Here are a few suggestions to implement before going to sleep:
- Bedtime Shema – There are so many reasons to say this. I’ll just point out two briefly:
- When we sleep, our neshamos leave us and go up to Heaven to be judged. During that time, our bodies are more vulnerable to Kelipot (evil spirits) (This is similar to thieves that wait until you leave the house before they break in). By saying Kriat Shema al HaMita, it helps protect us from them.
- A second reason is because of the beautiful Ribono Shel Olam prayer which precedes Shema where we express our forgiveness to anyone who had wronged us. Constantly forgiving others will hopefully translate to Hashem constantly forgiving us, which we ask for as well.
- Learn a paragraph of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch before you go to sleep. It takes literally a minute and you will learn and accomplish so much.
- Keep a notebook next to your bed and write down something you learned each day. It could be just a line or two. How often do we learn something really beautiful only to forget about it a few weeks later? The Ohr Hachaim says that the Torah you learn and write down come up with you after 120 and stand as your defendants. You can write your own Seifer! I called mine Uvilechticha Vaderech – The Torah I learned along the way. I love it. You will too!
Emuna Daily 