Chevre, tonight and tomorrow is Shavuot (שבועות). We celebrate the receiving of the Torah. There are no dietary restrictions (like there are for Passover or Sukkot, what to eat or where to eat it). It is a strong Minhag to eat dairy on Shavuot. There are a number of reasons for this. I connect most with the idea that before the receiving of the Torah, there was no kosher and so the people ate whatever. But after the giving, they learned about ritual slaughter and that all of their dishes and utensils were not kosher. So they couldn’t really prepare meat yet. It is also custom to stay up all night (or into the night) learning Torah. Similar to the idea that when you get a new item, you want to delve into it, use it, play with it, look at it, as much as possible. Therefore, there are study sessions and classes that go all night. This is followed by an early morning davening.

Note, the davening of Shavuot is extra long since it has things like Hallel, the reading of the Book of Ruth in addition to the normal holiday Mussaf prayer.

I used to be able to stay up all night, but those days are way past me. My most memorable Shavuot experience was when I was in Arad. We trecked out to a lookout point to pray with the rising sun and read Ruth overlooking the Moav Mountains, where Ruth came from.

I bless you all to have a special holiday and receive the Torah in joy and happiness. Chag Sameach.