Computer Department
In 1991, Ohr Somayach, recognizing the direction that communications were heading, brought Jewish outreach into the computer age. Staff at Ohr Somayach produced two very successful educational software packages, Where In Israel? and Judaic Wizard. They have been marketed worldwide and have sold tens of thousands of copies. The first outreach projects of the Internet Department consisted of Jewish history and culture, current events, contemporary issues and the holidays. These were distributed around the world by E-mail subscriptions. After a period of rapid growth Ohr Somayach expanded its services to include “Ask — Jewish Information Resource”, a popular question and answer forum.
Ohr Somayach, understanding the need to remain at the forefront of the hi-tech educational world, established its own Web Site www.ohr.edu in 1993. At the same time the E-mail publications were incorporated into an online magazine called OhrNet.
The Interactive Web Site today plays a central role in Ohr Somayach’s tremendous success in Jewish outreach. It contains billions of bytes of information, covering the entire spectrum of Jewish knowledge such as current events, contemporary issues, business ethics, human interest and more. Over 30,000 people subscribe weekly to its electronic publications via email, over 250,000 electronic publications are distributed through secondary sources and over 300,000 visit the Ohr Somayach Web Site each month.
The Web Site also serves as an important recruitment tool for our popular educational outreach programs offered at our international branches.
The award-winning, state-of-the-art Ohr Somayach Web Site is a tool which enables Jews everywhere to have access to Jewish information and knowledge, which is as attractive, engaging and stimulating as any of the top web sites in the world.
