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May 9, 2024

I Sleep But My Heart Wakes: Sleep in Classical Jewish Texts

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Rabbanit Leah Sarna
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Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Associate Director of Education and Director of High School Programs at Drisha. She previously served as Director of Religious Engagement at Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation in Chicago, a leading urban Orthodox congregation.

She was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2018, holds a BA from Yale University in Philosophy & Psychology, and also trained at the SKA Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz, Drisha and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership. Rabbanit Sarna’s published works have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus and MyJewishLearning.

She has lectured in Orthodox synagogues and Jewish communal settings around the world and loves spreading her warm, energetic love for Torah and Mitzvot with Jews in all stages of life.

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Humans spend an incredible amount of our lives sleeping, and when we don’t get enough of it – challenges abound. How do classical Jewish texts conceptualize sleep? Is good sleep a value? Do we cherish it the way we cherish other life-nourishing and pleasant elements of our lives like food and clothing? Or does it represent a human limitation that we should attempt to overcome? What resources does our tradition provide for times in our lives when sleep feels difficult due to small children, anxiety, hormones, workload, etc? Join Rabbanit Leah Sarna for a tour of classical Jewish texts about sleep as we explore these questions.

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Session 1: Categories

Session 2: Categories Continued & Maybe Sleep Is Bad

Session 3: Maybe Sleep is Good & Shabbat

Session 4

Session 1: Source

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Session 2: Source

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Session 3: Source

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Session 4: Source

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