Q&A: Excessive Sleep
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Excessive Sleep
Question
What is the difference between heavy alcohol consumption, smoking cannabis, and excessive sleep? The problem I find with the first two is disconnecting from the world, and I’m trying to understand why relatively excessive sleep is not the same issue.
Answer
I’m not well-versed in all these matters. If we’re talking only about disconnecting from the world, then there really is no difference. If there is more long-term harm, then of course the situation is different.
With God’s help, 3 Sivan 5780
In the Talmud in Gittin, in the chapter “One Who Is Seized,” they distinguished between a state of sleep, in which “the potion is in our hands,” since at any moment the person can be awakened, and the state of “one who is seized by kordeikos,” in which the loss of mental capacity cannot be stopped, and therefore at that time the person is considered insane. Worse than that is the condition of someone drunk or drugged, since these lead to addiction and deterioration into severe states, and create danger both to the person in that condition and to others—for example, severe road accidents caused by someone driving under drugs or alcohol.
Sleep in a reasonable measure is essential for healthy functioning of body and mind. In situations of excessive sleep, one should be concerned about depression, which brings a person to feel the need to escape reality, and that is not something good to sink into. A person should have joy in life and cope with reality and its problems. That is why he is placed in the world: to elevate it and improve it, not to sink into the mud.
With blessings, Guy Shlopan