When & How Much to Sleep?

Sleep: When and How Much

One should not sleep during the day longer than what is called sheinas ha’sus, the duration of time that a horse sleeps. Daytime is for learning Torah, not for sleeping. There are various opinions in halachah whether sheinas ha’sus is just over three minutes, a half-hour, an hour, or three hours. The two widely-held opinions are a half-hour and an hour. There are some exceptions, such as if one has a need to take a nap in order to serve Hashem better, if they are ill or overly tired. But as a rule, people should sleep at night, not during the day. Shabbos may be an exception to this rule, and there is a whole discussion about this amongst poskim which is beyond the scope of this paragraph.  Eight hours of sleep a night is considered sufficient for most people; a person shouldn’t sleep less than six hours a night. A melamed or a morah, a person who teaches Jewish children Torah, or any employee, may not stay up late if it will affect their performance the next day. The general rule about staying up late is hakol lefi mah shehu adam, it all depends on the person’s nature and their general level of performance–as well as the quality of their Torah learning the following day when they are sleep-deprived.

https://halacha2go.com?number=228

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.