The daily study of Psalms, which is 150 chapters, will finish on Friday, March 13, 2009. Psalms is the longest book in the entire Nach. Nach refers to Neviim (Prophets) and Ketuvim, two of the three parts of Tanach, which also includes the five books of the Torah. Ketuvim includes the books of Psalms, Job, and the five Megillot, Daniel, Ezra, and Chronicles.
Following the success of the “Daf Yomi” model, in which participants study a page of Talmud a day until they complete the entire work, the OU’s Pepa and Rabbi Joseph Karasick Department of Synagogue Services introduced “Nach Yomi,” November 1, 2007. The program started with daily webcast presentations of Neviim, and when it is completed on November 14, the next work, Ketuvim, will begin the next day. The entire Nach will be completed on November 11, 2009.
One chapter from Nach is done each day, although the posting for Shabbat is done a day in advance. There are daily text synopses also available on the same site. There are approximately 8,000 visitors to the site each month, plus several hundred podcast subscribers.
The OU has also produced various resources to assist with the study of Nach, both online and in print. The latter include a two-year Nach Yomi study calendar and a new pamphlet entitled “Tanach,” which summarizes the authors, dates and contents of the 24 books of the Bible. These items are both available free from the OU.
Rabbi Bini Maryles, Director of the Department of Synagogue Services, said, “Nach Yomi has been terrific for the community worldwide. There was an opening in our community’s education and learning that no one was serving. Nach Yomi came along and quickly and most successfully filled that gap. We are expecting that the second year will be even more successful, with others joining in and additional materials and opportunities to learn.”
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz, Associate Director of the Department of Synagogue Services and author of each presentation’s written summary, declared, “Wherever we travel, people we meet identify themselves to us as participants in the OU’s Nach Yomi program. We’re gratified to have sparked something of a renaissance in Navi, and we can’t wait to offer people a fuller appreciation of Ketuvim.”
Presenters for the next cycle of Nach Yomi include:
• Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President;
• Rabbi Eric Levy, Principal, North Shore Hebrew Academy, Great Neck, NY;
• Rabbi Chaim Brovender, Rosh Yeshiva, WebYeshiva.org, the world’s first fully interactive online yeshiva, and Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Hamivtar and Michlelet Bruriah;
• Rabbi Maryles, who began Nach Yomi with his presentations of Joshua and Judges of Neviim; and
• Rabbi Abramowitz, who has previously presented the Book of Obadiah during the Neviim cycle.
To start learning Nach Yomi, visit www.ouradio.org/nach. For more information, contact Rabbi Abramowitz at abramowitzj@ou.org.