In addition to the standard festival prayers, as well as Kiddush and the festive meal, the night of Shavuot has the special status of a “night of guarding,” on which it is customary to stay awake and devote time to Torah study and to reciting the Tikkun Leil Shavuot.

The festival evening prayer can be found in most prayer books. This prayer service is generally started relatively late on Shavuot night, so that the period of the counting of the omer will be complete, in accordance with the commandment of the Torah: “Seven weeks; they shall be complete” (Leviticus 23:15), as explained in the previous section.

Kiddush: As is done on the eve of every Shabbat and festival, Kiddush is recited over a full cup of wine.

Further reading: For details of the laws of Kiddush, see p. 386.

When Shavuot is on Shabbat, begin here:

(Quietly: “It was evening and it was morning,) the sixth day. The heavens and the earth and their entire host were completed. God completed on the seventh day His works that He had made; He rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had made. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because on it He rested from all His works that God created to make” (Genesis 1:31–2:3).

On weekdays begin here:

“Attention, my masters, gentlemen, teachers.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has chosen us from all nations, and raised us above all tongues, and sanctified us through His commandments. And You have given us, Lord our God, in love, appointed times for joy, festivals and seasonal holidays for gladness, this day of the festival of Shavuot, the time of the giving of our Torah, a holy convocation, in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. For You have chosen us and sanctified us above all nations, and Your holy festivals, in joy and in gladness You have given us for an inheritance. Blessed are You, Lord, who sanctifies Israel and the seasonal holidays.”

When Shavuot begins on Saturday night, it is necessary to incorporate Havdala into the Kiddush in order to distinguish between the sanctity of Shabbat and the lesser sanctity of the festival. Therefore, two additional blessings are added at this point in the Kiddush. First one brings a candle that was lit before Shabbat, or one lights a candle from an existing flame. It is important to note that one may not extinguish any flame on the festival. The following blessings are then recited:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the lights of fire.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who distinguishes between sacred and mundane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the [other] nations, between the seventh day and the six days of work. You have distinguished between the sanctity of Shabbat and the sanctity of festivals, and You have sanctified the seventh day above the six days of activity. You have distinguished and sanctified Your people Israel with Your sanctity. Blessed are You, Lord, who distinguishes between sacred and sacred.”

The additional section for the conclusion of Shabbat ends here.

As on the other festivals, at the end of Kiddush one adds the Sheheheyanu blessing on both nights (some place a new fruit on the table on the second night, so that one can look at it and have it in mind when the blessing is recited):

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.”

For Sephardim:

When Shavuot is on Shabbat, begin here:

(Quietly: “It was evening and it was morning,) the sixth day. The heavens and the earth and their entire host were completed. God completed on the seventh day His works that He had made; He rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had made. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because on it He rested from all His works that God created to make” (Genesis 1:31–2:3).

On weekdays begin here:

“These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations, that you shall proclaim at their appointed time” (Leviticus 23:4). “And Moses spoke to the children of Israel the appointed times of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:44).

“Attention, my masters.”

The listeners respond: “To life!”

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has chosen us from all nations, and raised us above all tongues, and sanctified us through His commandments. And You have given us, Lord our God, in love, appointed times for joy, festivals and seasonal holidays for gladness, this day of the festival of Shavuot, this festival day of holy convocation, the time of the giving of our Torah, with love, in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. For You have chosen us and sanctified us above all nations, and Your holy festivals, in joy and in gladness You have given us for an inheritance. Blessed are You, Lord, who sanctifies Israel and the seasonal holidays.”

When Shavuot begins on Saturday night, it is necessary to incorporate Havdala into the Kiddush in order to distinguish between the sanctity of Shabbat and the lesser sanctity of the festival. Therefore, two additional blessings are added at this point in the Kiddush. First one brings a candle that was lit before Shabbat, or one lights a candle from an existing flame. It is important to note that one may not extinguish any flame on the festival. The following blessings are then recited:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the lights of fire.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who distinguishes between sacred and mundane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the [other] nations, between the seventh day and the six days of work. You have distinguished between the sanctity of Shabbat and the sanctity of festivals, and You have sanctified the seventh day above the six days of activity. You have distinguished and sanctified Your people Israel with Your sanctity. Blessed are You, Lord, who distinguishes between sacred and sacred.”

The additional section for the conclusion of Shabbat ends here.

As on the other festivals, at the end of Kiddush one adds the Sheheheyanu blessing on both nights (some place a new fruit on the table on the second night, so that one can look at it and have it in mind when the blessing is recited):

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.”

The blessing of HaMotzi: The blessing is recited over two whole loaves of bread. After the meal, Grace after Meals is recited with the addition of the Ya’aleh VeYavo section.

On the night of Shavuot, it is customary to conduct an all-night study vigil. Many concentrate on a prescribed set of selections from various Torah sources, called Tikkun Leil Shavuot. It consists mainly of the first and last verses of each weekly portion in the Torah, and also the first and last verses from the books of the Prophets and the Writings. Some have the custom to also read the first and last mishna of each of the sixty-three tractates of the Talmud, a list of the 613 commandments, and certain passages from the Zohar.

This custom of Tikkun Leil Shavuot was originally instituted by the kabbalists of Safed, based on a statement of the Zohar. The meaning of the word tikkun in Aramaic is “decoration”; just as one decorates a bride on the eve of her marriage, likewise, through reciting the tikkun one adorns the Torah before accepting it anew.

Another explanation for this custom is that it is based on the statement of the Midrash that on the night of the sixth of Sivan, the children of Israel sank into a deep sleep, so that in the morning, Moses had to wake them and hurry them to gather around Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. In order to make up for this behavior, we remain awake all night long, waiting eagerly for the Ten Commandments, which are read from the Torah in the morning.

Just before dawn, some people immerse themselves in a mikva, as part of their spiritual preparation for receiving the Torah.

Over the course of the generations, many communities developed the practice of conducting different types of study sessions all night on Shavuot, including independent Torah study as well as a variety of lectures. Some maintain that these are less preferable alternatives to the saying of the formulated tikkun, which is the main custom of this night.

At the end of the recitation of the tikkun, some have the custom of praying the morning prayer service in a manner called vatikin, which means that Shema is recited just before sunrise, and exactly at the moment of sunrise, the Amida prayer is recited. Others first go home to rest and then reconvene for the morning prayers after a few hours of sleep, so that they will be able to concentrate properly on their prayers.

Further reading: For more on Tikkun Leil Shavuot, see A Concise Guide to Mahshava, p. 99.