OU Torah is pleased to announce the addition of Rabbi Reuven and Shani Taragin to its line-up of maggidei shiur.
Rabbi Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel. A Wexner Fellow and a musmach of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, Rabbi Taragin holds a BA in Science and Philosophy from Yeshiva University and an MA in Jewish History and Education at Touro College (Israel). His others roles include serving as Rosh Beit Midrash at Camp Moshava and as Rav of Kehillat Eretz Chemdah in Katamon.
Mrs. Taragin, a noted author, has taught at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Midreshet Torah V’Avodah, MaTaN, Migdal Oz, Sha’alvim for Women, Lander College, and the Women’s’ Beit Midrash in Efrat and Ramat Shilo. She holds a BA and an MA in Tanach and Talmud from Bar-Ilan University and is a graduate of Nishmat’s Keren Ariel Program for certification as a halachic advisor in the laws of family purity.
Rabbi and Mrs. Taragin are also the Educational Directors of the World Mizrachi Movement. And this is still a heavily-abridged list of their accomplishments!
And so, it is with great pleasure that OU Torah unveils not one, not two, not even three, but four new series (for now!) from Rabbi Reuven and Shani Taragin!
It’s summer time and that means, among other things, that many people learn the mishnaic tractate of Avos (or Avot), popularly known as “Pirkei Avos” (or “Pirkei Avot”). Rabbi Taragin is delivering a fast-paced series of micro-shiurim on Avos (Avot) called Three-Minute Avot. As I write this, we’re about 10 shiurim in, but you can quickly catch up! Start now with The Importance of Pirkei Avot! Additionally, Rabbi Taragin has provided a sourcebook on Avos (in Hebrew) called חוברת על מסכת אבות, which can be downloaded in PDF.
Sefer Koheles (Kohelet), the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, is one of the most profound and esoteric books in all of Tanach, if not in world literature. In it, Shlomo Hamelech addresses the meaning of life by contemplating all of the various paths that a person could take. You can get introduced to the sefer in the OU’s Nach Yomi, of course, but now you have the opportunity to delve somewhat deeper with Rabbi Reuven Taragin on Kohelet.
Speaking of Nach, that is certainly one of Mrs. Taragin’s areas of expertise. She has spoken extensively on many of the more overlooked and/or complicated sefarim in the canon, including the enigmatic prophecies of the Neviim Achronim and the Trei Asar (the later prophets and the 12 “minor” prophets – so called not because they’re any less important but because their books are very short). It was hard deciding which of her lecture series to start with but we settled on sefer Yeshayahu, the book of Isaiah. You can start now in Shani Taragin on Nach and, as we go, Mrs. Taragin will address many other fascinating areas in Tanach!
As for the fourth series, that would be Five-Minute-Parsha by Rabbi Taragin, again featuring his trademark quick insights, this time into the weekly Torah portion. We don’t happen to have shiurim on the immediately forthcoming sedras but you can browse the current selection and, as we move through the calendar, shiurim on the appropriate sedras will be featured on the OU Torah home page.
Follow all of these great new series and more on OU Torah or by using the OU Torah app for iOS and Android.