Wow. Tishrei sure is a long month, isn’t it? Rosh Hashana goes into Yom Kippur, which goes into Succos, which goes into Simchas Torah. And no matter how the calendar falls – whether the holidays fall on Shabbos, next to Shabbos, or nowhere near Shabbos – each permutation has its own challenges. This year, for example, the holidays stayed far away from Shabbos, with the result that we had seven additional “days off,” plus four “half-days” preceding them.
At OU Torah, this complicated things in that (a) we were running additional, holiday-themed content on top of our usual series and (b) we had fewer days in which to feature our regular series. The result was that we had less time in which to showcase things that normally run weekly or so. (Sure, we could have just posted it all, but with fewer days available and so much to do, most users would not have time to keep pace. Just keeping up with the parsha was challenging at times!)
But now we enter the month of Marcheshvan, the only holiday-free month in the Jewish calendar. (Contrary to popular misconception, the name of the month is actually “Marcheshvan,” not “Cheshvan” preceded by the adjective “mar.”) As such, we are able to get back on track with some of your favorite OU Torah series, including:
- Kuzari by Rabbi Daniel Korobkin;
- Ethics of Eden on Pirkei Avos by Rabbi Y. Dov Krakowski;
- Weekly Tefilah Focus, currently examining Shemoneh Esrei;
- Halacha L’Maaseh by Richard B. Aiken;
- The 19 Letters by Daniel Adler, which has nearly reached the conclusion;
- Shorashim of the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos, by Rav Chaim Ilson;
- The God Papers on Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed) by Yours Truly;
- and many more!
We’ve also brought back The Rav in His Own Voice, featuring lectures by Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik. What they lack in sound quality (having been recorded on cassette tapes in the 1970s), they more than make up for with historical import.
There are many more series on OU Torah, from parsha and Daf Yomi to mishnayos and Mishnah Brurah, so come by every day because there’s always something new!