Balaak 5772

When messengers ask the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites, he tells them “spend the night here, and I shall reply to you as God may instruct me” (Numbers 22:8).  In other words, “I’ll sleep on it.”

It makes good sense to sleep on a big decision.  So often, we rush into things because someone else expects an answer, not because we’re ready to choose.  We seek to please others and, in our haste, might not make the best choice for ourselves.  The pressure is exacerbated in our microwaveable, text-messaging, “buy-now-limited-time,” drive-thru culture.

While quick decisions can often be insightful (see Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink), I find that “sleeping on it” gives my unconscious the chance to mull a choice, to play with possibilities, and imagine outcomes.  I may go to bed unclear, but I often know exactly what to do or say upon waking.  I wonder whether the voice we attribute to the unconscious is the same one the ancients heard as God.

This is a lesson taught by Shabbat, revolutionary in our time:  things can wait.  Tomorrow will come.  So slow down, allow your mind to refresh itself.  Sleep on it.