Thank G‑d, this year brought incredible growth to Judaism’s premier online educational resource. Our subscriber base grew exponentially, as we were privileged to provide a wide range of life-affirming services to millions of people in every corner of the globe. This past Chanukah alone we experienced record traffic, with 2.1 million visitors accessing over four million pages of content.
Though hardly exhaustive, the list below should provide a small window into the array of exciting new features and services that comprised Chabad.org’s contribution to the Jewish world in 2010.
Personal Guidance and Advice
Ask the Rabbi Highlights
On average, our response team fields 212 inquiries a day
Our Ask the Rabbi team of scholars and counselors have extended their services to more people than ever, providing informative answers and responses in all areas of Jewish practice and thought, as well as guidance on important issues of life. In all, our team responded to 72,373 submissions.
Mind-Expanding Learning Opportunities
Jewish.TV Live Classes & Courses
A host of ongoing and special live courses debuted in 2010 on Chabad.org’s video channel, Jewish.TV. In total, 1,031 classes, documentaries, animations and other Jewish entertainment videos were added to the growing collection, bringing the number of titles available on Jewish.TV to over four thousand. Chabad.org’s audio site now exceeds eleven thousand audio files, the vast majority of them available for free download.
Among the notable lecture series that aired were the Talmud for Beginners by Rabbi Eli Wolf, a weekly Parshah series by Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, Science and Kabbalah by Rabbi Asher Crispe, and special lectures by Rabbi Moshe Bryski and others from the Conejo Jewish Academy.
Thousands have subscribed to the e-mail schedule and reminders for new classes that air each weeknight on Jewish.TV.
» www.Jewish.TV/Live
Jewish Videos for the Deaf Community
In our quest to make content accessible to everyone, we’ve partnered with Jewish Deaf Multimedia to offer Jewish videos in ASL (American Sign Language), expanding our offerings to the Jewish deaf community.
» www.chabad.org/ASL
Shabbat Candles Mini-Site
A new mini-site on the mitzvah of Shabbat and Jewish festival candle-lighting debuted in October. The new mini-site, part of a special series on the special mitzvot for women, contains updated articles on the basics of candle-lighting, its origins and how to light. The site also features an offer from Mivtza Neshek for free Candle-Lighting Kits for those starting with this new mitzvah.
» www.chabad.org/ShabbatCandles
Baal Shem Tov Site
This year marked the 250th anniversary of the passing of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement. In connection with that date (August 28, 2010), a special website was launched. The site puts a spotlight on the life, teachings and legacy of the Baal Shem Tov.
» www.chabad.org/BaalShemTov
Moshiach 101
Moshiach 101 is a site that offers extensive information about Moshiach and the imminent redemption. It includes hundreds of articles, audio classes and videos, carefully organized in a user-friendly fresh design. This website is a joint project of the Moshiach Campaign—a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch—and Chabad.org.
» www.chabad.org/Moshiach
New Ground-Breaking Tanya Site
The Tanya is the foundational work of the Chabad movement, compacting four millennia of Jewish wisdom. The all-new Tanya site includes more than 2,200 video and audio classes and programs on Tanya, all accessible via the innovative “Tanya Navigator.” The Tanya Navigator is a unique tool especially developed for this site, which enables the user to filter his or her choices by numerous criteria, including class type (text-based learning, chapter summaries, or general discussions of concepts and themes), by lecturer, by topic, by book and chapter, and by date. The site is a one-stop resource for anyone looking to explore the fundamental work of Chassidut.
» www.chabad.org/Tanya
Living Torah Site
A special site featuring “Living Torah,” a weekly video magazine produced by Jewish Educational Media, makes this special content easily accessible online, including via a searchable archive and topic index. This video magazine presents the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, as well as interviews and other archival footage that give a glimpse into the life of this immense giant.
» www.chabad.org/LivingTorah
Jewish Audio Bible
The Jewish Audio Bible, produced by Kol Menachem, is a masterful delivery of the Chumash—the Five Books of Moses. It offers hours of inspirational learning that skillfully weave classic Rabbinic interpretation into the translations, offering a timeless interpretation of the sacred text’s multiple layers.
» www.chabad.org/AudioBible
Forging a United World-Wide Community
Women’s Prayer Exchange
TheJewishWoman.org strives to create a virtual community for all women—a venue for discussing joys, accomplishments, and lessons learned. But we also share our pain, sorrow, and challenges. With this in mind, the Women’s Prayer Exchange was created to provide a place for a woman to pray for the needs of others and to ask others to pray for her needs.
» www.chabad.org/WPX
Pictures with a Purpose—Photography Blog
Our new photography blog features original photography from all around the world. While photos on the blog are significantly diverse in content, each contributes to a common theme: demonstrating how every part of our world can be used for a higher or greater purpose in serving our Creator.
» www.chabad.org/PictureBlog
My Moment with the Rebbe
Each Sunday, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, would stand as thousands of Jews from all walks of life came to meet him, seeking his guidance and blessing. The Rebbe would receive everyone, and distribute dollar bills to be placed in charity. This website offers visitors a chance to access the enormous archive, preserved and restored by Jewish Educational Media, of photos and video stills of these interactions. It also offers an interactive tool that lets visitors tag photos of people they recognize,
» www.chabad.org/MyMoment
Other Languages
Many of our services, features and content are also available on our six mirror sites in other languages, including Hebrew, French, Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese.
» www.chabad.org/Languages
Focus on the Future
Infrastructure Upgrades
Chabad.org invested more than $230,000 in major infrastructure upgrades to be able to meet the growing demand of visitors to our network of sites.
You Showed Us How We Touched Your Lives . . .
High Holiday Partner Drive
Chabad.org is a not-for-profit educational tool used by millions each year. It relies on the support of readers such as yourself to help it continue to offer its invaluable services. To be able to meet the growing demand, especially in these hard economic times, Chabad.org’s recent annual High Holiday fundraising drive was especially crucial. And you responded. The drive reached its goal of 5,000 partners—each one filling a crucial need in this special organization.
» www.chabad.org/Donate
Looking Forward—Our Pledge To You
At all hours of the day and night, our editors and scholars, designers and programmers, rabbis and counselors are hard at work creating new opportunities for people across the globe to hear about and experience all facets of Judaism.
While we look back with pride and gratification at the tremendous growth that we’ve experienced this past year at Chabad.org, we pledge to strive to continue to grow and expand the offerings that you’ve come to rely on.
Be a part of our growth in the coming year, and help us to introduce others to our ever-growing Chabad.org family!
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