Fifty Years Ago The Rebbe Wanted Libraries Expanded, Today We Have Torah Texts by Chabad.org
Exactly fifty years ago, at the Vov Tishrei farbrengen in 5733, the Rebbe began to shturem about opening and expanding libraries, and making them more accessible:
”און דארט וואו ס’איז שוין דא – זאל מען מגדיל זיין און מרחיב זיין, און מער מפרסם זיין, און מוסיף זיין נאך ספרים, און מאכן דאס אין אן אופן אז ס’זאל זיין לייכטער צוצוקומען…“
(Click to read and hear the sicha.)
This was during שנת השבעים and indeed, many new libraries were opened and included among the 71 new mosdos.
Today, Chabad.org is proud to announce and share with you a first look at a brand new digital platform that will transform how millions access the hundreds of Torah books on Chabad.org, with thousands more being added on a regular basis!
Introducing: Torah Texts by Chabad.org
Torah Texts is a cutting-edge web app that brings together audio, video and texts, creating an immersive experience that encourages comprehensive Torah study. It will, bezras Hashem, encompass all of nigleh, halachah and chassidus, with a special focus on Toras Rabbeinu.
This new digital library is being shared with you to allow you to get a first look!
Here are some highlights of what you can expect in this early beta preview:
- An immersive experience that was designed from the ground up to help visitors learn and understand Torah like never before.
- A growing list of core Jewish texts, both from Nigleh and Chassidus including:
- Entire Tanach with Rashi
- The entire Talmud Bavli complete with Rashi and Tosfos
- Mishneh Torah
- The Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch
- Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
- Lessons in Tanya
- Derech Mitzvosecha
- Over 50 volumes of Toras Menachem Hisvaaduyos
- 23 volumes of Igros Kodesh
- Shaar Habitachon
- Audio and Video classes integrated within the text page, include shiurim on every daf of Gemara, siman of Shulchan Aruch, perek of Rambam and more!
- A powerful search that enables you to search within any book.
- Many layout and formatting options that make it easy on the eyes to study and follow along in the text.
Please try it out for yourself at www.chabad.org/TorahTexts!
Many new features are still being developed and hundreds of additional sefarim are currently being processed, including many mefarshim on everything from Tanach to Talmud.
This library, “Torah Texts by Chabad.org,” is being launched as a new moisad lekavod the Rebbe’s120 years, and we hope and pray that this will give the Rebbe much nachas.
We’d like to acknowledge and thank our strategic publisher partners whose many years of hard work and enormous expenditures have made all of this possible (in alphabetical order): Chayenu, JEM, Judaica Press, Kehot Publication Society, Lahak Hanachos, Moznaim, Sichos in English and Even Israel (Steinsaltz) Center, and many others whose sefarim have not yet been publicly posted.
In similar vein, we’d like to thank our many, many maggidei shiurim who’ve shared their hard work with Chabad.org for the benefit of the klal, including the thousands of seminal shiurim by (in alphabetical order)Rabbis: Berel Bell, Manis Friedman, Mendel Kaplan, Raleigh Resnick, Yehuda Leib Schapiro, Yosef Shusterman, Avraham Meir Zajac and יבלחט”א Yehoshua Binyamin Gordon ע”ה.
Finally, we’d like to acknowledge and thank the Chabad.org Torah Texts team (see below) for their dedication to building this new resource.
Leadership: Rabbis Zalman Shmotkin, Meir Simcha Kogan · Project Management: Avi Baitelman · UX Design: Rochel Polter · Developers & Technology: Mordechai Sandhaus, Yehuda Ringler, Avremel Mishulovin, Shmuly Leider, Dov Dukes, Daniel Pizarro, Daniel Msika, Avraham Sedeghat · Text & Data Processing: Alex Heppenheimer, Noach Linton, Moti Wolf, Avi Rosenberg, Yackov Kaufer · Audio & Video: Shmuel Lifshitz, Mendel Benjaminson
