Dear Rabbi, I sleep talk often, and woke up a few nights ago because I was saying the brachot for learning Torah in my sleep. I have a few questions due to this: 1) Was this a bracha lvatalah? If so, should I have washed my hands and said Baruch Shem? 2) Could someone have said Amen if they heard me? 3) Is there a good meaning for this? Be well,

ב"ה Shalom I must say that this is a question of most interesting circumstances. It seems to me that the answer to questions to 1 and 2 is based on the same premise. More that a hundred years ago Rabbi Eliezer Deutch zt"l of Bonyhád, Hungary was asked this question and related to it in his Reponsa Pri Hasadeh in 2 places. In one question (פרי השדה ח"ב סי' קז) he was asked if someone said a "shehacol" while sleeping and then he woke up does he have to repeat the Bracha to drink some water. In another question פרי השדה (חלק ג סימן צא אות ג) ) he was asked a question similar to your question about answering Amen His answer in regard to the Amen was that while sleeping he had no obligation of a Bracha and only a Bracha of such nature can be answered with an Amen. Therefore, no Amen should be answered to your Bracha. In regard to the "Shehacol" while sleeping he said that since no water was in front of him during sleep, even if he had been awake he would have to repeat the Bracha. Rabbi Deutch zt"l did not relate to the issue in either answer in regard to a " bracha lvatalah", but it seems that the prohibition of saying an unnecessary Bracha is was when it was done with full cognizance., which is not the case while sleeping. Although, I don't interpret dreams, it seems to me to have such thoughts while sleeping is a sign of a pure heart. The Gemara in Berachot 57a, speaks about someone who dreams he was Davening that it is a good sign as long as the Tefilla wasn't completed since according to Rashi this shows that this person is constantly close to Hashem. All the best