September 20, 2005

A Special Event Scheduled for October 6:
OU Uses Cutting Edge Technology to Bring Daf Yomi Program from the Study Hall to Participants Around the World

With its unquestioned skill in combining Torah with technology, of using state-of-the art communications to make sacred Jewish studies available to audiences worldwide, the Orthodox Union has demonstrated its leadership in bringing the seven-and-a-half year Daf Yomi cycle of Talmud study from the synagogue study hall to the World Wide Web.

Every day throughout the cycle -- via podcast, downloading, and streaming -- the OU presents Rabbi Moshe Elefant’s Daily Daf on www.ou-dafyomi.org, to large audiences tuning in not only from North America, Israel and Europe, but from Jewish communities in remote locations such as Gibraltar, South Korea and Australia.

Rabbi Elefant, who is leading his third Daf Yomi cycle -- in which one folio (daf) of Talmud is studied every day -- is Executive Rabbinic Coordinator and Chief Operating Officer of the OU Kosher Department. He has a reputation as a brilliant teacher, and thanks to the Internet, now has fans all over the world.

Rabbi Elefant's online daily class has become renowned for the clarity of his explanations, breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his insights.

“We have received such positive feedback,” Rabbi Elefant declared, “Conducting the Daily Daf has given us the opportunity to reach out to thousands of Jews who normally don’t have access to a program like this -- it is really quite wonderful.”

Each day’s class is archived and podcast on the website, and soon will be available at iTunes, so that it may be accessed at any time in the cycle; text pages are also stored for those who do not have a printed Talmud with them. When he is going to be away, Rabbi Elefant records his lectures in advance, so that not a day goes by without his Daily Daf.

Now, as the tractate Shabbat nears completion, the OU has announced a siyum (concluding celebration), to be held on Thursday, October 6, 2005, the Fast of Gedaliah, at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, NJ, which will be broadcast live beginning at 7:30 p.m. EDT on www.ouradio.org, thus enabling worldwide participation. This will be the first of a continuing OU program, in which the conclusion of each tractate will be celebrated with a siyum in a different OU synagogue across North America, with each one webcast and stored for later access.

“The completion of each tractate is a significant element of the Daf Yomi cycle,” declared Rabbi Moshe Krupka, OU National Executive Director. “The life of a religious and committed Jew is one of Torah growth and study. The OU’s Daily Daf is intended to facilitate this kind of life. And for each milestone reached, that is, the completion of a tractate, the OU will present a siyum and will use technology to transmit it worldwide so that we can all celebrate our achievement together, as well as motivate everyone to join in the learning.”

At the opening siyum in Teaneck, Rabbi Elefant will speak, in addition to the host, Rabbi Sholom Baum of Congregation Keter Torah, and special guest Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum -- author, eloquent speaker, Daf Yomi teacher, and Rabbi of K'hal Nachlas Yitzchok in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, NY.

“We are trying to create an on-line community through state-of-the-art technology, available to everyone in the world,” explained Emamuel J. Adler, Chair of the OU's Community and Synagogue Services Commission. “Rabbi Elefant’s Daily Daf and the OU siyum provide an opportunity for people everywhere to participate. That was the OU's objective in inaugurating this extraordinary program."

Synagogues organizing their own siyum are encouraged to make use of the OU web link, in order to create a much larger and unified celebration. Participating synagogues should contact Lisa Halberstam at 212-613-8154, or halberstaml@ou.org, in order to insure proper network connection and mention of their ‘presence’ at the event, as well as to register their synagogue to host a future siyum.

Meanwhile, day after day, month after month, year after year, Rabbi Elefant’s Daily Daf goes on. Thanks to the OU’s cutting edge technology, and Rabbi Elefant’s wisdom and insights, the ancient study hall and the modern computer share the same goal: to bring the message of Torah to Jews wherever they may be.

Rabbi Moshe Elefant: The OU’s Master Teacher

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The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA, and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way. Its kosher supervision label, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 400,000 products manufactured in 83 countries around the globe.

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