The custom of staying up all night on Shavuot and studying Torah is gaining popularity. In many places, Torah lessons are held throughout the night. Some sit and study in a group. However, the common custom in Israeli communities is to dedicate the night to reciting the 'Tikkun Lil Shavuot'.
The 'Tikkun' is a study order conducted according to the Zohar. It essentially consists of the beginnings and endings of the Torah portions, the books of the Prophets and the Scriptures, tractates in the Mishnah, and more, and a list of all 313 commandments. It is not study in the usual sense, but rather the recitation of verses from the beginning and end of each portion and book, reading of sections of the Mishnah, and the like.
The term "tikkun" comes from the Zohar, and its meaning is "decoration." Saying "tikkun" is likened to the groomsmen decorating the bride before she enters the wedding. This is how we "decorate" the Torah in preparation for the reading of the Ten Commandments the next day.
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Whose Torah is it?
There is something thought-provoking here: Isn't Shavuot the day on which the Torah was given to us? It is said of the Torah, "It is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples." The natural way to prepare to receive words of wisdom is through study and contemplation. Apparently, we were supposed to sit on this night andlearn Deeper issues in the Torah. Instead, we say words, without being able to understand the things properly (due to the truncated structure of the 'correction').
But in doing so we connect to the inner essence of the Torah. Indeed, the Torah is profound wisdom, but that is not its essence. The intellectual ideas in the Torah are merely its external clothing, and do not exhaust its essence and interiority.
To study Torah, to delve into its depths, to understand its ideas – this is what we do all year long. On the night of Shavuot, we seek to connect with its inner essence, to its holiness, to the fact that it is the infinite wisdom of God. We do not achieve this connection through reason, but by emphasizing its holiness.
On this night we 'decorate' the Torah by reciting its holy letters. This is the proper preparation for receiving the Torah – remembering that the basic condition for studying the Torah is to sense its holiness. Every morning, before we begin studying the Torah, we bless "Who chose us from all the peoples and gave us His Torah." In every moment of studying the Torah, we must remember that it is the Torah of the Creator of the world, and He gave us the right to study it.
To understand correctly
In reading the Ten Commandments on Shavuot, we relive the majestic occasion of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The fact that God Himself came down to us, spoke to us, and gave us His Torah. Thanks to this occasion, we, little humans, can learn and understand His infinite wisdom contained in His Torah.
This approach to receiving the Torah allows us to study it with a complete surrender to the Giver of the Torah. It ensures that we understand the words of the Torah correctly, and that we do not try to impose our own desires and theories on it. This is the foundation that ensures that studying the Torah will be for us the 'elixir of life'.
