THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5776 Issue XXXV Bamidbar THE LATER THE BETTER Why does Maariv have to start so late on Shavuos night? By: Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Cohen

Does making early Yom Tov detract from the days of Sefira? We all look forward to the sweet, uninterrupted learning that fills Shavuos night. Maggidei Shiur and laymen alike prepare an engaging topic in advance, that will allow them to experience the beauty of in-depth Torah learning on the night of Kabbalas Torah. Practically speaking, however, the night is not as long as we’d like to think. This can be attributed not-so-much to an early sunrise than to the fact that we generally start davening Ma’ariv much later than we do on the usual Yom Tov night, which delays the start of our night of learning until after midnight. In this article we will review the sources of the Minhag to daven Ma’ariv after absolute nightfall on Shavuos night.