We have had a relative lull this past week, in between the hustle and bustle of the various OU summer programs and the hectic schedule of our Tishrei holidays, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about OU Torah, spearheaded by OU Torah Editor Rabbi Jack Abramowitz.
OU Torah includes a broad spectrum of Torah content for beginners and scholars alike. On parsha, we have such speakers and authors as Shira Smiles, Rabbi Bernie Fox, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, and the OU’s Executive Vice President, Emeritus Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, among many others. Other popular parsha series include Rav Hirsch on Parsha by Michael Gutmann and “Harry’s Video Blog.”
Torah content in other areas includes daily halacha, Nach, and Mishna, plus such series as Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky on Shas Topics and on Shev Shmaysa, Rav Aharon Kahn on Mishlei, Rabbi Avraham Chaim Feuer on Chovos HaLevavos, and the OU’s own Rabbi Yosef Grossman on Talmud Yerushalmi. All this is truly just the tip of the iceberg.
OUdaf.org is the Daf Yomi subsection of OU Torah, built on the strong foundation established by Rabbi Moshe Elefant‘s groundbreaking daf shiur. OU Daf is full of stimulating content; I am especially excited that Shas Illuminated has been added just this week. One of the most popular maggidei shiur is the multi-talented Rabbi Shalom Rosner, who delivers both a daf yomi shiur and a parsha shiur. He recently wrote:
“I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for helping arrange the dafim on the OU site. It has been, and bezras Hashem will continue to be, a great experience. Wherever I go, people tell me that they listen and that the daf is a major part of their day. It seems like the listening audience has really grown for this cycle. This is only possible, due to the wide population that frequents the OU site. I would not be able to do it without the OU team.”
Also under the aegis of OU Torah are the OU Holidays site – recently updated with Rosh Hashana content – and a variety of daily Torah emails. These include HaShoneh Halachos (two halachos a day) and One+One (one pasuk with one peirush daily). These emails receive much enthusiastic feedback, including the following:
“When you started the Taryag daily emails, I was fascinated! Another area in which to increase my understanding! And now that you’re bringing pesukim from throughout Tanach, it’s fascinating since I haven’t learned much Nach yet, and I see where familiar pesukim come from!”
Kudos and thanks to Rabbi Abramowitz and to OU Communications’ Digital Media Department, led by Gary Magder, and to his team, as well as to all the contributors and maggidei shiur. As we enter the period of the yomim noraim, I encourage each of you to visit OU Torah, OU Holidays and OU Daf – there is so much there for every member of klal Yisrael!