Online Yeshiva Gains Spanish-Speaking Following

Pablo K. of Montevideo, Uruguay likes to learn. One evening, he attended a class that looked at a chapter from the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’ massive compilation of Jewish law, without ever leaving his house. As a participant in a new Spanish-language online venture, the businessman can fit the demands of a yeshiva into an already-hectic schedule.

Today, Pablo mostly takes part by watching recorded classes. He’s very excited about the opportunity to learn.

“The classes and the videos teach Jewish topics that are sometimes very complicated to study alone,” Pablo says of the Chabad-Lubavitch run venture. “And the rabbi that gives the class knows a lot about the subject.”

Believed to be the first of its kind, the online Spanish yeshiva at RambamDiario.com offers daily classes where participants can ask questions and receive instructor responses in real time.

“It gives someone the chance to learn with a rabbi or rebbitzen,” explains the project’s director, Rabbi Bentzy Shemtov. “And especially for Jews living in a remote community, it’s an amazing opportunity.”

Participants come from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Germany, Spain, Israel, Canada, and in the United States, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Puerto Rico.

It all started when a group of college students from Uruguay who were getting closer to Judaism sought additional learning opportunities. Shemtov’s mother, Chabad-Lubavitch of Uruguay co-director Rochi Shemtov, suggested that each student study a chapter from the Mishneh Torah daily in keeping with directives from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, who publicly called for the daily study of Maimonides. The group, which began their study in June 2009, will complete their undertaking next month.

When they embarked on their project, the students set up a conference call on Skype. That soon became impractical because of the amount of people who wanted to join in, and a network of virtual classes – which branched out into topic-specific explorations of Jewish law, Chasidic thought, and Torah interpretation – was born.

Shemtov typically teaches at 10 p.m. Uruguay time using software that combines a “white board” feature with video and text.

Among other staff, he drafted his father, Rabbi Eliezer Shemtov, to teach the Tanya, the foundational work of Chasidic thought penned in the 18th century by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. So far, the online channel has garnered more than 40,000 views.

These days, volunteer teachers give the classes for free, with the rest of the budget funded by donations. The idea is to keep it free and available online, creating a “yeshivah without walls” that caters to a worldwide audience, no matter a student’s financial capacity and background.

“As long as you have a computer and Internet access, you can access your heritage,” says Shemtov. “You just have to speak Spanish and want to learn.”

Such a mindset opens the doors to men and women who have yet to step foot into a synagogue and would, out of convenience, rather learn from home.

“Just come as you are,” advises Shemtov.

Chaim, a 27-year-old from Cordoba, Argentina, says he’s sometimes late to class but likes attending them live online and catching up later. He likes that he can ask questions and get answers either in real-time or, for recorded classes, by e-mail. What really impresses him is that instructors share not only their knowledge, but also their lives.

“If they’re traveling, they still give classes from hotels, apartments and airports,” he remarks. “Isn’t that amazing?”

For Marcos, a computer engineer who lives in Uruguay, the online program and other videos on the Spanish-language portal of Judaism website Chabad.org offer a great way to learn while traveling.

“It’s the best way to learn Torah when one is not in one place,” he says. “It’s agile, dynamic, we can see the text we’re studying, we can see the teacher, and we can ask questions live. It’s incredible.”

Marcos adds that having the tools to study Torah every day has made a positive change in his life, and has enabled him to introduce practical rules in his own home in an enjoyable and meaningful fashion. Love of the class has also been contagious.

“Now my friends study Torah thanks to rambamdiario,” he says.

Down the line, Shemtov would like to see the program receive the funding necessary to reach the next level: to bring more teachers on board, hopefully with the ability to pay them, and launch a marketing campaign to get the word out.

“It has lots of potential for growth,” he says. “The dream is to create an online space where a Spanish-speaking Jew with any level of previous Jewish learning can come and find something of interest to learn live.

“Our goal is to provide a live Torah-learning experience and direct interaction,” he continues.

Next up on the roster is a possible bi-monthly class to teach Chasidic melodies known as nigunim, an idea which has been tried twice and received positive reviews.

“We’re just waiting for a sponsor,” says Shemtov. “We hope to launch it pretty soon.”