The least known of the major holidays

It’s ironic that Shavuot is such a little known holiday; because in fact, Shavuot commemorates the single most important event in Jewish history – the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Not only is this the central event in Jewish history, but it’s probably one of the most amazing events in human history. On this day, some 3300 years ago, G-d spoke to the entire Jewish people. Not to one person in a cave, or a small group of people by a lake, but to millions of people camped around Mount Sinai.

The giving of the Torah was an event of awesome proportions that indelibly stamped the Jewish nation with a unique character, faith and destiny. And in the 3,300 years since this event, Torah ideals - monotheism, justice, responsibility -- have become the moral basis for Western civilization.
Perhaps the reason for the relative obscurity of Shavuot is because this holiday has no obvious "symbols" of the day -- i.e. no Shofar, no Sukkah, no Chanukah Menorah.

On Shavuot, there are no symbols to distract us from the central focus of Jewish life: the Torah. This is why it has become a widespread custom to stay up the entire night learning Torah.

While I don’t know if I’ll be able to make the whole night, I certainly plan to spend much of the night (and early morning) in study.