Rav Shmuel Eliahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.
On the night of Shavuot we want to crown Hashem over us, and therefore we go through the entire Tanach, skipping from one section to another because it is impossible to study all of it in one night. We read a little from the beginning and end of every book in order to remember the entire Tanach. In this way we remind ourselves of the mission of the Nation of Israel from the beginning of its foundation, through its exile, and until its return to the Land of Israel.
“For These Are Her Adornments and Her Jewels"
Thus the Zohar praises the Tikkun of Shavuot night, through which one merits many spiritual levels, including to adorn the “bride" in preparation for her Redemption and the Redemption of all Israel:
“Rabbi Shimon was sitting and studying Torah on the night when the bride joins with her husband, to rejoice with her in her adornments (in her preparations for the wedding canopy) for she is adorned by engaging in Torah - from Torah to Prophets, and from Prophets to Writings, and in the Midrashim of the verses and in the secrets of wisdom. For these are her adornments and her jewels" (Zohar, Part I, 8a).
The study on the night of Shavuot is a rectification for the ornaments of the fallen Shechinah (Knesset Yisrael).
“And Rabbi Shimon and all the companions were singing with the song of the Torah and renewing words of Torah, each and every one of them. Rabbi Shimon rejoiced, and all the other companions rejoiced as well. Rabbi Shimon said to them: ‘My sons, happy is your portion, for tomorrow the bride will enter the wedding canopy only together with you. For all those who prepare her adornments on this night and rejoice with her will all be registered and written in the Book of Remembrance, and the Holy One, Blessed Be He, blesses them with seventy blessings and crowns of the upper world’"
Studying the Tanach Restores Kingship
From the Midrash explained by Rashi, we learn that studying the twenty-four books of the Tanach adorns Knesset Yisrael with royal garments. The matter is explained explicitly in the Midrash brought by the Beit Yosef in the laws of Shabbat (Orach Chaim 290). There it says regarding the words “And Moshe assembled":
“The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to Israel: If you gather every Shabbat in synagogues and study halls and read from the Torah and the Prophets, I consider it as if you have crowned Me in My world. For so the prophet Isaiah explains (43:12): ‘You are My witnesses, says Hashem, and I am God.’ You testify about Me that I am God in the world." Therefore, throughout all the Diaspora communities on Shabbat, it became customary to gather in synagogues to read Scripture and expound Aggadic teachings after the morning meal.
Here we learn that the study of Torah and the Prophets crowns Hashem in His world.
How Does Studying the Tanach Crown Hashem?
If one does not study the twenty-four books of Tanach, one can think that Torah is only about laws and not about Kingship which is manifested in this world through the sovereignty of the Nation of Israel over Eretz Yisrael, as is written, “For from Zion will come forth the Torah and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem." Instead, one can suffice with the Torah of the exile, where the Shechinah is cast down to the dust - a Torah that does not fulfill the role and destiny of the Nation of Israel, about which it was said to Avraham: “And through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed."
The Torah of the exile is a partial, shrunken Torah without a Temple and without Jerusalem, which is meant to bring light to the entire world. About this Torah of Galut the Gemara says: “He has made me dwell in darkness like the eternally dead" - Rabbi Yirmiyah said: “This refers to the Talmud of Babylonia" (Sanhedrin 24a).
If one does not study the all-encompassing scope of Tanach, Heaven forbid, one can arrive at the Torah of the Spies in the Wilderness, who did not want to ascend to the Land of Israel even though it was possible; and who did not believe that Hashem is among our soldiers and fighters. Those who make do with the truncated Torah of Galut sink into a constricted mentality, into a Torah satisfied with the wilderness, and they do not desire the Land of Israel, regarding which it was said: “And I shall make you into a great nation."
The Torah of the Land of Israel
Rabbi Zeira fasted one-undred fasts when he ascended to the Land of Israel in order to forget the Torah of Babylonia:
“Rabbi Zeira, when he ascended to the Land of Israel, fasted one-hundred fasts so that the Babylonian learning would be forgotten from him, so that it would not trouble him" (Bava Metzia 85a).
In contrast, when a person studies Torat Eretz Yisrael one studies the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, and understands that it is impossible for the Nation of Israel to continue living in exile. One understands that it is impossible to continue life without establishing in Jerusalem a “Temple of the King, in the city of kingship."
