Years before composing the popular Friday night piyut, Lechah Dodi, the Kabbalist, Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz, (1505-1584) wrote a letter entitled Iggeres Alkabetz, about a wonderful Shavuos night he experienced in Adrianople, Turkey in 1534.
This remarkable experience which is believed to be the first historically recorded Tikkun Leil Shavuos was first published during the following century in the first edition (Lublin, 1646) of the Maggid Meisharim of Rabbi Yosef Karo and two years later (1648) in Amsterdam in the Shnei Luchos Habris, of Rabbi Yishayau Horowitz.
Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, a native of Salonica, had learned under the Kabbalist, Rav Yosef Taitazak of that city and married the daughter of a wealthy Salonica Jew, Reb Yitzchok Cohen before relocating to Edirne.
In Edirne, the Ottoman city also known as Adrianople because of its namesake, Hadrian, the Roman Emperor, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz befriended an older prominent Talmid Chochom, Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575).
Rabbi Karo and his family had been expelled from Toledo, Spain when he was a small boy of 4 and found refuge in Portugal for a year before making their home in the Ottoman Empire. Rabbi Karo had learned under his father Rav Ephraim who was an outstanding Talmid Chochom and served as Chief Rabbi of Nikopol (then under the Ottoman Empire, today part of northern Bulgaria).After his father’s passing, he lived and learned with his uncle, Rabbi Yitzchok Karo and eventually studied under the Kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Tazitzak.
Rabbi Yosef Karo was to become very famous because of his vast Torah literary output. He spent 20 years working on the Beis Yosef, a commentary on Rabbi YaaKov ben Asher’s Arba’ah Turim as well as authored the Shulchan Aruch (The Prepared Table–Code of Jewish Law), a compendium of the laws of the Torah governing a Jew’s entire life which is considered the standard legal code of Judaism. His Kesef Mishnah commentary on Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah as well as his other writings were completed in Safed where he lived at the end of his life. Rabbi Karo’s Maggid Meisharim in which this letter from Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz appears, is comprised of teachings that Rabbi Karo learned from a heavenly Maggid, an angel that privately taught him. This heavenly Maggid was depicted as the personification of the Mishnah who spoke through his mouth.
Maggid Meisharim (literally “declarer of things that are right based on Yishayahu 45:19) was published in two parts: the first part, covering Bereishis to Metzora, was published in Lublin in 1646; the second part, completing the Torah and on Prophets and Writings, was published in Venice in 1649. A consolidated edition containing both accounts was published in Amsterdam in 1708; According to the Chida, Rabbi Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai, only one fifth of the actual manuscripts had been published.
Our story of the Tikkun Leil Shavuos described by Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz took place in the Yeshiva that Rabbi Yosef Karo had established and headed in Adrianople.
It was in this Yeshiva’s Beis Medrash, before the Shavuos Yom Tov that Rabbi Alkabetz met with Rabbi Yosef and the two agreed to learn all night, the Tikkun Leil Shavuos.
There are three meanings to the word Tikkun ascribed to the learning of Torah all Shavuos night. “Tikkun” literally means reparation, that the learning of Torah all night preceding the Yom Tov of Matan Torah is a reparation, a Tikkun, to make amends for Bnei Yisrael who instead of being up, anticipating excitedly the giving of the Torah, slept the entire night…” Hashem came and found them sleeping; He began to stir them with trumpets and Moshe had to wake them from their sleep for the great encounter with the King of kings… This idea is based on the Midrash of Shir Hashirim .
By learning all night the Jewish nation is making a Tikkun, a reparation for their having not stayed up originally .
The second meaning of the term Tikkun is preparation for the allegorical marriage between the Torah (the bride) and the people of Israel (the groom). On the eve of their marriage – the night before the Receiving of the Torah – jewelry takes the form of Torah study as preparation for receiving the bride, the Torah; the verb for the preparation of the Jewelry is Tikkun.
The third meaning of the word “Tikkun” refers to the liturgy that is said on Shavuos. It usually includes a small section from every book of all twenty-four books of the Tanach and all sixty-three tractates of the Mishna, as well as other rabbinical works. This arrangement is meant to symbolically study and provide a a taste of the entire body of Torah literature.
