Thursday, December 17 commences the Orthodox Union’s fifth two-year Shoshana Grossman Nach Yomi cycle, in which OU Torah presents a chapter a day of the second and third segments of the Tanach – the Hebrew Bible – Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). The series first began in 2007. Starting with the first chapter of Joshua, the cycle will work its way to II Chronicles 36, which will be reached on December 27, 2017.
Download the 2015-2017 Nach Yomi calendar and an informative Tanach brochure at www.outorah.org. People can sign up for the daily email at www.ou.org/newsletters/. The shiur can be podcast at www.ou.org/torah/ou-torah-podcasts/.
A special shiur will be given online on Tuesday, December 15 by Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President, Emeritus, with special mention of Ezra Schwartz, a”h, to conclude cycle four and begin cycle five.
Rabbi Weinreb explained, “In my conversation with Ezra’s father and grandfather during the shiva, I learned more about the commitment he made to study the entire Nach during his year in Israel. They made me aware of the fact that Ezra had already begun this study project and that one of his teachers was in possession of the actual volume of Nach in which he studied. Ezra had marked the volume, circling in pencil the words and phrases which he did not understand. Hearing about this, I was immediately reminded of the Orthodox Union’s Nach Yomi program, which is available on our website. That program concludes its two year cycle. I had already been requested by Rabbi Jack Abramowitz, Editor of OU Torah, who coordinates this important and very popular program, to video record a talk in honor of this siyum.”
Rabbi Weinreb continued, “I asked the Schwartz family for their permission to speak of Ezra’s commitment to study Nach in my remarks. They readily agreed, and expressed appreciation for my offer to include Ezra in this siyum, and to use his tragically unfinished commitment as an inspiration for others to complete what he was unable to complete.”
According to Rabbi Abramowitz, the cycle will include audio shiurim recorded by renowned Torah scholars, such as Rabbi Weinreb; Rabbi Menachem Leibtag; Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom; Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein; Rabbi Jeremy Wieder; Dr. Shawn Zelig Aster; Rabbi Eric Levy; and many others, whose lectures provided intellectual stimulation to their audiences in previous Nach Yomi cycles.
In addition, Rabbi Abramowitz once again will provide his text synopses of each chapter. These easy-to-understand synopses have been renowned for the breezy manner in which they elucidate the text. These synopses have also been collected as the two-volume Nach Yomi Companion, available from OU Press.
Rabbi Abramowitz declared, “We are proud to once again be offering the Nach Yomi material. There’s so much in Nach of which the average person is unaware or misinformed; everyone should go through this cycle at least once. Those who have repeated the cycle tell me that they have gleaned new insights.” Finally, Rabbi Abramowitz added, “We are very excited to continue to offer Nach Yomi via email. This helps to make it that much easier for people to familiarize themselves with their own rich Biblical heritage.”