By Kiki Arochas, Opinions Editor
A few months back, I wrote an article called “Go to the Yeshiva Program for You,” where I detailed my transition from the Mazer Yeshiva Programming (MYP) learning program to Isaac Breuer College (IBC). Several friends and some rabbis reached out to me recently asking for a sequel – in effect, an answer to the question: What happened? Did IBC live up to the expectations? So here we are.
My main reason for joining IBC was to get my sleep schedule back on track. My two year tenure in MYP was plagued with constantly arriving late to seder and shiur, as the program at its core is self motivated. While this works for most of the talmidim (students) in the program, I was not what one would call disciplined in this religious regard. I needed a reason outside of God to get up and pray in the morning and get my day started. So, once in IBC, I joined a class called Prayer Seminar.
The concept is simple: The only requirement for the class is that you must arrive on time to Shacharit every day from Monday to Thursday. Should you fail to arrive and drop your phone off before 9:04 AM, you are marked as absent for the day, and attendance is virtually the entirety of your grade. This structure was precisely what I needed to get my morning routine on track. With the threat of a low grade constantly looming over my head, I was forced back into the routine of waking up consistently at 8:30, ready to start the day.
There were other benefits that came from consistent Shacharit attendance. Days suddenly felt far more meaningful. When I was stuck in the habit of sleeping in, my groggy starts to the day felt empty, pointless and wasteful. I’d trudge out of bed feeling like a bum, belittling myself for being unable to do the basic task of getting out of bed like an adult. With this new schedule however, my day starts with a newfound purpose. The days I get up on time versus the days I don’t are incomparable in terms of motivation and energy. Tasks are far more manageable, and I feel capable, proud and ready for the classes ahead.
The meaning I gleaned from Shacharit did not stop at mere feelings of accomplishment. To add further motivation to get up on time, I became the semi-official Ba’al Kriah (Torah reader) of the minyan. Although there is something special about being a part of the minyan in it of itself, to be needed in the minyan was an extra level of meaning that I didn’t expect to be so proud of. I cherished the feeling of being useful and helping the broader community. I loved the feeling that I, Kiki, was a cog that helped propel the machine.
Other classes also contributed to my sleep-improvement goals. This semester, I joined Rabbi Rofeh’s class, Mussar and Psychology, which is definitely not a cult. Within the class, you take on a few personal challenges geared toward kicking bad habits. I wanted to focus first and foremost on my quality of sleep. Now that I was finally getting up in the morning somewhat consistently with the help of Prayer Seminar, I wanted to work on not watching YouTube shorts till 3 AM every night and praying Shacharit while half conscious.
So, the first challenge I took upon myself to end this habit was ensuring my phone was off at 11:30 PM each night, no exceptions. Even if I was out, the phone would still go off. The idea was that even if I wasn’t going to bed immediately, the less exposure to the headache-inducing blue light before bed, the better.
This goal dramatically improved my sleep, and I discovered something fascinating about myself: The quantity of sleep did not matter nearly as much as the quality of sleep. Even if I technically got the supposed 6-8 hours required, I would still feel groggy in the morning if I was watching TV until right before I shut my eyes. Having no exposure to my phone for a good hour before I fell asleep vastly improved how I felt when I woke up. Interestingly, I’d often wake up at 7 AM naturally with no alarm clock, feeling wholly refreshed.
IBC has helped me regain control of my mornings, facilitating overall improvement in my discipline, both in the mental and physical challenges of my sleep. If anyone else is struggling similarly to the problems I’ve listed above, I highly recommend joining. See you at 9 AM!
Photo Caption: The Glueck Beit Midrash on the YU Wilf campus
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University