As the 13th Daf Yomi cycle approaches, to run from August 3, 2012 until January 4, 2020, the Orthodox Union has announced a number of indispensable resources to enhance the daily study of Talmud on www.outorah.org, a website referred to by the Orthodox Union as “The World’s Greatest Resource for Learning Daf Yomi.”

Orthodox Union Daf Yomi is most closely identified with Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher. Rabbi Elefant has given the Daf Yomi shiur to widespread acclaim over the past cycle, during which 1,800 learners a day around the globe made his lectures the most popular Daf in the world. (Before dawn, Rabbi Elefant gives the shiur in his own synagogue in Brooklyn, NY.) The 45-minute OU shiur provides both an explanation of the Daf as well as halachic analysis.

Starting with the new cycle, Rabbi Elefant will be giving an additional class, approximately four times a week, with sources, covering halachic, aggadic and intellectual insights into topics discussed in the Daf. This shiur will begin with Masechta Brachos on August 3. It will be located in the Mishna and Gemara section of the search browser as well as in the Featured Torah section on the homepage.

The Orthodox Union’s multiplicity of resources provide an excellent supplement to Rabbi Elefant’s lectures for those who want to proceed even deeper in their Talmud study.

Rabbi Shalom Rosner once again will be giving a twice weekly shiur called Daf B’Iyun (“the page in depth”) to include source material, and will be an in-depth analysis of specific key topics (sugyos) covered in the week’s Daf Yomi. Rabbi Rosner’s daily Daf shiur is heard by over 700 students. It can be found at www.outorah.org in the Featured Torah section, and also in the Mishna and Gemara section in the search browser.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, has written an outstanding volume on topics related to Tefillah, Krias Shema, and Brachos based on the shiurim that Rav Yosef Soloveitchik gave over the years. This book is a wonderful compendium to Masechta Brachos and can be purchased for $17 at www.oupress.org under the category Shiurei HaRav: Hebrew Books by Rav Soloveitchik.

“We are excited to provide this wide range of resources to the Torah community. Over the last Daf Yomi cycle, 2,500 daily learners utilized the online programs,” emphasized Rabbi Steven Weil, OU Executive Vice President. “We anticipate that the quality as well as the quantity of learning will continue to grow during the upcoming cycle. For those who want to go beyond Daf Yomi, or are not yet prepared to start the program, there are a host of other opportunities for learning on OU Torah, under the editorship of Rabbi Jack Abramowitz. We urge everyone to take full advantage of the new Daf Yomi cycle as an incentive to begin a Torah study program through the programs of the Orthodox Union.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)