What does Judaism have to say about sleep? 3a - staying awake

(2) The man [who is in charge] of the Temple Mount would go around to each and every guard. In front of him there were lit torches and any guard who was not standing [on guard], the man of the Temple Mount would say to him [the sleeping guard] "Peace onto you." If it was apparent that he [the guard] was sleeping he would hit him with his stick. He even had permission to burn his [the sleeping guard's] clothes. [If that occurred] they [the people on the outsde] would say "What is that noise in the Temple Courtyard?" [They were told that] it is the voice of a Levi being beaten and whose clothes are being burned because he slept on guard duty. Rebbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: "They once, found my mother's brother sleeping and they burned his cloak."

We learned in a mishna there: the officer of the Temple Mount would make his rounds to each and every guard with torches lit before him. And any guard who did not stand, and say to him “officer of the Temple Mount

- peace unto you!” was recognised as sleeping and the office would strike him with his staff and he also had permission to burn his garment. And they [the people of Jerusalem] would say: what is that noise in the courtyard? a Levi being beaten and his clothing set alight because he fell asleep on his watch. R. Eliezer ben Yaakov says: One time they found my mother’s brother sleeping on his watch and they burned his garment.

Rabbi Chiya bar Abba would say when they reached this mishna: Fortunate are the earlier ones for even for [a sin committed through] coercion of sleep they would execute judgement. For a sin not committed through coercion of sleep how much more so [would they execute judgement.]

MISHNA: [...] On Yom Kippur eve at nightfall, they would not allow him to eat a great deal because food induces sleep

MISHNA: If the High Priest sought to sleep at night, the young priests would snap the middle [tzerada] finger against the thumb before him, and they would say to him every so often: My Master, High Priest. Stand from your bed and chill yourself once on the floor and overcome your drowsiness. And they would engage him in various ways until the time would arrive to slaughter the daily offering.

GEMARA: [...] the prominent men of Jerusalem would not sleep the entire night but instead engaged in Torah study, so that the High Priest would hear the sound of noise in the city and sleep would not overcome him in the silence of the sleeping city. It was taught in a baraita that Abba Shaul said: They would do so even in the outlying areas and stay awake all night in acknowledgment of the Temple; however, the result was that they would sin, as the men and women would participate in games together to pass the time, leading to transgression. Abaye said, and some say it was Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak who said: Interpret that statement as referring to Neharde’a, as Elijah the Prophet said to Rav Yehuda, brother of Rav Salla Ḥasida: You have said and wondered: Why has the Messiah not come? Why is that surprising? Isn’t today Yom Kippur, and relations were had with several virgins in Neharde’a, as the men and women stayed awake all night and that led to promiscuity? Rav Yehuda said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, say about those sins committed by the Jewish people? He said: This is what God said:

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya said: When we would rejoice in the Celebration of the Place of the Drawing of the Water, we did not see sleep in our eyes the entire Festival. [description of the celebrations]

Really? But didn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan say: One who took an oath that I will not sleep three days, one flogs him immediately for taking an oath in vain, and he may sleep immediately because it is impossible to stay awake for three days uninterrupted. Rather, this is what Rabbi Yehoshua is saying: We did not experience the sense of actual sleep, because they would merely doze on each other’s shoulders. In any case, they were not actually awake for the entire week.

(7) Rabbi Chanina said: || In the third month the day is double the night, and the Israelites slept until two hours of the day, for sleep on the day of the (feast of) 'Azereth is pleasant, the night being short. And Moses went forth and came to the camp of the Israelites, and he aroused the Israelites from their sleep, saying to them: Arise ye from your sleep, for behold, your God desires to give the Torah to you. Already the bridegroom wishes to lead the bride and to enter the bridal chamber. The hour has come for giving you the Torah, as it is said, "And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God" (Ex. xix. 17). And the Holy One, blessed be He, also went forth to meet them; like a bridegroom who goes forth to meet the bride, so the Holy One, blessed be He, went forth to meet them to give them the Torah, as it is said, "O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people" (Ps. lxviii. 7).

(4) Rabbi Chananya ben Chakhinai says: One who stays awake at night, and one who wanders on a road alone, and one who turns his heart to idleness, such a one is liable for [forfeiture of] his life.

The Gemara questions this interpretation: And if he did not give a measurement to the prohibition created by the vow, but rather prohibited himself from sleeping for an unlimited period of time, do we let him be until he inevitably transgresses the prohibition: He shall not profane, by falling asleep? But didn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan say that if one says: I hereby take an oath that I will not sleep for three days, the court flogs him for taking an oath in vain, and he may sleep immediately, as he is incapable of fulfilling his oath? Here too, if the prohibition has no time frame, the vow should not take effect.

Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that with regard to anyone who cries at night, his voice is heard due to the ambient silence. Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that in the case of anyone who cries at night, the stars and the constellations cry with him. Alternatively, the term “at night” indicates that in the case of anyone who cries at night, one who hears his voice is touched by his suffering and cries with him. There was an incident involving one woman, the neighbor of Rabban Gamliel, whose son died, and she would cry over his death at night. Rabban Gamliel heard her voice and cried with her until his eyelashes fell out. The next day his students noticed that he had been crying, and they removed the woman from his neighborhood so that Rabban Gamliel could sleep.