By Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz

And he arrived at the place and he slept overnight there, because the sun had set. ~Bereishis 28:11

What is the halachic status of someone who is asleep? Is the person in any way obligated in mitzos or responsible for their actions when they are asleep? Are they considered present or is it as if they are not there? As we will see, the poskim discuss these questions and different halachos and situations have different standards and definitions.

Counting Someone Who Is Asleep Toward a Minyan

The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 55:6) rules that a sleeping person can count as the tenth man for a minyan. The Beis Yosef presents three arguments that it is sufficient to be physically present to count toward a minyan, even though the person is not conscious. First, he quotes his rebbi, the Mahari Beirav, who compares a sleeping person to someone in the middle of his silent Shemoneh Esrei, who still counts toward a minyan even though he cannot answer amein or pay close attention to the shaliach tzibbur. Second, there is an opinion in the Gemara that an infant counts toward a minyan even though he has no understanding of his surroundings. Third, he argues, we count people present even though we see that they are just idly talking to their neighbors and not paying any attention to the davening. A sleeping person should be no different. The Magen Avraham (55:8) accepts the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch and allows a sleeping person to count toward a minyan. He cites others who believe that we can even count three or four sleeping people toward a minyan, as long as the majority of the ten men are awake. However, the Magen Avraham rejects this extension, on the grounds that the main reason to count a sleeping person is the allowance to count a baby toward a minyan, which the Gemara makes clear is a leniency specific to the tenth man.

On the other hand, the Taz (55:4) rejects the Shulchan Aruch’s ruling entirely. He argues that a sleeping person cannot be compared to someone in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei, who can stand silently and be yotzei the recitation of Kedusha through shomei’a k’oneh. Second, while there is an opinion in the Gemara that an infant can count toward a minyan, we do not pasken like that opinion. Additionally, it is possible that someone asleep, who is in a state of tumah, is worse than an awake baby. Furthermore, the Taz argues that if there are people talking during davening and not paying any attention, they would also not count toward the minyan. We certainly cannot derive halacha from “the foolish people whose sin is great.”

The Mishna Berura (55:34) rules that one should wake up a person who is sleeping to help make a minyan, at least to the point that he is dozing rather than in a deep slumber. In the Bei’ur Halacha, he remains uncertain whether one can rely on the sleeping person in an instance where it would be impossible to wake him up.

Obligations and Responsibility While Asleep — Rav Shlomo Zalman’s Psak

While the poskim debate whether a sleeping person can count toward a minyan, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo, Tefillah Miluim 12) writes that it is obvious that while a person is sleeping, he is exempt from all obligations, both mitzvos asei and mitzvos lo ta’asei, just as a shoteh, someone with diminished mental capacity, is exempt from all mitzvos. Therefore, Rav Shlomo Zalman paskened that a person is not obligated to wake someone who, if he continues to sleep, will miss the opportunity to fulfill a mitzvah or will even passively violate a negative mitzvah. Many have discussed Rav Shlomo Zalman’s, chiddush. Here, we present a number of relevant sources and how they can be understood from different perspectives. The Gemara in Berachos (13b) explicitly states that if someone is asleep he should be awakened in order to recite the first pasuk of Kriyas Shema. The clear implication is that although one might be asleep, he remains obligated in the mitzvah, and must therefore be awakened in order to fulfill it. However, Rav Shlomo Zalman points out that Rashi (s.v. BePsuka) says that this is referring to a person who was dozing but not in a deep sleep. If one is semi-conscious, he is still chayav in mitzvos and therefore must be awakened in order to perform them properly. The Rema (Y.D. 372:1) rules that if a kohen is sleeping in a house where a person dies, he must be awakened so that he can leave the house. The clear implication of this is that a kohen can be in violation of the prohibition of becoming tamei from a dead body even when he is sleeping.

Rav Shlomo Zalman is reported to have deflected this question by asserting that there is in fact no prohibition for the kohen to remain in the house with the dead person while sleeping. When he stays, however, he is in constant contact with tumah (as even an inanimate object contracts tumah by being in the same room as the dead person). The reason we are required to wake him does not relate to any prohibition that he is violating, but rather to Hashem’s desire that kohanim not become tamei. While sleeping, he is not violating any formal prohibition, but is clearly becoming tamei, against the will of Hashem.

The Sha’arei Teshuvah (O.C. 639) cites the Birkei Yosef, who writes that when two people share a sukkah that does not have enough room for both of them at the same time, they should alternate nights sleeping in the sukkah, or each sleep half of the night in the sukkah. Some suggested that one person could go to sleep in the sukkah, and then while he was asleep, the second person could pull his friend’s bed out of the sukkah, and go to sleep himself. It would not be a problem to remove the first person since he is asleep and at that point exempt from the mitzvah of sleeping in the sukkah. However, Rav Shlomo Zalman argued that the Birkei Yosef never made such a suggestion because one cannot go to sleep in a sukkah knowing in advance that he will be removed. Although a sleeping person is not obligated in mitzvos, one cannot go to sleep in order to put himself in a position to avoid such an obligation.

Practical Application

Rav Shlomo Zalman’s psak is applicable in many common situations. For example, if a person is asleep when the last time to say Shema or daven is approaching, there is no obligation to wake the person since he is exempt from mitzvos while sleeping. Similarly, if a person is sleeping while wearing a four-cornered garment without tzitzis, there is no obligation to wake him or carefully remove the garment. If someone went to sleep when no sukkah was available, there is no need to wake him if one becomes available. Moreover, it is even permissible to move a sleeping person out of a sukkah, provided he did not go to sleep with the assumption that he will be moved. Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld (Salmas Chaim 226) rules that one should wake up a friend who is either sleeping on his stomach or back, as sleeping in these positions is in violation of the Gemara (Berachos 13b). However, according to Rav Shlomo Zalman, there would be no such requirement.

According to Rav Shlomo Zalman, it would follow that a person cannot go to sleep in an empty house if he knows that while he is asleep he will be alone with a woman in violation of yichud. Although a sleeping person does not violate any prohibition, he may not go to sleep knowing that it will put him in a situation that violates the Torah. Rav Shlomo Zalman adds one very important point. Even though a person is exempt from all mitzvos while asleep, nevertheless, it is often correct to wake a person to perform a mitzvah. Although someone who is sleeping is not considered to be neglecting a mitzvah, he is also not actively fulfilling it and certainly does not receive the credit or reward for doing so. Therefore, it is generally assumed that a person would appreciate being woken up to avoid missing the opportunity to perform the mitzvah.