All Night Learning on Shavuot a Global Destination

Emilio Van Dam is eagerly anticipating the stroke of midnight on the first night of Shavuot as he prepares to participate for the first time in the all-night Torah learning program at Chabad-Lubavitch of Uptown Houston. “We’ve been counting the days since Passover for this,” says Van Dam. “The significance of receiving the Torah on Shavuot morning is deeply meaningful to me, and I want to be fully prepared.”

In recent years, “Tikkun Leil Shavuot,” which has come to refer to the practice of learning Torah all night until daybreak of Shavuot, has been steadily gaining in popularity worldwide, particularly among young adults who are drawn to Chabad programs and events throughout the year. Jewish communities around the world have embraced the tradition, organizing well-caffeinated schedules of Torah lectures and group studying, leading to increasing attendance each year.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, who co-directs Chabad of Uptown with his wife, Chani, is busy finalizing the night learning schedule and assisting speakers in their preparations. “We do a TED-style event,” Lazaroff tells Chabad.org. “Community members share a 15-minute talk on a Torah subject that they are passionate about.”

The TED Talk style has become a favorite, and dozens of Chabad Houses around the world will be hosting similar events. Lazaroff attributes its popularity to the spirit of community it fosters. “People appreciate the opportunity to share and learn from one another. Teaching a subject requires a greater understanding. Plus, we give people a whole schmorg of ideas to choose from and to learn from each other really builds community.”

Repairing the World Through Learning

The traditional Tikun Leil Shavuot text contains excerpts of every book of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), Mishnah, Kabbalah, as well as the 613 mitzvot, allowing the reader to skim through the landscape of Jewish tradition in just a few hours.

Thousands of miles north, in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Iris Colyn will again be learning with Chabad on Shavuot night this year.

“In the silence of the night of Shavuot, I always feel a touch of the mystical,” she says. “Perhaps because this custom connects us with past generations, and perhaps because like the Kabbalists who started this custom, I, too, believe that on this night the heavens are particularly receptive to prayers and wishes.”

The earliest source for the tradition comes from holy Zohar, in which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai recounts that the “early pious ones” would stay up learning Torah on Shavuot night in preparation for and in honor of the upcoming marriage of the “bride” (the Jews) to the “groom” (G‑d or the Torah).

Numerous Kabbalists have been recorded keeping this tradition, including the famous 16th-century Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, commonly known as the Arizal. His student, Rabbi Chaim Vital, recorded the custom of staying up late as a truly important one, which had already become widespread throughout Jewry. He included in his writings a promise: Those who stay up Shavuot night—refraining from even a second of sleep—and spend the night learning will be protected from any harm that year.

Therefore since the 16th century Jews have remained awake learning Torah on the first night of Shavuot, often reading a syllabus known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot that contains excerpts of every book of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), Mishnah, Kabbalah, as well as the 613 mitzvot, allowing the reader to skim through the landscape of Jewish tradition in just a few hours.

Rabbinic sources also explain the practice as a rectification of our ancestors’ mistake of sleeping in on the morning of the very first Shavuot. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, elaborated that staying awake to learn the Torah demonstrates that we understand its true purpose—bringing the holy down into the physical world even at times when we would normally be asleep.

Chabad of Uptown in Houston will hold a TED Talks-style event in which community members share a 15-minute talk on a Torah subject that they are passionate about.

File Photo: Hagit Bibi/Chabad of Uptown

This explanation resonates strongly with Colyn. “I am going to attend Tikkun Leil Shavuot because the idea that we can today repair a wrong that was done by our forefathers thousands of years ago really appeals to me. When attending such nights in the past, I enjoyed incredibly enlightening lessons and lectures, thanks to our very special Rabbi Meir Kaplan. I know it will be the same this year and love that on this night we demonstrate our preparedness and willingness to accept the Torah.”

Kaplan, co-director of Chabad of Vancouver Island, says they used to do TED-style events on Shavuot night, but this year will be hosting an interactive Torah class by special guest Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Freeman, a renowned author and senior editor at Chabad.org, will be sharing his personal story, “From Vancouver to Lubavitch,” with the mystical Torah lessons that inspire him.

Many synagoues will offer all-night study progams and lectures covering a range of Torah topics.

Ancient and Modern Tradition in Jerusalem

In the eternal Jewish capital of Jerusalem, Tikkun Leil Shavuot holds an added layer of excitement, explains Abe Erdynast. “The Six-Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem took place just before Shavuot of 1967,” Erdynast says “There was a spontaneous outpouring of love for the Kotel, which Jews had not been able to visit for 19 years, and so on that Shavuot morning, after staying up all night, everybody just made their way to the Kotel for morning prayers. It wasn’t organized; it was just a spontaneous thing, and every year thereafter, it’s become more of a custom.”

The inspired custom brings a special energy to Shavuot night in Jerusalem.

At the Mayanot synagogue in the Nachlaot neighborhood, about a 40-minute walk from the Kotel, Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner has prepared a full night’s learning program featuring four speakers, including his own class scheduled for 3 a.m.

Erdynast plans to spend his night at Mayanot, saying “I enjoy the interesting and inspiring lectures, which mix both the revealed and esoteric aspects of the holiday.”

Erdynast is not worried that he’ll have any difficulty staying up all night, especially knowing that at daybreak the hours of study will be crowned by a sight his ancestors pined for: the golden beams of sunrise illuminating the Western Wall.

He and the thousands of others will then pray and hear the reading of the Ten Commandments, uniting with their brethren around the world in accepting G‑d’s gift of the Torah once again.

To find Shavuot programs in 333 cities in 22 countries, visit the Chabad.org Shavuot Directory.