Digital Maggid
ויקץ יעקב צשנתו ויאנמר
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said (Gen 22:16)
Yikatz Yaakov m’shanato (Yaakov awoke from his sleep) — the entire 40 years that Yaakov studied at the Beis Medrish of Shem and Eber, he did not sleep, so that his service to Hashem Yisboroch would not be interrupted. When Yaakov arrived “Bamakom ha-hu“ (at that place) when he was a fugitive, he saw the angels of the Lord ascending and descending in a dream. Yikatz Yaakov m’shanato, Yaakov awoke [for the] first [time], vayomer, and said, “ochn yesh hashem bamakom hazeh,” (“Indeed, Gd is in this place,”) — this means that even in sleep, one can serve the Master of the Universe — “v’anochi lo y’da’ati” and I knew nothing of this the entire 40 years that I spent at the Beis Medrish of Shem and Eber. (Ohev Yisroel)
So Jacob studied for forty years, day and night, never wanting to spend one moment that was not in service to heaven. But when he finally did sleep, he had this vision and he came to realize that even sleep, he was still serving heaven. So the good news is when we devote ourselves to our studies and to serving heaven, even our “down time” serves.
The bad news is that if we are sleep-walking, even our imagined service to heaven is just a dream.
