Vayaytzay

Its is written, “And Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “I know, the presence of G-d is in this place.”
 
To sustain ourselves in life we need to eat, sleep and work.  It is easy to get subsumed and even overwhelmed with what is our next meal, will we get the next raise whether, are we are exercising enough, organizing your clothes closet, getting the latest smart phone….  As soon as we wake in the morning we were assaulted by things too numerous to count that need to get done during the course of a single day…. and we forget why we are alive.
 
Rabbi Meir of Premishlan made the observation that the spiritual person thinks of G-d the very moment that he opens his eyes. The spiritual person is aware that sleep has restored his energy and gives him power to pursue his spiritual growth. Such energy makes food more palatable, makes love more meaningful and makes the day – each passing moment -much richer.
 
I can wake from sleep and then turn over or not, bury my head in a pillow and sleep again until the rising of demands forces this side of bed, soccer league unwillingly. That is why the great Shulchan Aruch, containing the everyday directions of life begins with the words, “When you rise in the morning get our of bed like a lion, ready, eager, to do G-d’s will.

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