| On the eve of Shavuot, it is customary to study Torah all
night, or at least well into the night. One reason for this custom
is that the Midrash says that the Jews at Sinai had to be awakened, since
they were unprepared for receiving the Torah. In order to atone for
their sins, we try to study all night in preparation for the big day.
In a way, Shavuos is the holiday with no rituals. Just as Succoth
is filled with rituals for 7 days (lulav and Succah), and is followed by
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah which focus on the Torah but have no
specific rituals, so Pesach has many rituals for 7 days, and is followed
(albeit 7 weeks later) with a ritual-less holiday which celebrates the
Torah. When we celebrate the Torah, we needn't have any other
ritual. The Torah is all we need on those days.
However, since Jews can't resist a few good symbols and customs, there
are some customs for Shavuos. Some have a custom to stay up all
night before Shavuos, to atone for the somnolescence of the Jews at the
time of the receiving of the Torah. Why do we eat milchig
(dairy) food? To (a) remember the Torah which is like mother's milk; (b)
remember how the Jews couldn't eat meat when they first got the Torah
before they learned the laws of the separation of milk and meat, or how to
slaughter meat properly; (c) to recall that we are like newborn babies and
the Torah is our milk; or (d) to recall that just as we said "we
shall do and we shall hear," that we were willing to perform before
we knew why. Just as infants drink milk before they know why, so do
we perform Torah before we come to a complete understanding.
We also read the Book of Ruth on the second day. Why? (a) King
David descends from Ruth and he was born on Shavuos; (b) the book takes
place during Shavuos time; and (c) Ruth embraces Judaism as the Jewish
people embrace Judaism at Sinai on Shavuos.
Shavuot Schedule at ASBEE |