One knows that our role in the world is to sanctify the Name of Heaven publicly, via Israeli Nationhood, and not as scattered individuals residing in foreign lands. In this way, the ornaments and crowns are restored to Knesset Yisrael.
The Tikkun of Shavuot Night of Rabbi Yosef Karo
Rabbi Yosef Karo, compiler of the Shulchan Aruch, was one of the greatest Torah Sages of our Nation. Born in Spain, his family expelled from there in his childhood, and moved to Portugal together with many exiled Jews. In Portugal as well there were decrees of forced conversion, and they fled from there to Turkey. Meanwhile, he grew tremendously in Torah greatness.
On the night of Shavuot he studied Torah with fewer than a minyan of scholars, and merited a wondrous Divine Revelation whose purpose was to restore the crowns of Knesset Yisrael. The mission of Rabbi Yosef Karo parallels the mission of Moshe Rabbeinu, who was sent to take Israel out of Egypt and clothe them in royal garments. All of this was in the merit of their greatness in Torah.
The Shechinah revealed itself to Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz during the Tikkun of Shavuot night, and through their learning they merited to crown the bride with her crowns. Thus the Shechinah said to them:
“My beloved ones, My lovers, peace unto you. Happy are you and happy are those who gave birth to you! Happy are you in this world and happy are you in the World to Come, for you have set upon yourselves to crown Me on this night. For many years the crown of My head has fallen, and there is none to comfort Me, and I am cast into the dust embracing refuse heaps. But now you have restored the crown to its former glory."
The revelation of the Shechinah on Shavuot resembles, in some small way, the revelation at Mount Sinai. Those present heard “a great voice with clearly articulated letters, and all the neighbors heard but they did not understand. The sweetness was immense, the voice growing ever stronger. And we fell upon our faces, and no spirit remained in any man to lift his eyes and face because of the overwhelming awe."
The light that shone in this revelation also recalled the revelation at Mount Sinai:
“And if permission had been given to the eye to see, you would have seen the fire surrounding this house."
And just as at Mount Sinai there was a great mission, there was also a great danger. The Shechinah did not allow Rabbi Yosef Karo and his group to evade their mission. It said to them:
“You have merited the corridor - strive to enter the palace."
“Because of You I Am Cast Into the Dust."
“Do you not understand that in all your wanderings the Shechinah is humiliated and thrown into the dust, even if you study Torah with wondrous devotion? If you could imagine even one out of a thousand thousands and myriads of the suffering in which I dwell, no joy would enter your hearts and no laughter your mouths when you remembered that because of you I am cast into the dust.
“Why is the Shechinah cast into the dust because of you? Because you are the leaders of Israel, and you must draw the heart of the Nation of Israel from exile to the Land of Israel."
On this the Or HaChaim comments: “And for this all the great leaders of Israel will in the future be called to judgment, and from them Hashem will demand an accounting for the humiliation of the disgraced House of Hashem" (Or HaChaim, Vayikra 25:25).
“The Time of Singing Has Arrived" - To Ascend to the Land
In the wake of these matters, Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz wrote a letter and sent it to all the communities of Israel, passionately calling upon them to ascend to the Land of Israel:
“Therefore let every person take this to heart, and let your eyes not pity your possessions, and let not the desires of this world and the uncertainty of security close your eyes, lest you regret it later when it will no longer be within your power. For it has already been said: ‘The time of singing has arrived,’ and not all times are equal. Open your eyes!"
Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz did not suffice with this. He also wrote the song Lecha Dodi so that it would be sung in the synagogues during Kabbalat Shabbat. The entire song is a continuation of the letter, encouraging Jewish People to leave the exile and ascend to the Land of Israel, to build Jerusalem, to raise the Shechinah from the dust, and to clothe her in the twenty-four royal garments.
Indeed, the beginning of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel came through Rabbi Yosef Karo and his group who left Turkey for Eretz Yisrael - together with the holy Ari, the Ramak, the Maharam Alsheikh, the author of Sefer Charedim, and other towering righteous Torah Sages who ascended to the Land of Israel from other places. They represented the small group that began rebuilding Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel after the destruction of the Second Temple.
After them came the Shelah HaKadosh, the Or HaChaim HaKadosh, the disciples of the Vilna Gaon and the Baal Shem Tov, and many more, until the First Aliyah arrived. Baron Rothschild assisted the immigrants. Herzl and his companions encouraged the nation. Balfour issued his declaration, and meanwhile more and more Jews immigrated, until the State of Israel was established - stemming from the holiness of Shavuot night.