair with a book or newspaper. On the way home, we do essential shopping. Phone calls are made to children and friends when we get home to a cooked meal at a table that I set before we go swimming. Neighborly visits happen in the laundry room and in the hallway of our co-op apartment building. Business, obligations and mail is attended to in the evening after which we have time to watch about two and a half hours of TV News, Drama and Talk, sitting on the tufted leather couch. That's All Folks!

(8) AZ Wildcat, August 26, 2009 12:25 AM

I'd rather have six solid hours of sleep....

than 8 hours of intermittent sleep, as I do now. So I woulld use the two extra hours to read, get together for lunch with a friend, and/or break up my workday a little better.

(7) Bill Merrill, August 25, 2009 8:39 PM

appreciate existance

An hour or two extra each day would be great because you could take the time to appreciate life itself. Go for a walk in the park, paying attention to the plants and birds and colors. Pay attention to the feeling of energy going thru your body as you walk among God's creation. Smile. If it's raining or too cold, read a good book that you've always wanted to read. One of the problems with life today is that we never have time to appreciate the reality of our own existence. If you take the time to do this, it will make the rest of your day better, too. I try to do this already, but if I had an extra hour a day I could do it more easily and reliably.

(6) Carla, August 25, 2009 8:26 PM

so true!!!

(5) ruth housman, August 25, 2009 8:19 PM

spending time

It seems my sleep schedule is somewhat erratic because I often wake in the night with an idea, or a poem, or something I want to do, and usually it's related to my writing life. I am not sure I need an extra hour because I think we do make time for those things that are important to us. It's something my father said and I feel its deep truth. Sleep is a wonderful gift. I know people who are very upset because they can't get to sleep. For them, it's a real problem and sends them to doctors seeking relief. We need to dream. Sleep is very important. It's called REM sleep, that portion of sleep that brings us true relief. Sleep is a huge topic. Why do we need to sleep at all? And so is rest. Not only how we get rest but what we do with the rest of our time here.

(4) Rosen, August 24, 2009 2:07 AM

the comfort of sleeping in

We usually do feel comfort when it comes to sleeping in, and on the mornings we have to be somewhere, what I do is set my alarm clock (pressing the snooze button every 7-9 mins.) for at least an hour or two before I decide to get up - I do find enough time to get ready for the day and be on my way for whatever I have planned that morning, either work or an appointment...All in all, we must balance our time wisely with more or less hours. It doesn't have to be about so much to do in so little time, or so little to do in so much time.

(3) SusanE, August 23, 2009 8:48 PM

It could be Genetic, more than likely a Hard Work Gene.

My husband functioned on 5 to 6 hours of sleep at night. We got up at 4:30 each morning and he was off to work by 5:15. He is an construction worker. Home by 5:00 and dinner, attended to his other business, back home again, watched TV and bed by 11 most nights. He was never tired. Neither were the other men who worked construction. They worked hard. The old saying energy creates more energy.~~~~~~~~~~ At my Vet's office recently someone asked how he got up at 5:00 each morning to administer to local farm animals before coming into the office to see domestic animals and do surgery at 8:00. They said they would be too tired to rise that early. The Vet said If you work hard you don't have time to be tired, "Work with me one week and I'll garantee you will sleep when you go to bed at night". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Grandfather would get up in the morning before sun-up and work in his woodshop over the garage. Grandma would sleep till around 6:30 and call him in for breakfast before he went to work at his job. He said breakfast tasted better after working awhile. So......my husband ran another business with his extra time, the vet raises draft horses and works longer hours with his extra time, grandpa did woodworking with his extra hours. I spend my time writing comments like this and cooking for friends with my extra hours couple of hours. Sitting on the porch during sunrise is another good 30 minutes spent with the other 1/2 hour walking. Shopping early in the morning is a great thing to do before the crowds of the day. My neighbor is a nutritionist and she runs for an hour about 5 every morning before driving to work.

(2) Anonymous, August 23, 2009 1:51 PM

sleep quickly

I think it was Horav Yehoshua Leib Diskind who consistently slept only two to three hours a night. When questioned about this he replied, "Some people can run quickly, some people read quickly. My talent is that I can sleep quickly." Of course, he spent all of his extra hours learning Torah and doing good deeds.

(1) Anonymous, August 23, 2009 1:12 PM

what I would do

pray calmly and with real intent

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About the Author

Rabbi Yaakov Salomon

More by this Author >

Rabbi Yaakov Salomon, C.S.W. is a noted psychotherapist, in private practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. for over 25 years. He is a Senior Lecturer and the Creative Director of Aish Hatorah's Discovery Productions. He is also an editor and author for the Artscroll Publishing Series and a member of the Kollel of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath.

Rabbi Salomon is co-author, with Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of the best selling book "What the Angel Taught You; Seven Keys to Life Fulfillment," (Mesorah), and is also the co-producer of the highly-acclaimed film, "Inspired."

Click here to order Yaakov Salomon's new book, Salomon Says: 50 Stirring and Stimulating Stories.

In these marvelous stories -- brimming with wit, understanding, a touch of irony and a large helping of authentic Torah perspective -- we will walk with a renowned and experienced psychotherapist and popular author through the pathways of contemporary life: its crowded sidewalks, its pedestrian malls, and the occasional dead end street. This is a walk through our lives that will be fun, entertaining -- and eye-opening. In our full -- sometimes overfull -- and complex lives, Yaakov Salomon is a welcome and much-needed voice of sanity and reason.

His speaking, writing and musical talents have delighted audiences from Harvard to Broadway and everything in between. Rabbi Salomon shares his life with his wife, Temmy, and their unpredictable family.