OU HOLIDAYS THE ALL NIGHTER BY RABBI JACK ABRAMOWITZ

The scene is familiar. An auditorium or hall is stuffed full of bodies hunched over books. In the corner, there’s a table bearing snacks and caffeinated beverages. It could be any pre-finals study session in any college in the world but it isn’t. You’ve stumbled into a synagogue on the night of Shavuot, when the custom is to stay up late studying Torah, in anticipation of the next morning’s re-enactment of its transmission at Sinai.