Shavuot: Staying up all night to study Torah

[Jrosemary]

Shavuot (the holiday that became, in Christianity, Pentecost) comes fifty days after Passover--that's tonight, for anyone who's counting. On Passover, G-d liberated us from slavery in Egypt; tonight on Shavuot, we stand at Sinai as G-d gives us the Torah.

I like this tag from Judaism 101:

It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.

Source: http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm

So there's a tradition of staying up all night on Shavuot to study Torah. In honor of that tradition, three synagogues in my local area have a tradition of coming together for Shavuot and hosting all night study sessions. I intend to make it at least until midnight, when we read the 10 Commandments. After that, I'll probably take my leave--unfortunately, I have work tomorrow.

But one of these days I'm going to spend the whole night!