The chapter headings of the “Tikkun anthology” are said to represent the jewels that adorn the bride’s head.
The following is a description by Rabbi Alkabetz of what took place the first night of Shavuos:
“Know that the saint [Rabbi Yosef Karo] and I, his and your humble servant, belonging to our company, agreed to stay up all night and ….banish sleep from our eyes on Shavuot. We succeeded, Baruch Hashem, as we did not cease from study for even a moment. Listen and let your souls be enlivened.
This is the order I arranged for the night. First we read Parshas Bereishis unil Vayechulu (Bereishis 2, 1-3) in a loud and pleasant voice. Afterwards “Bachodesh Hashlishi (Shemos 19:1) until the end of the Sedra. And then from Parshas Mishpatim “Ve’el Moshe Amar..” (Shemos 24:1), and Parshas Va’eschanan “Vayikra Moshe el Kol Yisrael (Devarim 5:1) until the end of Parshas Shema Yisrael (Devarim 6,9). In addition from Parshas Vezos Habrochoh from V’ya’al Moshe” until Le’Einiei Kol Yisrael” (Devarim 34:1-12).
Haftarahs of Yechezkel “Vayehi Bishloshim Shana (Yechezkel 1:1), the Haftarah of Chabakuk the Navi (Chavakuk 3:1). Afterwards we said Psalms 19 of Tehillim “Hashamayim Mesaprim” Psalms 68 “Yakum Elokim” and the alef Beit from Tehillim Perek 119 “Belo Hashirot from Perek 120).
Then we learned the entire Megillas of Shir Hashirim and Ruth…and the last psukim of Divrei HaYamim. All this was done with great awe, melody and spirit. What occurred next is not to be believed!
After we began to learn the Mishna and had already learned two Masechtos, suddenly in the middle of the learning, an awe inspiring voice that sounded supernatural emerged from the mouth of Rabbi Yosef Karo. Many of the words were unintelligible; the syllables sounded choppy. Although people nearby were able to hear, they were not able to understand. The voice was very pleasing but at the same time growing continually stronger. We fell on our faces from great awe; no one dared lift his eyes and behold the holy sight of Rabbi Yosef.
A wall of fire encircled them
“My most devoted and beloved friends, listen,” the Voice said. You and those who gave birth to you are happy and fortunate both in this and the next world, because you took it upon yourselves to honor me this evening with the crown of your learning. Many years have passed since my crown (Atarah in Kabbalah is a name for the Shechina) has fallen and no one has come to console me. I was cast into the dust and dung heap till now that you have returned my glory of old.
“Be strengthened, friends and loved ones become powerful: ,know that you are the lofty chosen few, who have merited to enter the palace of the King, for all of your learning and the words of your mouths have come before G-d and pierced many heavens until your voices have ascended and reached the angels. All of the angels stand hearing your words of Torah and listen to your voices.
“I am the one Mishna that admonishes man. I have come to speak to you. If only there were ten of you, you would have ascended even higher. Nevertheless, you have elevated yourselves, and those who gave birth to you. You are fortunate, my dear ones, because you deprived your eyes of sleep, I have been elevated this evening….
“You are not like those who are lying on their ivory beds in sleep, which is comparable to a sixtieth of death. ..You have cleaved to G-d and He rejoices with you… Therefore my children be strong and brave. Be joyous in the study of Torah and in attaining the fear of G-d, my friends. If you would only imagine the tiniest fraction of my pain, no joy would enter your hearts, no laughter would escape your mouths, considering that on your account I have been cast to the dust …… Do not cease from your learning, for a cord of chesed is wrapped around you, and your Torah learning is cherished by G-d.
“Stand upon your feet my sons, my friends , elevate me and proclaim out loud as on Yom Kippur: ‘Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso leOlam Voed.’
“We stood up and recited what had been requested of us and the Voice resumed and stated, ‘Happy are you, my sons. Do not cease your learning for a moment, and now go up to the Land of Israel, for not all times are equal and G-d does not require much to bring salvation, for you shall eat from the exalted goodness of the Land. Do not value your belongings, for you will partake of the best…. And if you take heed and obey, the choicest of that land you will eat. Therefore, hurry and, come to the Land of Israel for it is I who supports you. “And you shall dwell in peace, and peace shall be upon your households and all that you own will enjoy Peace. Hashem grants strength to His nation; Hashem will bless His nation with peace.’
