It's been awhile since I've read a traslantion of Mo Dea ah Knee, but if I remember right there is a line that speaks of G'd as the one who "returns my soul to me." my rabbi said that it is/was believed that the soul leaves the body when we sleep. I know this is a common belief wordwide.

But I've also been taught that the rabbis say that dreams mislead, which I assume would make it very possible to learn something while we are having an out-of-body experience.

So what's going on with our souls? Where do they go? Why? I seem to remember my rabbi saying somthing about sleep and death being related and about sleepers being near death. Can you please clarify?

Thank you for sending your question. This topic is dealt with extensively in Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's classic work "The Way of God". He explains that during sleep the body-soul connection is loosened, which allows the soul access to much that would not be possible during waking hours. Although most dreams are "day residue", there is the definite possibility of one's soul interacting with various spiritual influences. Depending on one's state at the time, these influences can either be positive or negative; they can give true impressions or be misleading. This is why there is the custom of saying Shmah in bed as the last thing one says before sleep - to focus us so that we are predisposed to contacting the beneficial side of things. The Talmud does say that "sleep is 1/60 of death" meaning that it is the tiniest taste of what death is like. May you be well and healthy to 120!