Q. What do the following pesukim (verses) found in the Torah tell us about staying up all night on Shavuot?
(טז) וְחַ֤ג הַקָּצִיר֙ בִּכּוּרֵ֣י מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּזְרַ֖ע בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וְחַ֤ג הָֽאָסִף֙ בְּצֵ֣את הַשָּׁנָ֔ה בְּאָסְפְּךָ֥ אֶֽת־מַעֲשֶׂ֖יךָ מִן־הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃
(16) and the Feast of the Harvest, of the first fruits of your work, of what you sow in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field.
(כב) וְחַ֤ג שָׁבֻעֹת֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה לְךָ֔ בִּכּוּרֵ֖י קְצִ֣יר חִטִּ֑ים וְחַג֙ הָֽאָסִ֔יף תְּקוּפַ֖ת הַשָּׁנָֽה׃
(22) You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
(כו) וּבְי֣וֹם הַבִּכּוּרִ֗ים בְּהַקְרִ֨יבְכֶ֜ם מִנְחָ֤ה חֲדָשָׁה֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה בְּשָׁבֻעֹ֖תֵיכֶ֑ם מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כָּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃
(26) On the day of the first fruits, your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to the LORD, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.
(י) וְעָשִׂ֜יתָ חַ֤ג שָׁבֻעוֹת֙ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ מִסַּ֛ת נִדְבַ֥ת יָדְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּתֵּ֑ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יְבָרֶכְךָ֖ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
(10) Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for the LORD your God, offering your freewill contribution according as the LORD your God has blessed you.
Q. According to reasons quoted by the Mishnah Berurah, why do we stay up all night on Shavuot?
(א) איתא בזוהר שחסידים הראשונים היו נעורים כל הלילה ועוסקים בתורה וכבר נהגו רוב הלומדים לעשות כן ואיתא בשו"ע האר"י ז"ל דע שכל מי שבלילה לא ישן כלל ועיקר והיה עוסק בתורה מובטח לו שישלים שנתו ולא יארע לו שום נזק. והטעם כתב מ"א ע"פ פשוטו שישראל היו ישנים כל הלילה והוצרך הקב"ה להעיר אותם לקבל התורה [כדאיתא במדרש] לכך אנו צריכין לתקן זה.
It says in the Zohar that the "chasidim rishonim" would stay awake all night and study Torah. And many people nowadays do this. And the Arizal says that anyone who stays awake the entire night and studies Torah, will merit a long life and will not have bad things happen to them.
And another reason, according to the Magen Avraham: B'nei Yisrael were sleeping all night, before they were to receive the Torah. Hashem needed to wake them up in order to give them the Torah (this is according to the Midrash). Therefore, we need to stay up all night in order to "fix" this.
Q. How might the place you are in affect your decision whether or not to stay up all night?
"In Jerusalem, tens of thousands of people finish off the nighttime study session by walking to the Western Wall before dawn and joining the sunrise minyan there.This practice began in 1967. One week before Shavuot of that year, the Israeli army recaptured the Old City in the Six-Day War, and on Shavuot day, the army opened the Western Wall to visitors. Over 200,000 Jews came to see and pray at the site that had been off-limits to them since 1948. The custom of walking to the Western Wall on Shavuot has continued every year since." (Wikipedia)
Q. What are some of the reasons given for why someone wouldn't stay up all night on Shavuot?
Q. What is preferable, to learn all night, even if you will fall asleep during Shacharit, or not to stay up all night?
A. It is better not to stay up all night, because ravening Shacharit and not falling asleep is a law, and learning all night is merely a “good practice.”… One of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv’s (a great rabbi who lived in Jerusalem from 1910-2012) grandchildren once asked him: Why don’t you stay up all night on Shavuot like everyone else? He answered that he did a calculation and concluded that if he changed his bedtime, and woke up later than he normally did, he would end up learning less Torah by 15 minutes. For these 15 minutes, he decided to go to sleep at his normal time and not stay up all night.
Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik (known as the “Brisker Rav” who lived from 1853-1918) was surprised that so many people were careful to stay up all night on Shavuot, which is just a minhag (tradition), while on the night of the Pesach seder, when it is a mitzvah to stay up as long as you can talking about the story of leaving Egypt, people aren’t careful to do this! In Brisk, they treated the night of Shavuot like other nights.
-Rabbi Shlomo Aviner (a famous rabbi who lives in Israel)
A. It is better not to stay up all night, because ravening Shacharit and not falling asleep is a law, and learning all night is merely a “good practice.”… One of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv’s (a great rabbi who lived in Jerusalem from 1910-2012) grandchildren once asked him: Why don’t you stay up all night on Shavuot like everyone else? He answered that he did a calculation and concluded that if he changed his bedtime, and woke up later than he normally did, he would end up learning less Torah by 15 minutes. For these 15 minutes, he decided to go to sleep at his normal time and not stay up all night.
Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik (known as the “Brisker Rav” who lived from 1853-1918) was surprised that so many people were careful to stay up all night on Shavuot, which is just a minhag (tradition), while on the night of the Pesach seder, when it is a mitzvah to stay up as long as you can talking about the story of leaving Egypt, people aren’t careful to do this! In Brisk, they treated the night of Shavuot like other nights.
-Rabbi Shlomo Aviner (a famous rabbi who lives in Israel)
Q. What do other religions say about staying up all night?
Christianity:
Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. ... It is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day – most commonly in the evening of Holy Saturday or midnight – and is the first celebration of Easter, days traditionally being considered to begin at sunset. (Wikipedia)
Islam
Question
Salam Alaikum, I would like to know if its permissible to stay up from Isha to Fajr prayer, or must one sleep in between..? Thank you so much..
Answer
It is permissible for a Muslim to stay awake all night long until the time of Fajr prayer. However, it should not be done unless there is a certain benefit. It is disliked to stay up at night except for a valid reason such as seeking knowledge, worship, conducting the affairs of Muslims, talking with one's family, or entertaining guests. … If staying up late is for engaging in idle, obscene, abusive talk, then it is, without doubt, disliked.
(Isalmweb.net)
Buddhism:
The Pali term "nesajjika" means «the one who has the habit to be seated».
"nissīda" = "sitting posture"
The bhikkhu who takes up the habit to renounce to the lying posture, only adopting sitting, standing and walking postures, is called a "nesajjika". When this practice is conveniently done, with constancy and diligence, with the determination of not breaking it, we say that there is "nesajjikaṅga " (state of mind arising out of renunciation to the lying posture). (http://en.dhammadana.org/sangha/dhutanga/effort/dh13.htm)
Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. ... It is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day – most commonly in the evening of Holy Saturday or midnight – and is the first celebration of Easter, days traditionally being considered to begin at sunset. (Wikipedia)
Islam
Question
Salam Alaikum, I would like to know if its permissible to stay up from Isha to Fajr prayer, or must one sleep in between..? Thank you so much..
Answer
It is permissible for a Muslim to stay awake all night long until the time of Fajr prayer. However, it should not be done unless there is a certain benefit. It is disliked to stay up at night except for a valid reason such as seeking knowledge, worship, conducting the affairs of Muslims, talking with one's family, or entertaining guests. … If staying up late is for engaging in idle, obscene, abusive talk, then it is, without doubt, disliked.
(Isalmweb.net)
Buddhism:
The Pali term "nesajjika" means «the one who has the habit to be seated».
"nissīda" = "sitting posture"
The bhikkhu who takes up the habit to renounce to the lying posture, only adopting sitting, standing and walking postures, is called a "nesajjika". When this practice is conveniently done, with constancy and diligence, with the determination of not breaking it, we say that there is "nesajjikaṅga " (state of mind arising out of renunciation to the lying posture). (http://en.dhammadana.org/sangha/dhutanga/effort/dh13.htm)