“We heard all these things that were spoken to us, additional matters of wisdom were shared, and great promises brought us all to tears; we felt so much joy. We also heard of the Shechina’s suffering, as a result of our sins, and its Voice as an ill person was pleading with us. We then strengthened ourselves until daybreak, reciting verses with tremendous joy and awe.
“In the morning we immersed in the mikveh, as we had done the two previous days, and there we met the three others that had been absent the first night. We reprimanded them and told them the favor G-d had brought to pass. Their hearts melted and we all cried with emotion. At the same time, we maintained a harsh facade, because of their absence we had not merited greater revelations. We had been told that a severe limitation had been wrought by the lack of a minyan . They responded that they would afford us this opportunity on the second night (of Shavuot): they would join and we would become ten. We agreed even though we had not slept at all the first night and during the following day, we had not been able to rest because after the mincha prayer Rabbi Karo had delivered a Shiur. Still, we performed the same protocol as the night before, and did it with much joy because now we were ten men.
On this night, however, the voice did not even wait until we started to recite the Mishna, nor did it wait until midnight, but it made itself heard immediately. As we were reading the verses of Shma, the beloved Voice announced, “Listen my dear ones, those most glorifying G-d. Arise! And raise those who are lying in dust…
“Much wisdom He taught, and afterwards said, ‘Happy are you, my dear ones that have elevated me; how high you have risen now that you are a minyan, as is proper in all matters of holiness. Happy are you in the future world. Fear not the reproach of man …because you elevate all of Israel. Know that you are among the exalted, that glory bathes your hands and the cord of Chesed is drawn to you. If permission were granted, your eyes would behold the fire surrounding this house. Therefore, strengthen yourselves and do not break the bond with the One Above. Say aloud, ‘Shma Yisrael…Baruch Shem Kevod….”
After another half an hour, we resumed learning the secrets of Torah. Exactly at midnight the Voice emerged a second time, teaching for over an hour and a half. It praised the learning and said,
“Do you see and hear this voice speaking? Ask the elderly; know that for centuries you are the only ones who have merited such an experience. Therefore, from now on, be on the alert to help each other, and strengthen those that are weak. Maintain yourselves as leaders, for you are the princes of the king’s palace, and you have merited to enter the hallway. Now strive to enter the inner chamber, but do not leave the entrance, for he who leaves the gate will have blood on his head.
“Wake up my sons and understand what I am explaining to you. Wake up, my dear ones, and strive to be sons of valor… Behold the day is coming when men will abandon the Diaspora and and its gods of silver and worldly pleasures, idols of gold, and desires of wealth, and travel to the Holy Land. It is possible, except that you are sinking in the mud of worldly vanities… Behold! You have been privy to what others, for many generations, have not.”
These matters continued at great length. All who were present, resolved to turn to Hashem with all their might.
Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz then moved to Tzfas with his family. Rabbi Yosef Karo who did not move to Eretz Yisrael lost his young wife, ( the daughter of Rav Yitzchok Sabba, Rav in Adrianople and sister of Rosh Yeshiva Rav Shmuel Sabba of that city) and three of his four children (Bryna, Yitzchak and Yehudah) as a result of a plague the following year. It has been written that this was possibly a punishment for his not having listened to the Voice of the Maggid to make Aliyah.
Rabbi Yosef Karo married the following year the daughter of Rabbi Chaim Albalag, Rav of Nikopol and moved to Tzfas where he had another child, Shlomo.
The custom of learning all night on Shavuos then became very widespread in Tsfas which had become a magnet for the study of Kabbalah. There was a renown circle of mystics that included Rabbi Moshe Alshich and Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, a brother –in-law of Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz
Soon the custom of learning all night spread throughout the Middle East and Europe. Today it is practiced all over the world.
Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Shlomo HaLEvi Alkabetz are both buried in Tzfas and their Kevorim are visited by tens of thousands annually.
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Pearl Herzog