Most mitzvos can only be performed at certain times. You can stuff your face with matzah all year long but it’s only a mitzvah at the seder. Blowing a shofar doesn’t accomplish anything if you do it on Chanukah. Even mitzvos that are not time-bound apply only under certain conditions. For example, you can only […]

Have you been enjoying Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parsha? Well, did you know that Rabbi Kahn also has not one, not two, but THREE series of shiurim on OU Torah, covering halacha (Jewish law), machshava (Jewish thought) and Aggadah (the non-legal portions of the Talmud). In Rabbi Ari Kahn on Halacha, Rabbi Kahn addresses such […]

We see that man is allowed to use the works of creation but not to abuse them. So, while we may eat meat and use leather or fur, we may not cause needless pain or harm to animals.

When you daven (pray), do you know the meaning of the words? Not just the translation – which can be better or worse, depending on the siddur – but the actual meaning? How about the structure of our tefillos? Do you know what they are and why they are that way? The first step to […]

Daf yomi has changed the way the Jewish people study Torah. It truly has created a renaissance in learning as Jews from all walks of life join together each day to delve into the same page of Talmud. But have you found some of the topics discussed to be academic or rhetorical? If you’d like […]

Nach Yomi is one of OU Torah’s shining stars. Each day, masterful teachers explain a chapter of Nach – the books of the Prophets and the Writings – with supplemental material in the form of an easy-to-digest synopsis that sheds light on even the most difficult of topics. “That’s all well and good for Neviim […]

The recent news articles regarding a Jewish high school permitting girls to put on tefillin has led to a flurry of activity as people research this topic. Is it permitted? Forbidden? Discouraged? Is there precedent for it? And did Rashi’s daughters really put on tefillin, as legend has it? Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky addressed the […]

One of the most prolific contributors to OU Torah is the OU’s own Executive Vice President, Emeritus, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb. A master educator who is renowned for his annual Tisha b’Av webcasts (among many other accomplishments), Rabbi Weinreb has left indelible imprints on all corners of OU Torah. Rabbi Weinreb authors an extremely […]

Did you know…? The OU has not one but two series that go through one of the 613 mitzvos each day! Taryag, by OU Torah editor Rabbi Jack Abramowitz, is based on the Sefer HaChinuch. It presents the basis of each mitzvah, the underlying rationale (as best we understand it) and all sorts of interesting […]