Why Do We Stay Awake The Night Of Shavuoth?

Dedicated By Irving Bauman

לזכר נשמת אבי

הרב משה אהרן בן ר ישראל חיים באהמאן

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It says in the Midrash, that on the night before the giving of the Torah, the night of the first Shavuoth, the Jewish people slept all night, "because the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant and the night is short." Even a mosquito didn't bother them. In the morning, when Hashem came to give them the Torah, He found them sleeping. And this is what Hashem said, "Why did I come and there is no man, I called and there is no answer." And this is where the tradition to remain awake on the night of Shavuoth and learn Torah, to correct the mistake of sleeping on the night before the giving of the Torah. 

Every story in the Torah is meant to teach us a lesson in our service to Hashem. Especially when it tells a story that reflects negatively on the Jewish people. Because Hashem goes out of His way not to say something that sounds negative, as we know that He added several words to the Torah, just not to speak negatively about impure animals. How much more so, when it comes to the Jewish people. So when there is something that sounds negative about the Jewish people, there must be an important lesson to be learned from it. What is the lesson that we are meant to learn from this story? 

You can simply say, that the lesson is that we should stay awake on Shavuoth night. However for that we don't need all of the details, it would have been enough to write that we slept that night and Hashem wasn't happy with it. But it gets into the details, "because the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant and the night is short." Even a mosquito didn't bother them. What do we need all these details for? 

We must conclude, that there is something deeper going on here, a much more meaningful lesson. What is the lesson that we are meant to learn from this story? 

We also have to understand, how it is that the Jewish people could have slept to begin with that night? Because fifty days earlier, when they heard that they would be receiving the Torah, they were so excited and so filled with anticipation, that they started to count the days. Now that they finally reached the fiftieth day, their excitement must have known no bounds. Does it make sense that they were able to fall asleep? 

On top of that, when they were in Egypt, they were at the lowest level possible, the 49th level of impurity, and now with their count, not only were they getting closer to receiving the Torah, they were also working on their spiritual makeup, every day of the count they reached a higher level of the 49 levels of holiness. And on the 49th day of the count they reached the 49th level, the highest level a person can attain through his or her own effort. They were now spiritually prepared to receive the Torah. The fiftieth level would be bestowed upon them by Hashem in the morning, with the giving of the Torah. How is it possible that they fell asleep? 

It is obvious that they wouldn't have just fallen asleep, there was too much excitement and anticipation. They didn't lose interest in the Torah, rather they must have intentionally gone to sleep as a preparation for the giving of the Torah. 

How do we know that going to sleep was a positive thing? Because the Midrash tells us that even a mosquito didn't bother them. Now why would Hashem make that miracle happen for them. if it wasn't a good thing? 

The Alter Rebbe explains, that as great as the neshama's understanding and connection to Hashem can reach while it is in the body, it doesn't compare to the understanding that it could attain when it is up on High, before it enters the body, because the body can't handle that level of connection. 

Therefore, when a person is asleep, and the neshama goes on High to be refreshed, and only a smidgen of the neshama remains in the body, it is able to connect and grasp ideas that it normally wouldn't understand while in the body. 

That's why it is, that when a seriously diligent student of the Torah, one who is totally given over to it with his whole heart and soul, goes to sleep with an unanswered dilemma that is perplexing him, often he will awake with the answer. This is because his neshama was treated to the answer when it went up on High. 

That is why they went to sleep, because they had already reached the 49th level, the highest level that they could attain on their own. They felt that if they go to sleep, they will attain a much higher level. And they felt that this would be the best preparation for receiving the Torah. This is the meaning of, "the sleep of Atzeres (Shavuoth) is pleasant." They were basking in the highest levels of G-dliness. 

It goes a step further. The more effort one puts into refining himself while in the body, the higher the neshama soars and the greater the levels of G-dliness it will be able to grasp. Being that they reached the highest level of refinement a person can attain, they knew that their neshamas would reach the highest levels possible. When you are at this level, "The night is short." The darkness of the world is not existent. 

And this is why the mosquitoes didn't bother them. Because when a person is at such a high level, the creatures of the world don't bother him. 

However, Hashem wasn't happy with this. Because the whole purpose of the Torah is to work with the physical world, refine it and infuse it with G-dliness, making the most mundane holy. This can only be done when the neshama is in the body, and so the best preparation for receiving the Torah, is not separating from the physical, just the opposite, it is through being in the physical. 

The lesson here, is that there might be a person who thinks, "I don't want anything to do with this dark world. I have already accomplished a lot spiritually, I will cut myself off from the world, and bask in the light of my accomplishments." 

To him the Torah says, that it is not what Hashem wants. Even the greatest generation, who reached the highest level, Hashem didn't want them to separate from the physical world, rather to work with the physical world, raising it up to Hashem. So too, we should work with the physical world and refine it, and infuse it with G-dliness and work with a Jew who is less knowledgeable and help him or her reach a higher level.. 

Now we will understand why we stay up the night of Shavuoth, because the giving of the Torah is all about neshamas in bodies affecting the physical world. And if we do, we will merit to see the coming of Moshiach, when the world will finally be completely refined and infused with G-dliness. May he come soon.