As Shavuos nears, “How to stay awake all night” is becoming water-cooler talk among Yidden everywhere. While the women discuss cheesecake versus exotic petit fours, men debate the efficacy of coffee versus brisk walks. Yidden globally are full of the anticipation, trying to figure out the logistics of how to make the most productive day out of a night.
This Shavuos night, there will be close to one hundred talmidei chachamim who will be keeping their usual schedule. No, they will not sleep that night. On the contrary, they will be wide awake, learning until daybreak as they do almost every night of the year.
The Zohar discusses the importance of learning at chatzos. Throughout the ages, this has been the practice of a select few. On Shavuos, Yidden across the board have stayed up all night, learning by the candlelight until daybreak.
The zechus of learning all night on Shavuos is particularly potent. The Ari Hakadosh promises that all those who are up all night on Shavuos and toil in Torah will merit to stay alive throughout the year, and no harm will befall him.
The veteran all-nighters will learn with passion, nonstop, as they do every night of the year. Thereafter they will daven for all those holy Yidden, Chatzos partners, praying that their requests be granted.
While learning at midnight is no novelty to these Chatzos veterans, this night will be special. They look forward to the night of achdus, when klal Yisrael will join them during these potent hours to toil in Torah. Essentially, all of klal Yisrael will be joining Kollel Chatzos for one night. After being up all night, you may just have a better understanding of why learning all night creates so much merit in Shamayim.
For most, learning throughout the night is a once-a-year experience. Why would someone keep a reverse schedule, learning when the world sleeps and then catching up on their sleep at some other time?
Greater clarity of thought during the peaceful night hours. Distractions are few and learning is smoother than daytime. As the Yavetz writes: an hour by day is equal to six hours at night. Then there are the practical benefits. There are some who find that the demands of their daytime jobs leave them with no time to learn, so they relish the quiet night hours of uninterrupted learning. Then, of course, there is the spiritual benefit of these dark hours, when the Shechina’s presence can truly be felt.
