The Kaf Hachaim relates about the night of Shavuot: “It is reported in the Zohar that the Ancients remained awake all night to study the Torah. They said on this subject: 'Let us offer this holy inheritance for ourselves and our sons forever!”

It is also said in the preface of the Zohar: “All who are absorbed in the tikoun of Chekhina and rejoice with it during that night will be inscribed in the Book of Remembrance and the Creator will grant them seventy blessings. It is also written in the Shaar Hakavanot of the Arizal: 'Every man will have to watch all this night in full, and devote himself to the study of the Torah... Be aware that whoever does not sleep for a moment during that night, in order to devote himself entirely to the study of the Torah, he is assured that he will end the year and that no misfortune will befall him during this year...” (chapter 494, 6).

According to the Magen Avraham, this vigil is observed for the following reason: it is told in the Midrash that during the night preceding the Gift of the Torah, the children of Israel went to sleep as usual, without showing any particular impatience in view of the following day. So G.d had to wake them up to offer them the Torah. It is therefore to correct this failure that we strive to ensure each year during the night of Shavuot.

Increase attachment.

According to the Sfat Emet, this night's study is meant to show our attachment to the Torah. Indeed, all the enjoyments of the material world intensify according to the "thirst" that one feels for them. Thus, the more a man is hungry, the more he enjoys his meal. But conversely, when one has already tasted a thing several times and has gotten used to it, the appetite one experiences fades away and therefore one comes to appreciate it less.

The Torah, on the other hand, follows a totally different order: it is by dint of studying it that our attachment to it intensifies. In this regard, it is said in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 97: 3) that those who devote themselves to the Torah are like fish. Although aquatic animals evolve continuously in water, they are never "sated" with their natural environment. In the same way, when a man consecrates himself totally to the Torah, his love for it continues to increase, to the point that each study letter becomes precious to him. This is why we indulge in the study of Torah throughout the night of Shavuot, in order to further increase our attachment to it before receiving it.

Learn to know

A third explanation for this custom comes from an explanation of the Maggid of Dubno. The Maguid asked himself the following question: why is the Shavuot festival not celebrated in the "joy of the Torah", as we do at Simchat Torah?

He answered this question, as usual, with the help of a parable. A man and his wife could not have children. They went to consult the leading specialists in that field, but none of them was able to help. One day, they were advised to visit a great Just, able to perform wonders. The tzadik agreed to pray for them, and after several days he called them to tell them the good news: with the help of G.d, they would give birth to a little girl in the year. However, the Just emitted a condition: for the child to live, she should not see the face of any man until after his marriage.

The couple agreed to comply with this condition. And so, just after birth, the infant was sent to a desert island, accompanied exclusively by her nurse and maidservants. Throughout her childhood, her father never came to visit him, and every man was forbidden to approach the shores of the island.

The years passed and came the day the girl was old enough to marry. The father went to see several acquaintances, to propose to them to contract a marriage between his daughter and their son. But all refused, for no young man agreed to unite with a girl whom they had never seen before, and whom no one knew. The promises made by the father about the qualities of his daughter were of no help: no union could be envisaged without seeing the girl.

Finally, a young man declared himself ready to accept the proposal, although he continued to be deeply apprehensive. The marriage was thus celebrated, without the groom having even been able to see the face of his new wife. But to her great relief, she was as gracious as she had been promised. However, even after discovering her face, the young man was gripped by doubt: was his wife endowed with good qualities? What was her temperament?

It was only a few months later when he convinced himself that his wife was beautiful and virtuous, that the groom could rejoice deeply in this union. At that moment, he went to his father-in-law to thank him for the wonderful present he had given him.

In the same way, explains the Maggid of Dubno, G.d wanted to offer His Torah to men, but no one wanted to accept it without knowing its contents. Only the Jewish people accepted, under the constraint of amount suspended above their head. But even after the Gift of the Torah, the Hebrews could not yet rejoice in this present, for they still did not know all the details. It was only a few months later, after discovering the beauty and nobility of the Torah, that they did sincerely rejoice at having received it.

This parable also explains why we watch during the night of Shavuot. At the time of the Torah Gift, no one yet knew what it contained, and even after exclaiming: "We will do and we will hear", the children of Israel continued to experience certain apprehensions. As a result, their joy could not be perfect. As for us, as we already possess the Torah, we must prove that we already know its content and that we accept it knowingly, animated by boundless joy. This is why we are absorbed in its study throughout the night of Shavuot, in order to erase all the doubts that gripped our ancestors at the foot of Mount Sinai.