Rectifying Speech for Receiving Torah

בענין המנהג ללמוד בליל שבועות.

Concerning the custom to learn Torah on the night of Shavuos.

The Sefas Emes addresses the well-known minhag of staying up to learn Torah throughout the night of Shavuos.

לפי הפשוט עפ"י מ"ש חז"ל משתינוק מתחיל לדבר אביו מלמדו תורה.

On the simple level, this is based on what Chazal said: "From the time a child begins to speak, his father teaches him Torah" (Sukkah 42a).

At its plainest, the custom mirrors Chazal's principle that as soon as a child can talk, his father starts teaching him Torah — speech and Torah-learning are linked from the very start.

והאמת כי בימות הפסח וימי הספירה נתקן בחי' הדיבור כמ"ש בזוה"ק.

And the truth is that during the days of Pesach and the days of Sefiras Ha-Omer the faculty of speech (bechinas ha-dibbur) is rectified, as is stated in the Zohar Hakadosh.

On a deeper level, the period from Pesach through the Omer is when the spiritual dimension of "speech" is repaired and refined — as the Zohar teaches, this is a time of fixing the power of dibbur within a person.

וע"ז כתיב אנכי כו' המעלך מארץ מצרים הרחב פיך ואמלאהו.

And concerning this it is written: "I [am Hashem your God] Who brought you up from the land of Mitzrayim; open wide your mouth and I will fill it" (Tehillim 81:11).

The pasuk links the Exodus from Mitzrayim to the opening of the mouth: once Hashem freed us and repaired our power of speech, He invites us to "open wide your mouth" — to use that rectified speech for Torah — and He will fill it.

לכן צריכין מקודם לעסוק בתורה.

Therefore we must first engage in Torah.

This is why we learn Torah on the night of Shavuos before Mattan Torah is "re-received": we first prepare ourselves by opening our mouths in Torah, readying the vessel of speech to be filled.

ואז יהיב חכמה לחכימין וניתן בהתחדשות התורה:

And then "He gives wisdom to the wise" (Daniel 2:21), and it is given anew in the renewal of the Torah (hischadshus ha-Torah).

When we have first exerted ourselves in Torah and opened the vessel, Hashem grants fresh wisdom — "He gives wisdom to the wise." On Shavuos the Torah is given again, renewed, to those who have prepared themselves to receive it.

Summary: The custom of learning on the night of Shavuos reflects, on the simple level, that Torah accompanies speech from a child's first words, and on the deeper level, that the days of Pesach and the Omer rectify the power of speech itself. Having "opened wide our mouths" in Torah as preparation, we make ourselves into worthy vessels — and then Hashem fills them, granting renewed wisdom in the annual re-giving of the Torah.