Ohr Torah Stone launches pre-Shavuot learnathon named after Rabbi Riskin

In addition to marking Riskin's birthday, the learnathon also comes ahead of the Shavuot holiday, when it is customary for Jews to stay up all night studying Torah.

Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in his office (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in his office
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Modern Orthodox Jewish education organization Ohr Torah Stone is launching a new pre-Shavuot Torah study program on May 11 in honor of Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, the organization's founder and chancellor.
The program will consist of a 12-hour learn-a-thon with lectures spanning a variety of topics, and will be taught over Zoom by several of the program's rabbis, educators, leaders and emissaries.
In addition to marking Riskin's birthday, the learn-a-thon also comes ahead of the Shavuot holiday, when it is customary for Jews to stay up all night studying Torah.
The event is also a testament to Riskin's legacy, characterized by a lifetime of outreach and education for the Jewish community.
The founding chief rabbi of Efrat, Riskin is an authoritative figure in Modern Orthodoxy.
 
"Rabbi Riskin is one of the preeminent leaders of this generation. He transformed synagogue life and the notion of what defines outreach, and he is a teacher who has always led with warmth and compassion alongside his dedication to the Jewish people,” Ohr Torah Stone president Rabbi Kenneth Brander said in a statement. 
“His lasting legacy will always be the Torah that he continues to teach and the destiny of the Jewish people and society that he continues to shape. There is no more fitting way of honoring him than through a celebration of Torah learning across the entire world."
Last year, Ohr Torah Stone held a 24-hour learnathon to mark Shavuot, as well as Riskin's 80th birthday.
The program will stream on four channels and in a variety of languages. For more information and Zoom links, visit www.ots.org.il/shavuot.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.