Shavei Israel and WebYeshiva launch new online interactive classes
Shavei Israel has teamed up with the online Jewish learning portal WebYeshiva to offer 7 new virtual classes. Starting this Thursday, four of Shavei’s emissaries will be offering “live” two-way interactive classes in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Italian to students anywhere in the world with a computer.
WebYeshiva was founded by Rabbi Chaim Brovender in 2007 with the aim of web-ifying the yeshiva experience. The site was an immediate success and has more than 10,000 students enrolled from over 61 countries. Shavei Israel has in the past offered some classes individually using other virtual learning platforms, but this is the first time they have been all located “under one roof” and offered to WebYeshiva’s large, active and eager Torah-learning community.
The Shavei Israel courses include a 10-session seminar on Igeret HaRamban – practical advice from the 12th century spiritual leader Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman) presented in a letter to his son, taught in Italian by Rabbi Pinchas Punturello; two classes in Russian on Jewish law, taught by Rabbi Zelig Avrasin; a twice monthly class in Spanish on the Book of Joshua, presented by Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham; and classes on the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot, one in Italian by Rabbi Punturello and another in Portuguese by Rabbi Elisha Salas. A final short class by Rabbi Salas will cover the upcoming celebration of Yom Yerushalayim, which commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967.
The WebYeshiva platform allows students to view their teacher via video and to ask and respond to questions using a microphone and via text chat. The teacher can project any visual material onto the screens of students and annotate that material using a virtual “pointer.” Teachers can “pass the microphone” from student to student, and private chats can be initiated when appropriate. Classes can hold up to 200 students and 10 sessions can be run simultaneously.
All classes are recorded and can be played back by students who were unable to attend or who wish to re-visit and review what they’ve learned. Documents – such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint presentations – can be posted for users to download in advance or after the classes.
The new virtual classes are free and open to all. Visit the Shavei Israel page on WebYeshiva here.