They are barely 12 years old, they refer to themselves as an “internet startup,” and they lack the deep resources of Jewish communal juggernauts like the Orthodox Union, Yeshiva University and ArtScroll. Yet Aleph Beta has managed to forge an innovative path in Torah study and attract 11,000 paid subscribers and more than 70,000 additional users.
How did they do it?
The leaders of Aleph Beta built a winning formula by enlisting a team who believes passionately in combining cutting-edge media with, in the words of a video on their website, a conviction “that the Bible is a way that we can access God in a very personal way,” by learning “the consistent set of literary tools it uses to get across its ideas, messages, and meanings in mind-blowing ways.”
Aleph Beta was founded in 2011 by Rabbi David Fohrman and a small team of supporters. Previously, Fohrman worked as a lead writer and editor for ArtScroll’s Talmud translation project and also served as scholar for the Hoffberger Foundation for Torah Study for 10 years.
The initial core Aleph Beta group got to work recruiting a team who shared Rabbi Fohrman’s goal, as he described it in an essay published in August 2020: “to help the people of the book fall in love with the book all over again.” And one of the first leaders they enlisted was Immanuel Shalev, a graduate of YU and Fordham University School of Law who had served as producer of “Candlelight,” the Maccabeats’ first music video in 2010.
Shalev, like the other six original members of the a cappella group, was surprised to see how “viral” the video became. He met Jews from all over the world who told him that they were inspired by the video, and how it positively impacted their level of observance. As he shared with The Jewish Link: “I was a bit embarrassed by the wild success of the video, because it was designed to get the Maccabeats more bar mitzvah performance gigs, not to inspire people around the globe.”
What Shalev learned from the experience was how very powerful a well-crafted video could be in inspiring people to connect to Jewish life. Fohrman enlisted Shalev to join Aleph Beta, as chief operating officer, in July 2012. (He was promoted to CEO in July 2019.)
Shalev explained that Fohrman’s innovative approach to Torah study zeros in on the language used in different sections of the Torah and interprets it based on similar wording used in other sections. As an example, Shalev pointed to the description of the splitting of the Red Sea and noted that many of the words used to describe the episode also appear in the account of the creation of the world; this connection invites the careful reader to explore some of the other ways the two stories may be connected.
As Aleph Beta has grown, it has attracted fans across the globe, with users all over the U.S. and in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. They have also reached thousands of Christian users, who are drawn to the crisply edited and professionally designed animated videos in English that, as Shalev states, “are not dogmatic and not pushing people to do mitzvoth.” Viewers of Aleph Beta videos see that simply reading the Hebrew text closely “can show you something surprising and meaningful.”
Over the past year, Aleph Beta has responded to the changing media habits of younger users and begun offering weekly podcasts, titled “Into the Verse.” These podcasts are each 30-45 minutes long and take roughly two weeks to produce. The podcasts complement the formidable library of videos Aleph Beta has built up, of four years’ worth of commentaries on the weekly parsha and five years’ worth of commentaries on the chagim.
Since 2015 Aleph Beta has added to its roster of scholars producing Torah commentary. While Fohrman remains the lead scholar, and his style of Torah study informs the organization’s approach to Torah commentary, videos and podcasts now feature the work of Rabbi David Block, Rabbi Ami Silver, Daniel Lowenstein, Beth Lesch, Ari Levisohn and Shalev.
The organization has an overall workforce of 30 staff and it is clear that they share Shalev’s passion for advancing Torah study by using high-quality media.
Sarah Rashba, product director since October 2022, said: “Reading through testimonials that users send in of how Aleph Beta brings meaning to their life is my favorite part of the job. … I love how Aleph Beta’s approach to asking big questions of the Torah feels honest and allows me to bring my full self with my modern sensibilities to this ancient text.”
Hillary Guttman, an audio engineer who started working at Aleph Beta full-time in February 2022, shared: “Seeing how Rabbi Fohrman and the rest of the scholars shine a light on how Torah is relevant to us and how it leads one to connect better with Hashem has been transformative to me. Especially as a baalat teshuvah who, while initially drawn to the warmth of yiddishkeit as a teenager, got more absorbed into learning and performing the mitzvos and lost track of the connection piece. Learning Torah with Aleph Beta has brought me back to connecting with Hashem.”
Arthur Birnbaum, an animator who started working for the group in March 2018, remarked: “I grew up part of a really small Jewish community in Romania. I know Aleph Beta can reach this type of community and can open a door to Torah learning, and this can make that community or individual feel connected and whole.”
Yehuda Marcus of Teaneck has been a subscriber for five years and a self-described fan of the organization’s work for more than seven years. “I admire the Aleph Beta approach and understanding of what Torah is and what place it holds, or rather should hold, in our lives,” he said. “They teach that it is not a storybook or a rules book; it is a guideline for how to live our optimal lives. Aleph Beta helps give its pupils the tools to approach Torah differently, both via its content and studying on their own…. Approaching text, learning how to search for meaning that is relevant to our everyday lives, in every syllable. They are bringing life to Torah and making it relevant again, in a way that I believe no one else is.”
Michael Meiner of Highland Park said: “Several years ago, a friend lent me a sefer—the author was Rabbi David Fohrman. I was so intrigued that I now own the entire collection and I subscribe to Aleph Beta, which has become part of my weekly routine. I especially appreciate their ability to discover patterns in the text connecting different parts of the Torah, which offers a richer understanding of the Torah’s message. Every dvar Torah from Aleph Beta is an eye-opener!”
For more information on Aleph Beta’s exciting and engaging approach to Torah study, visit their website at www.alephbeta.org
By Harry Glazer
