The festival of Shavuot is quickly approaching. Our tradition refers to Shavuot as the “Time of the giving of our Torah.” Many communities have various customs to mark this momentous event. One wide-spread custom among the Jewish people is to stay up until the early morning hours learning Torah on the first night of Shavuot in what is called, “Tikun Leil Shavuot,” literally, “the Fixing of Shavuot Night.” According to the Midrash, the reason we do this is because, “God came first [to Mount Sinai] as the verse states, ‘On the third day, in the morning.’ It also says, ‘On the third morning God descended before the eyes of the nation.’ The Jews were sleeping all night, because the sleep of Atzeret is very sweet and the night is short. Rabbi Yudan said that even the fleas did not bite them. God came to meet them but found the Jewish people sleeping! He began to wake them with fanfare, as the verse says, ‘On the third day, in the morning, there were sounds and thunder.’ Moshe woke up the people and brought them out before the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:12). 

Thus, the “fixing” we do on the first night of Shavuot is the fixing of the mistake our ancestors made by sleeping in on the very day they were meant to receive the Torah. Can you imagine a bride or a groom sleeping in on their wedding day! So, we stay up all night learning, increasing our enthusiasm and anticipation for the moment we will meet God at Mount Sinai to receive His Torah anew, not only on time, but early! However, Shavuot is also a time to recognize and celebrate the importance of Gerim, converts. In order to recognize this aspect of Shavuot, many Jewish communities read the Book of Ruth, as Ruth was the first convert to Judaism. What is the connection between the giving of the Torah and converts, and in particular, Ruth? To help answer this question, we should turn to the words of the great Chassidic master Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdeitchev, who, based on the Midrash and the Zohar, teaches us that first, “God appeared to Esav in order to give him the Torah. He did not want it. But in his refusal, he gave a great gift to the Jewish people. God then went to Yishmael in order to give him the Torah. He also did not want it. But in his refusal, he gave a great gift to the Jewish people. And so it was with every nation. Now behold, we must understand what the gifts the nations who refused the Torah gave to the Jewish people were. The gifts were the holy, precious souls who dwelt among the nations, and upon just hearing that the Torah was being offered, chased after it, and converted into the Jewish people. This is the case of Ruth who was a distinguished soul, as are all the souls of those who convert. But that first, essential soul was that of Ruth, because from Ruth comes King David, and from King David comes the Messiah. Thus, we read the Book of Ruth of Shavuot in order to recall the journey she made, physically and spiritually, from her native people to the Jewish people, all because of her desire to receive the Torah” (Kedushat Levi, Drush l’Shavuot). 

Shavuot is not only the “Time of the giving of our Torah,” it is also the time of receiving all people whose souls desire to receive the Torah too. Those who convert to living lives of Torah are sacred, cherished and special members of the Jewish family, as we say in the Amidah, “On the righteous, on the devout, on the elders of Your people the Family of Israel, on the remnant of their scholars, on the righteous converts and on ourselves.” We place the convert above all others because of their lofty place within the Jewish people. This Shavuot, may we recognize the precious gift of Torah while recognizing the gift of all those holy souls who have joined the Jewish people to live and fulfill it, as it says, “It is a tree of life to all those who grasp her. And whoever holds on to her is happy” (Mishlei 3:18). 

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

-Rabbi Dan