Bringing Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's Teachings Online
"Daily Halacha," an innovative project, sends detailed halachic insights from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to thousands of subscribers. "Sometimes, Rabbi Ovadia personally requested us to publish various halachot," shares Rabbi Perez, one of the site's leaders.
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Five years ago, it happened. A wealthy American Jew came up with the idea of creating a daily halacha website based on the rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. He approached one of the Rabbi's grandsons, and after developing the initiative, Rabbi Yaakov Sasson, also a grandson and authorized by Rabbi Ovadia to give decisions, was chosen to write the halachot on the site. After a year of technical preparations, the "Daily Halacha" website was launched and began gaining numerous subscribers interested in receiving a detailed daily halacha from the rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in their inboxes. Slowly, the site expanded, adding Q&A sections, Torah lessons, and translations into different languages. These translations are made by scholars well-versed in halacha to prevent any unintentional errors.
"The main goal of the site is, first and foremost, to spread Torah knowledge and understanding of halacha among readers," explains Rabbi Tal Perez, a member of the "Yechave Daat" Beit Midrash and responsible for the daily halacha's French translation. "Anyone learning a daily halacha through our emails will quickly acquire extensive knowledge in all areas of halacha. Besides this, we emphasize that learners recognize that each halacha has roots in the scriptures and Talmud. Thus, the halacha is presented clearly and understandably, including discussions from both early and later scholars."
How involved is Rabbi Ovadia himself with the site's content?
"Rabbi Ovadia Shlita is well aware of our work on the Daily Halacha and has encouraged us many times. Often, his rulings are included in our writings based on his direct responses to us, and sometimes, he even approached us to publicize halachot on different subjects."
Currently, the "Daily Halacha" website has over 10,000 active subscribers in Hebrew alone, says Rabbi Perez, promising that "the work is not done, with Hashem's help, to spread and glorify the Torah further."
Do you also respond to visitors who seek complex halachic rulings?
"Officially, we can't allow people to submit questions because we can't handle a large volume of inquiries. But in practice, we receive dozens of halachic questions each day, and we strive to direct them to scholars who can address every inquiry. Subscribers from all over the world, from the United States to Iran, reach out to us. Interestingly, our subscribers from Iran have contacted us several times with halachic questions, some of which we've forwarded to Rabbi Ovadia Shlita himself."
How are you promoting the site to reach new audiences?
"The site's promotion is entirely by 'word of mouth.' A satisfied subscriber talks to their friends and recommends they join the service. Additionally, given our vast repository of halachic topics, we appear prominently in search engines, which is another way people find us."
Rabbi Perez shares his satisfaction and even surprise at the site's success. "We're pleased to merit helping the masses and hope Hashem will expand our borders, allowing us to continue our significant work to restore the crown to its former glory. Recently, we've upgraded the site with an advanced search engine and added various content. We aim to strengthen our database of Torah lessons. Additionally, a weekly Torah portion article is sent to each subscriber, authored by the esteemed Rabbi Zevadia Cohen Shlita, a member of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, known for his unique sermons that attract many."
