Sivan Rahav-Meir on Translating the Daily Status into 8 Languages: "Our Heritage is also a Hit"

Hebrew, English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and... Arabic. These are the languages in which the "Daily Portion" by journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir is distributed. This Jewish-media enterprise reaches hundreds of thousands daily and is entirely based on a network of global volunteers. Now, with its expansion into seven languages, she shares the behind-the-scenes of the initiative with Hidabroot.

Two years ago, as the idea started to take shape, she was already a senior reporter and presenter on Channel 2 News, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, and had a radio show on Army Radio. So why start writing something else, for free, on WhatsApp no less? Who works for free on WhatsApp?

"I do," she laughs. "The past two years have changed everything I thought I knew about media, the public, and Judaism. Ever since I started trying to integrate the weekly Torah portion into current events and share messages related to our Torah, I've been amazed by the quantity and quality of the responses. It's not necessarily the Torah; it's the whole tone. I strive to find stories that the media doesn't look for, ones I couldn't always get into headlines, thinking they only interested me, and here it turns out they truly interest many others."

A Dream Come True

It began when a young entrepreneur named Benyahu Yom-Tov approached Sivan, who had started writing a bit about the weekly Torah portion, and suggested distributing these insights every morning in a group he would manage, to reach people directly without the filter of editors and presenters. Sivan started writing a small daily insight about the portion and the news, quoting Torah commentators. The group filled up, and soon another one began, and another. Today, there are tens of thousands of subscribers.

"The texts reach hundreds of thousands every day across all social networks, thanks to the volunteers and people who just copy-paste and want to share the material. I also send out short clips from my TV shows, if I think they deserve wide distribution, and links to my classes, but mainly a short daily text. The feedback comes from all sections and sectors of the community, to the extent that some complain about receiving the 'Daily Portion' in ten different groups they are part of: at kindergarten, work, the neighborhood committee... By the way, in our groups, we are very careful not to spam. The messages are distributed only once a day. There are no replies within the group; only the managers can write, but there are many personal inquiries to the group managers, and they forward many messages to me."

Why did you decide to translate it now?

"It's like an unplanned dream - suddenly coming true. I didn't plan it. Dear readers from around the world started contacting me, offering to translate the texts on their own initiative. It's exciting (and a bit nerve-wracking) to think that what I write in the morning in my Jerusalem home will be translated throughout the day into seven languages and reach people worldwide. Besides, just this week, a new volunteer began distributing the content only via messages and emails – for people who don’t use WhatsApp. It's an incredible audience that I highly appreciate, and even envy a little."

"All You Need is Interpretation"

Everything you describe completely contradicts the discourse on "religious coercion."

"Oh, of course. From the moment that ugly term entered the conversation, I argued that the media is making a huge mistake with the 'religious coercion' story. They don't read the public, whether secular, traditional, or religious. People don’t like it when the media takes a stance and an agenda and runs a campaign without almost ever presenting both sides. If you conducted a poll among 8 million Israeli citizens, few would say that 'religious coercion' is what bothers them most. The question remains why it's what bothers the media the most... After all, while the secular feel Israel is becoming more religious, the religious feel it's becoming more secular. So how is this complexity never covered? But contrary to the studio discourse on 'religious coercion,' I've discovered that many people feel something very simple and basic, not related at all to politics: we don't know our most basic and beautiful sources enough, and it's just a pity. You can go through a whole day – even as a religious person – without remembering what the portion is. I myself went through entire days like that before the project started. And it's not just the portion: today it matters to me not to overlook anniversaries of the passing of Maimonides or Rashi, and in our generation – the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, for example, which was noted just a few days ago. This is also news. This is also culture. In general, people consume news very differently today; all the information is already with them. The information flows; we no longer need a reporter to tell what happened. So what do we need? I believe we need interpretation, context, meaning, depth. And there's another matter: the technological revolution has turned everyone into communicators. We can no longer condescend, disconnect, speak over people's heads, tell them what is right. It’s over, anyone can write. Therefore, one of the fun things is to give a platform each week to people who send me their materials. I get several proposals each day, and I can give talented individuals – and talent doesn't sit only in studios – a voice, an ability to reach a wide audience."

So how do you join?

To join the groups in all languages, you can write to the following number: 058-6799000