When Elisheva Parry of Los Angeles was in high school, she and a friend used to learn all Shavuos night. They attended shiurim in a local shul for some of the night and learned together, chavrusah-style, for the rest. Over the years, Elisheva has reviewed portions of Halichos Bas Yisrael, the halachos of shmiras halashon — and, because Shavuos usually falls out right before final exams, she has sometimes studied limudei kodesh as well.
Shavuos night learning was something the girls looked forward to year after year. “For us it was a treat ” Elisheva says. “We wanted to do it.”
While Elisheva understands that her experience was only a fraction of that of her brothers father and other men because she got a taste of it she is more appreciative of limud haTorah and the sacrifices it entails.
“Women are always sending the men out to learn” Elisheva says. “Until you’ve done it yourself you don’t realize how challenging it is to stay up all night learning.”
Many teenage girls are equally enthusiastic about Shavuos-night Torah opportunities and several seminaries in Israel run all-night sessions to cater to that desire. Girls in programs like Neve Yerushalayim Beis Yaakov Yerushalayim (BJJ) Bnos Chava Michlalah and Darchei Binah learn on their own attend sessions in their schools or participate in programs elsewhere.
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