OU Torah’s Line-Up for 5775 To Include Mesillas Yesharim Series

23 Sep 2014

The Orthodox Union’s OU Torah web site has announced that its slate of series for the new Jewish year of 5775 will include lectures on Mesillas Yesharim, the classic work of mussar (self-improvement). Mesillas Yesharim, which means “the path of the upright,” was written by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, an 18th century scholar often known by the acronym Ramchal.

Mesillas Yesharim is the seminal text for the study of mussar,” said Rabbi Jack Abramowitz, editor of OU Torah. “It’s one of the works that listeners have most requested we add to the site.”

The audio lectures in this new series will be delivered by Rabbi Eliezer Feuer, spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Wavecrest and Bayswater in Far Rockaway, NY. Rabbi Feuer’s father, Rabbi Avraham Chaim Feuer, delivers a series of lectures on another classic mussar work, Chovos HaLevavos (Duties of the Heart), which also appears on OU Torah.

OU Torah is perhaps best known for its renowned Daf Yomi series, featuring daily Talmud lectures from Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of OU Kosher, and Rabbi Shalom Rosner. Another of the site’s more prominent series is Nach Yomi, which offers daily lectures on the books of the Prophets and the Writings. Other programs on OU Torah run the gamut of Jewish thought and Jewish law.

A number of innovations are being made to further facilitate Torah study in the new year. The popular series Shnayim Mikra is for the first time being offered as a daily email, bringing an aliyah-by-aliyah review of each week’s Torah portion directly to subscribers’ inboxes. Additionally, two series on the 613 commandments of the Torah – Taryag by Rabbi Abramowitz and Sefer HaMitzvos by Rabbi Rosner – are being re-run, this time following a common schedule, enabling visitors to use each series to enhance the other.

The two mitzvah series are scheduled to re-launch on Monday, September 29. Mesillas Yesharim is scheduled to begin on Thursday, October 2. The Shnayim Mikra email begins with the Torah portion of Bereshit, following Simchat Torah, on Saturday night, October 11. One can sign up to receive Shnayim Mikra emails at http://www.ou.org/newsletters/?sm.