24 June 6 • 2019
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LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
S
havuot, commemorating the giv-
ing of the Torah at Mount Sinai,
begins on Saturday night, June 8.
All over the world, some Jews do not
go to sleep on Shavuot night, devoting
the hours to Torah study.
Rabbi Nachman Levine of Oak Park
gives a quick overview of how that
practice developed and changed over
the years.
According to Levine, the first hint
of the practice appears in the Zohar
(Emor), which criticizes our ancestors
at Mount Sinai for sleeping the night
before receiving the Torah. In the 16th
century, a circle of Zohar students in
Salonika (then part of the Ottoman
Turkish empire) atoned for our sleepy
ancestors by spending the night
chanting verses from throughout the
Hebrew Bible. Thus began Tikkun Leil
Shavuot (tikkun means “repair,
” leil
means “night”).
A leader of that circle, Rabbi Yosef
Karo, kept a diary recording his expe-
rience of visits from a mysterious
spirit that encouraged him to make
progress in Jewish observance. The
spirit told Karo not to stay up the sec-
ond night of Shavuot, but instead to
move to Israel. By the next Shavuot,
Karo and many of his group had
moved to Safed, where they continued
to spend the night of Shavuot awake.
The plan for the night’
s traditional
readings — from the Torah, Prophets,
Mishnah, Zohar and a list of the 613
Commandments — took shape there,
guided by Rabbi Yitzhak Luria.
Another practice, which began in
the late 18th century if not earlier, has
people devoting the night to any area
of Torah study. Individuals who already
have a course of study would simply
continue their usual studies the night
of Shavuot. This, according to Levine,
became the dominant mode in learned
Ashkenazic communities. Rabbi Sasson
Natan of Keter Torah Synagogue in West
Bloomfield notes that many younger
Sephardic Jews now prefer this mode
over the traditional readings.
A third mode, a schedule of public
lectures on Torah or other Jewish topics,
has, Levine notes, become popular in
recent years.
LOCAL LECTURE SERIES
Synagogues in the Detroit area plan to
offer lecture series.
Congregations Etz Chayim, Beth
Shalom and Temple Emanu-El in Oak
Park plan a joint study night at Beth
Shalom (where Etz Chayim meets),
beginning with a roundtable discussion
among rabbis of different movements
including Rabbis Dorit Edut, Eliezer
Finkelman (disclaimer: me), Robert
Gamer (Beth Shalom), Asher Lopatin
(Etz Chayim) and Matthew Zerwekh
(Temple Emanu-El). 11:30 p.m.
Congregation Or Chadash in Oak
Park plans a series of lectures at a pri-
vate home in Huntington Woods. For
location, call shul president Deb Kovsky
Apap at (248) 910-9008. (Disclosure:
I am part of the rabbi team of Or
Chadash). A sampling of the lectures: At
11:30 p.m., Rabbanit Jenna Englender,
“Where Is the Torah Now?” At 12:30
a.m., Rabbi Stephen Belsky will explore
the meaning of a mysterious word in
the Hebrew Bible, “refaim,
” which might
mean “angels,
” “giants” or “aboriginal
ghosts.
” At 3:30 a.m., Larry Winer of
Lawrence Technological University
will present the letters exchanged by
President George Washington and
Moses Seixas, warden of the Hebrew
Congregation (Touro Synagogue) in
Newport, R.I., in 1790. Winer will con-
nect the letters with Shavuot. He also
will give the lecture at the joint Tikkun at
Beth Shalom.
B’
nai Israel Synagogue in West
Bloomfield, which meets at Temple Kol
Ami in West Bloomfield, has a roster of
lectures, including one on “Loving Your
Fellow Jew” and another on “What Ever
Happened to the Karaites?” Teachers
include Rabbi Brent Gutmann of Kol
Ami and Rabbi Mitch Parker of B’
nai
Israel. From 6 p.m.-dawn.
Congregation B’
nai Moshe in West
Bloomfield will hold a study session June
8 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield will begin a study of the Ten
Commandments at 7:30 p.m.
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township will gather from 7-9 p.m. to
learn, followed by Havdalah in a private
home in Birmingham; RSVP to jritchie@
tbeonline.org.
At Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills, Rabbis Aaron
Bergman and Rachel Shere and Hazzan
Dan Gross plan a night of study on
“How to create a community while still
honoring the needs of the individual.
”
Starting with Minchah at 7:30 p.m.
RSVP to slederman@adatshalom.org.
At Bais Chabad in West Bloomfield,
a learning session will run from 12:30-
4:30 a.m. (late Saturday night), which
will feature several lectures, including
one by Rabbi Nison Deitch, a visiting
scholar from New York. Rabbi Shneur
Silberberg of Bais Chabad will hold a
study session for younger men at 12:30
a.m. Refreshments will be served.
“Shavuot-on,
” June 8-10, Woodward
Avenue Shul, 25595 Woodward,
Royal Oak. Learn for three days with
renowned scholar, author and speaker
Rabbi Shais Taub. Starts Saturday at
9 p.m. with a lecture on “Emotional
Sobriety.
” To RSVP and see the full
schedule, go to thewas.net/shavuot.
For details about other Shavuot pro-
grams, check synagogue websites.
As a festival, Shavuot should feature
good food, along with study. Rabbi
Natan reports Keter Torah congregants
donate pastries and fruits so that at
each break in the night’
s reading, par-
ticipants can say a blessing and enjoy
bodily pleasures along with the spir-
itual. As Rabbi Yehoshua says in the
Talmud, you should dedicate the festi-
val “half for God and half for yourself”
(Pesahim 68b). ■
RELATED SHAVUOT EVENTS
• Schvitz Health Club, 7:45 p.m.,
Saturday, June 8, 8295 Oakland St.,
Detroit. Age 21+, full access to the
sauna, steam room and cold pool.
Tickets ($25) also include cheese tast-
ing and Jewish learning. For details, go
to schvitzdetroit.com. For all genders.
Bring swimsuit, robe, towels and flip-
flops, beer or wine. Sponsored by The
Well, Moishe House and Mongers’
Provisions.
• Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield will hold a Shavuot
sleepover for kids in grades 2-6 start-
ing after dinner at 7 p.m. Saturday,
June 8, and ending Sunday, June 9,
at 8:30 a.m. Activities include learning
about Shavuot, lots of games, fun
and a bedtime story. Snacks will be
provided, and there will adult supervi-
sion all night. Bring PJs, sleeping bag,
pillow and anything else needed for
the night. No electronic devices. Open
to the community. Free.
RSVP to Tova
Schreiber at tschreiber@cbahm.org by
no later than noon Friday, June 7.
• Bais Chabad in West Bloomfield will
host an ice cream party and reading
of the Ten Commandments at 11 a.m.
Sunday, June 9. A children’
s Shavuot-
themed carnival will be held, includ-
ing a dairy lunch and ice cream. No
charge; open to all.
spirit
Tikkun Leil Shavuot
Shavuot
Learning
Traditional all-night study sessions
evolved across all streams of Judaism.