It is the first night of Shavuos. The talmidim of
Gateshead Yeshiva begin ma'ariv. They finish
davening, say "Gut Yom Tov," and go down to the
dining room for their Yom Tov meal. After a hasty meal and a
few niggunim they say bircas hamozone and hurry
back to the beis hamedrash for the Shavuos night
learning.
The time is 12:45 a.m. After 2 hours of learning, people are
closing their seforim and getting ready for
Shacharis. By 5:00 a.m. they have finished
musaf, made kiddush and are fast asleep.
But let's take a trip down to Melbourne, Australia and take a
look at what goes on "down under" on Shavuos. There you will
experience a Shavuos night to remember.
There it is in the middle of the winter, with long nights and
short days. Ma'ariv is over by 6:30 p.m., and the
shuls and botei midroshim are beginning to fill
up with learners by 9:00 p.m. Many people have organized
chavrusas for a long 8-9 hour seder, since one
can only begin shacharis at about 6:30 a. m. Tikun
Leil Shavuos is hardly long enough to take up even a
quarter of the night.
Since the kollelim were established in Melbourne in
the early 1980's, it has been the custom have a program of
shiurim on Shavuos night, as not everyone can sit in
one place and learn from his sefer for eight or nine
continuous hours. Today, in almost every shul, beis
midrash and Jewish Learning Center, there are a number of
shiurim to attend. Some have up to ten throughout the
night, starting at 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. and finishing at about 6
a.m. or later.
The streets are alive with people rushing from one
shiur here to another. Almost 20 centers in Melbourne
host a Shavuos night program. From the most orthodox to the
"traditional" Jew, it has become the accepted practice to
join in a "Shavuos night program." ("Shavuos night fever" has
had such an effect in Melbourne that even the Liberals at
Temple Beth Israel have organized a learning program.)
Rabbonim and kollel yungerleit are busy giving
shiurim on a large variety of topics. From inyonei
deyoma about matan Torah and Shavuos, to almost
any topic of halocho or hashkofo, you can hear
shiurim all night long. Last year, one center had 10
shiurim -- one on each of the aseres hadibros.
There are shiurim for women as well.
After several hours of learning people start to drink coffee
to keep them awake. It is truly wonderful to watch the adults
and especially the children, some as young as 9 or 10 years
old, persevering and keeping their eyes open and in their
seforim throughout the long night. After a good
night's quality learning of 8 or 9 hours, you should be ready
for a real kabolas HaTorah . . . even if you're pretty
sleepy!
