Kol Haloshon Celebrates Six Years of Harbotzas Hatorah

Kol Haloshon USA is celebrating six years of providing free telephone Torah shiurim 24 hours a day.

Kol Haloshon started more than 25 years ago in the United Kingdom as a tape lending library. Shmiras Haloshon shiurim were recorded on tape and lent out to encourage the study of Shmiras Haloshon. Next, Kol Haloshon completely revised and published the first Shmiras Haloshon sefer which incorporated the Shmiras Haloshon calendar devised by the Manchester Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Yehuda Zev Segal, zt”l, based on a 4 month machzor. They also set up a phone system in Eretz Yisroel with the shiurim in English and Hebrew, for men and women, accessible 24 hours a day aiding the studying of shmiras haloshon according to the 4 month machzor. They also set up a Shmiras Halsohon hotline, answering any halachic questions people had about Shmiras Haloshon.

Over the years, Kol Haloshon’s phone system was enhanced to include LIVE and pre-recorded shiurim in all subjects of learning. The phone system was setup in London in 2004 and here in the US in March 2005 right after the last Siyum Hashas. The first Kol Haloshon USA maggid shiur was Rav Mordechai Silber of Congregation Toldos Yehuda of Stutchin. Since then, more than 250 maggidei shiurim have recorded their shiurim LIVE or have donated their taped shiurim for the listening public. All LIVE shiurim are automatically saved into the archive for future playback. The archive grows by more than 75 shiurim daily. The shiurim are recorded in a variety of languages including English, Yiddish, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Russian and most recently Farsi.
Initially, the phone system started with the archive of shiurim from Eretz Yisroel and the United Kingdom, both of whom were recording for a number of years. Since then, more than 100,000 USA shiurim have been recorded LIVE or manually uploaded into our archive.

The full archive now exceeds 250,000 shiurim and represents the largest collection of audio shiurim in the world. In all, we have more than 500 maggidei shiurim on Kol Haloshon. All these shiurim and their accessibility 24 hours a day has affected the lives of thousands.

Kol Haloshon USA averages more than 12,000 calls daily. More than 750,000 hours of Torah have been learned on the phone in the past year. The learning goes on day and night. There are more than 2 minyanim of listeners every moment, day or night, from erev Shabbos to erev Shabbos. With so many listeners 6 days a week, all year round, it required Kol Haloshon to contract with XChange Telecom, a local heimishe telecom provider, who has provided uninterrupted service on crystal clear, fiber optic, digital T1 phone lines.

Kol Haloshon offers a wide variety of shiurim. There are shiurim in Chumash and Tanach, Mishna and Gemara, Halacha and Shmiras Haloshon, Musar and Chassidus, There are shiurim for women and children, shiurim on Moadey Hashana, shiurim in yeshivas as well as hespedim.

For those who learn Daf Hayomi, Kol Haloshon has 18 active shiurim in Daf Hayomi shiurim each day in English, Yiddish and even one Daf HaYomi shiur given in Farsi from the West Coast. Additionally, the archive has thousands of pre-recorded Daf HaYomi shiurim from maggidei shiurim around the world.

The shiurim have inspired many. There is a story of a boy who didn’t seem to fit in yeshiva. He went from yeshiva to yeshiva in Manchester until no yeshiva would accept him. One day, someone recommended that the boy listen to the shiur from a certain Rav who spoke on Kol Haloshon. The boy was so inspired by the sincerity of the Rov, he flew to the US and joined this Rav’s yeshiva and has been blossoming ever since.

Kol Haloshon provides chizuk to mothers with young children who are unable to leave their homes by giving them the ability to listen to a wide array of shiurim geared especially for women, from the comfort of their home. Kol Haloshon has a special section on Tznius with organizations such as Tal Shel Techiya, Bnos Melochim, Kol Kevudah, Peninim and Ateres all contributing shiurim to our archive. We also host many speakers from the Leah Neiman Ahavas Yisroel hotline. We also have shiurim for seminary girls as well.

Some of the recent additions include the Dirshu Kinyan Halacha series recording many Daf HaYomi B’Halacha maggidei shiurim including Rav Kahan, Rav Meir Platnick, Rav Kantor, Rav Zev Smith, Rav Cynamon, Rav Dovid Hofstedter and Rav Gips. Also, besides carrying Rav Moshe Meir Weiss’ Daf HaYomi and weekly Chumash shiurim, Rav Weiss began to record a Mishna Yomis shiur when the new cycle started last August.

Stuck in traffic, at the airport, or in line at the supermarket with nothing to do, Kol Haloshon provides a wealth of opportunity to “chap arein” some learning, leaving no excuses that one couldn’t learn because they couldn’t attend a shiur.

Kol Haloshon is run entirely by volunteers worldwide who recognize the importance of spreading Torah learning. They are joined by the exceptional Kol Haloshon maggidei shiurim who donate their shiurim for free for this holy task.

All of Kol Haloshon activities are sponsored by an anonymous donor whose sole desire is to increase Torah learning.

The number to hear the shiurim on the phone is (718) 906-6400. In Monsey, the number is (845) 678-3337. In Monroe, the local number is (845) 751-9640. Recently, Kol Haloshon also added a local number in Lakewood, (732) 806-8199. There are also local access numbers in Montreal, Toronto and Eretz Yisroel.

For more information about Kol Haloshon, call (718) 701-5157 or email us at [email protected].

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