Torah Tidbits has always been written by the Educational Director of the OU’s Israel Center, Mr. Phil Chernofsky. Recently Torah Tidbits published their 1000th issue. What started as a one sheet piece of paper that appeared in a couple of shuls has now spread to a full color pamphlet that makes its way from Jerusalem to Tzfat on a weekly basis.
How can Torah Tidbits help you as a rabbi or educator that lives thousands of miles removed from the Holy Land?
Inside every issue of Torah Tidbits is a breakdown of the parsha unlike no other! Chernofsky provides tidbits about each parsha such as how many pesukim, letters, and mitzvos appear in a particular parsha. These nice little factoids are great to intersperse in your sermon or to use as a teaser at your Shabbos table.
However, the best is yet to come. He also provides an aliya-by-aliya summary of the sedra and the haftara as well. This can come in very handy as many beginners’ minyanim and outreach-oriented shuls have the rabbi provide a brief explanation of each aliya, and the ones that Phil writes each week, are short, concise, relevant, and yet true to the text.
Plus, he even provides a short dvar Torah from the Baal HaTurim or a Ramban to further enhance the summary. This section of Torah Tidbits can be useful to the rabbi/educator. Likewise, it may be a link that you may not use, but that you’d want to forward or share with a congregant who is looking for a quick roundup and summary of the weekly Torah portion.
So how can you access Torah Tidbits?
Click here where you can access Torah Tidbits in various formats that will allow you to see the entire pamphlet or a lighter version of Torah Tidbits that will allow you to easily cut and paste the text. You can also opt in to receive it weekly in your inbox.
