The Spiritual Practice of Sleep

Elie Spitz is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation B’nai Israel of Tustin, CA, where he served for more than three decades as senior rabbi. He participated as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee of Law and Standards and as a Global Justice Fellow for the American Jewish World Service. He taught at the American Jewish University in LA, and undergraduates at Chapman University.

A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Boston University School of Law, Spitz is the author of four books including Does the Soul Survive?: Jewish Views of the Afterlife, Past Lives, and Living with Purpose (2000, 2015—sold close to 25,000 copies and has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese), and with Rabbi Jack Riemer, Duets on Psalms: Drawing New Meanings from Ancient Words (2023).

He lives in Orange County, CA.

“From a master of expansive dreams and the inner vision revealed with eyes closed, Rabbi Elie Spitz offers us a soft pillow of wisdom, insight, direction and comfort. Read this book slowly, and translate its instructions into life. We will all sleep sounder, and arise in the morning renewed.” —Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, vice president, American Jewish University; author of God of Becoming and Relationship

“We human beings spend about a third of our lives in sleep, but the vast majority of us think remarkably little about it. Finally, we have a book that combines a clear description of the science of sleep with what we can learn from biblical and later Jewish stories about sleep and dreams as well as Jewish practices that can help us enhance our lives through ritual practices before going to bed at night and upon waking up in the morning. A true gift for us all.” —Elliot Dorff, philosopher and bioethicist; author of Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics

“A remarkable book you will want to keep beside you on the nightstand. Rabbi Spitz masterfully weaves ancient Jewish wisdom together with modern scientific insight to guide us toward more restful sleep and deeper inner peace. Filled with sacred texts, prayers, meditations, breathing exercises, and calming nightly rituals, this book teaches us how to lay down our burdens and awaken restored. We learn how sleep repairs us, body and soul, and how our dreams can become our teachers. Rabbi Spitz invites us to view sleep as a sacred companion, a source of healing, wisdom, comfort, and renewal. This is a book you will want to return to again and again.” —Rabbi Naomi Levy, author of Einstein and the Rabbi

“With characteristic depth, wisdom, and humanity, Rabbi Elie Spitz awakens us to the power of rest as both a biological necessity and a sacred human experience. Drawing from personal practice, Jewish spiritual wisdom, and contemporary sleep science, this book is a practical and soulful guide to making our nights more peaceful and days more intentional.” —Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior rabbi of LA’s IKAR and author of The Amen Effect