Polyphasic Sleep and Halacha

Question

I recently read an article on polyphasic sleep and I'm quite interested in experimenting with it. The article advises the Uberman approach which advocates 20-30 minute naps every four hours, meaning that you sleep about 2-3 hours per 24 hour period. I'm also interested in trying the Dymaxion approach which advocates 30 minute naps every 6 hours. The interesting thing is that eventually, you reach the point at which you get a full REM cycle every time you take a nap. It seems that from mouths of the people who do this and establish polyphasic sleep patterns, they have more energy and higher alertness.

The first and foremost question is whether one is allowed to do this out of the possibility of self-harm. For this and for the other questions, I'll be consulting my Rav.

Next comes the halachic aspects of berachos and the like. Since I'll only be sleeping 20 to 30 minutes each time, here's where the questions come in.

1. If I'm only sleeping for 20 to 30 minutes, do I wash my hands when I wake?
   • I remember there being something about the minimum length of sleep required in order to wash, and I'm not really sure what that minimum is.
2. When it comes to only sleeping for two or three (depending on sleep schedule) short periods in the night, when should I make my birchos hashachar and birchos hatorah?
   • I'll probably be studying Torah and doing other Torah-related things during the night, possibly before and possibly after chatzos. Let's give an example of this for clarity:
3. Do I just say Krias Shema Al Hamita only the first time I go to bed during the night?

Nap Schedule

  Nap Start Time | Nap End Time 
-----------------|---------------
| 7:40pm         | 8:00pm       |
| 11:40pm        | 12:00am      |
| 3:40am         | 4:00am       |
| 7:40am         | 8:00am       |

Zmanim Schedule

  Zman Name     | Zman Time     
----------------|----------------
| Nightfall     | 8:00pm        |
| Midnight      | 12:00am       |
| Dawn (Alos)   | 4:00am        |

Of course, the contrived example above is overly simplified and isn't necessarily real, but it should help to serve as an example. Can one give an answer on my three questions above given the above example? I'd like to be able to try this, but I need to be clear on what the halacha is so that in my sleeplessness, I don't transgress.

Answer 1

• You wash your hands before davenings and with a bracha only before the shacharit one (assuming you have gone to the bathroom since davening maariv which seems highly likely)

• You never say Birkot Hatorah as you never really take a break. Ideally you can have someone be motzi you in them after olot hashachar.

• You can say Birkot HaShachar starting from chatzot except Hanotein Lesechvi Vina which should only be said after olot hashachar.

• You will never need to say Kriat Shema al HaMitta.

This is all assuming that you sleeps are under 30 minutes.

If they are more than 30 minutes:

• You will wash your hands each time, but only say a bracha on the one closest to davening shacharit.

• You can say Birkot Hashachar after the last sleep that occurs before olot hashachar.

• You say Hamappil before the first sleep that is after tzeit hakochavim.

• You say Birkot HaTorah after each sleep.

Sources: SA OC 4:15 47:13 92:5 and MB 4:30 47:25 47:23 and BH 4:13 and probably some other stuff that I can't find inside right now :)

Answer 2

I am not commenting on Halacha,

however I recal reading that whilst there is a time in which one must sleep before requiring him to wash their hands. I do recal reading that there are poskim who say that if one changes into his pjs. during the day even if he sleeps little he still requires to wash his hands.

Answer 3

I would put this as a comment, but I don't have enough reputation. If anyone's still looking into this, I would recommend a healthier way to get more out of your day, sleeping at around 8pm (or about an hour after nightfall so that you will have time for Maariv and other things that need to be done at night) and waking up at 3 am/4 am will give a very decent 7 to 8 hours of sleep. The reason why this is better than sleeping 8 hours from 11pm until around 6 am, is that this way you'll have some time in the morning without any distractions since everyone's asleep at that time, also since you just woke up, you'll be more fresh and you'll be able to concentrate more. Also, I've heard that from 10 pm to 2 am is the best time to be asleep since it helps you "recover" better. Also, sleeping less can manytimes make you lethargic and while you may get more hours, you'll lose the quality of the hours, adding up to basically the same amount of productivity you had when you slept more hours, but with health risks.