TORAH IS ALIVE, WELL, AND GROWING ON THE INTERNET
From South America to Canada and the South Pacific to the Mediterranean, Jews are turning on and tuning in to Torah over the Internet. Though many are Jews with a solid foundation in their faith, many are secular and just learning.
ISRAEL (PRWEB) November 19, 2003---It seems 5764 will be the year of
explosive Torah growth on the Internet. No, not the traditional text essays,
commentary and articles you can already find daily, but an explosion of
interactive audio lectures. From South America to Canada and the South Pacific
to the Mediterranean, Jews are turning on and tuning in to Torah over the
Internet. Though many are Jews with a solid foundation in their faith, many are
secular and just learning.
Audio, live broadcasts with participant
interaction over the Internet has been for some years an untapped resource, but
in the last two years it has come to the forefront of education. What makes it
really wonderful is it doesn't matter if you are experienced in Gemara, or just
starting to read Humash, there is something for everyone through an audio
platform known as Paltalk.
The catalyst for this technology is a 39 year
old Jewish man from Long Island. New York's own Jason Katz, an attorney and
entrepreneur who developed Paltalk audio in 1998. Paltalk is an audio chat
service which has hundreds of topics from food, to politics to hobbies. At any
given time on Paltalk hundreds of thousands of people are speaking to one
another-free of charge-across the globe. One of the most popular sections is
religion. Inside this section you will find Judaism, and there you will find a
virtual online Jewish community.
What has the Jewish world buzzing with
excitement is that an increasing number of yeshivot are going online, offering
shirum around the clock. Though you get all types of Jews (as well as the
occasional non-Jew or self-professing friendly Noahide) the entire section is a
Torah-true environment. The rabbis who speak come from an orthodox perspective
and teach kosher Torah! Anyone can open up a room and talk, but more and more
rooms are being purchased on Paltalk's premium business service by Jewish
organizations. These are advertisement-free rooms open 24/6 solely for Torah
education.
Recently the Yeshiva Hatefutsoth, the first yeshiva for baal
teshuva students founded on Mt. Zion in 1967 purchased a permanent presence in
the Paltalk Judaism section. Now with Paltalk, no matter where in the world
students are they can listen in and participate in shirum from the beit midrash
in Jerusalem. On Friday you can tune in and listen to the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi
Mordechai Goldstein giving a shiur from inside the Kever David HaMelech (Tomb of
King David) in Jerusalem. The Rosh Yeshiva stated he sees Torah education
through Paltalk as a way to fulfill the prophecy, "...for out of Zion shall go
forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
Paltalk's
Judaism section is moderated by two highly educated Jewish volunteers, Uri and
Ephraim, who are founders of the respected anti-missionary organization known as
Messiah Truth. Their group has developed original counter-missionary lectures
and training, which are taught by Israeli and American Hebrew scholars,
professors and Orthodox rabbis. The Messiah Truth room, the most popular room in
the Judaism section, has brought many Jews back who had strayed to foreign
religions. They are a huge success, even bringing Monsey's famous
counter-missionary Rabbi Tovia Singer on as a regular broadcaster.
From
Sephardim to Ashkenazim and from Hassidim of all branches, Paltalk allows Jews
space to speak, teach the words of Hashem, and bring many lost Jews home. A most
popular room on Paltalk is the late Sunday night Kabbalah lesson with Sephardi
Rabbi Bar Tzadok of Chicago. He pulls no punches telling people what Kabbalah
truly is from a Torah perspective-and how it's being exploited by Hollywood
stars and their friends who open Kabbalah centers. Since last year the Breslov
Hassidim have come on board, a large group of Israeli sabra yeshiva students,
and graduates of Hadar Hatorah on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. On Saturday
night, the motsi Shabbat Virtual Farbrengen room is open by the Lubavitch
community. It's a room to ask questions, wish each other a Shavua Tov and listen
to the latest in religious music. Hassidic stories are told, and people
generally come there to have a good time.
Rabbi Fishel of Lakewood, New
Jersey who organized Shema Yisrael Torah Network, recently opened a permanent
presence on Paltalk. Fishel is best known for his Shulchan Aruch Learning
Project which is endorsed by Israeli former chief rabbis Israel Lau and Ovadia
Yossef. His organization which is based in Beit Vegan, Jerusalem operates one of
the largest Torah-true Internet sites. Through the new Paltalk Shema Yisrael
room, his staff of rabbi-educators will be providing shirum across the
globe.
Each rabbi has a unique way of bringing the Torah to life. Rabbi
Calev Kaplan has a smooth accented voice which broadcasts late into the night
over Paltalk from the hills of Gush Etzion in a most eloquent manner. Rabbi
David Botton of South Florida who teaches at Aish HaTorah and runs the Jewish
education website TeachItToMe.com brings the words of Hashem to Paltalk in an
interactive and exciting way.
Prior to online teaching, where did most
secular Jews go to learn more about Judaism-to non Torah-true organizations,
mostly liberal establishments, where they might not have been taught the truth.
Now Jews even with little experience in learning can feel comfortable getting
the truth about their own religion, and feel confident they are welcome to
participate. It's difficult for a secular Jew to walk into an orthodox synagogue
and start to learn from scratch, but here Jews in large numbers are learning,
then going out to find their local orthodox shul! They are not learning Judaism
from someone who spent $20,000 and three years in a classroom to purchase the
title rabbi, they are learning from kosher teachers who grew up living as Jews,
who have studied all their lives and have gone to respected Yeshivot.
In
this world where we hear the Internet produces only evil, it is difficult to
justify to those who might not be familiar with it. There are too many to name,
but a short list of bios of some of the rabbis of this new electronic medium
will help to paint a picture of the scope of the Torah education that is
ongoing, and is in qualified and trusted hands. Paltalk Judaism teachers
include: Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Goldstein, a musmach of Rabbi Henoch Lebovitch from
the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva; Rabbi Efraim Sprecher a student of Rabbi Yaakov
Kamenetsky and former Professor of Judaic studies at Touro College in New York;
Rabbi Emanuel Gentilcore of Jerusalem who was ordained by the Chief Rabbi of
Jerusalem; Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld is founder and Rosh Kollel of Kollel Iyun
Hadaf, has been teaching Torah in Israel for over ten years; Rabbi Mordechai
Ackerman who was ordained after 14 years as a student of the Sage and Rabbi
Yisrael Gustman of Vilna; Rabbi Eliezer Schwartz received his smicha fro m
Yeshivas Rabenu Yitzchak Elchanan at the hands of Rabbi Samuel Belkin, Rabbi
Moshe Stazkes (Lomzer Rav) and Rabbi Yosef Ber Soloveitchik; Rabbi Aaron Lankry
who was born in Morocco, and raised in New York. He received ordination from the
Chief Rabbinate in Israel. He was the Rabbi at Ohel Leah in Hong Kong, and
started the Menorah Academy in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Rabbi Lankry received
his Ph.D. in Rabbinic Studies at Bais Medresh Gevoha in Lakewood, New Jersey,
and is currently he is the Chief Rabbi at Kehilla Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in
Aventura, Florida. These are only a selected list of the rabbinical staff which
participate on Paltalk.
Audio Torah lessons over the Internet are
here-and they are here to stay. An incredible amount of new people sign-on each
day, and it's a tremendous mitsvah to participate either as a talmid or as a
teacher. The Internet does not discriminate between the learned and the
learning. It gives anyone with a computer access a chance to be a part of an
educational event. The Internet is a tool from Hashem which when used properly
can bring many lost Jews home. It gives many Jews the first chance at seeing the
unbiased truth of their Torah.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/11/prweb89880.htm