by Keren Diamond

A Lubavitch boy from Hong Kong with no formal Jewish education…A Chaim Berlin student who needs to review gemara after school...A child recovering from surgery and unable to attend school. Where did these three youngsters get the highly individualized educational experiences they needed? They all found a solution in a high-tech virtual classroom they accessed through the internet.
Rabbi Yitzchok Pollack, who has been teaching for the past 20 years in Canada, founded the Yeshiva Online three years ago. He did not set out to create an online classroom. The Yeshiva grew from multimedia lessons he originally created to pique the interest of the students in his Montreal classroom. With the success of these lessons, he was asked to present his methods at two Torah Umesorah conventions. The enthusiastic reception he received there led to an online presentation to a group of teachers in Chicago on how to use multimedia techniques to improve their classrooms. Slowly, the idea began to form in his mind of using his research to reach out to children who could not attend school or who needed an alternative form of learning. Thus the Yeshiva Online evolved from Rabbi Pollack’s attempt to share his work with those who could most benefit from it.
To one who has never studied online before, the experience is fascinating. Upon entering the “classroom,” the student views the first screen that the rebbe has set up. Screens can consist of traditional text of a piece of Gemara or Chumash, text with nikudos, a linear translation, pictorial explanations, diagrams, comprehension questions, or word matches. When the rebbe changes the page, the students’ screens also change. Both rebbe and student can write, draw, and point to the topic being discussed on the screen. Computer microphones allow verbal communication, and rebbe and student can see each other by using a web camera. The student can even virtually “raise his hand” to volunteer an answer or comment. Of course, each lesson is stored online, so that it can be reviewed after class.
Rabbi Pollack’s flexibility and willingness to accommodate his students have compelled him to expand the yeshiva as requests roll in from places as distant as Reno, Phoenix, and even Hong Kong. Others contact him from places as ordinary as Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Passaic. For the past three years, he has taught online Chumash, Gemara, and kriya (reading) classes on various levels, often creating a new curriculum at the request of desperate parents. The motivations of the callers differ, with parents asking for both primary and supplemental instruction. But they all have one thing in common: the need for affordable, high-quality Jewish education for their children.
Catching Up
Here in Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Daniel Taylor spent a year in the Yeshiva Online. Since he and his family became baalei teshuva about three years ago, he had no experience with the intense gemara learning that boys his age take for granted. When attending a gemara shiur with boys his own age, he felt very self-conscious, because the other boys were much more advanced. Homeschooled from a young age, Daniel needed something that would give him the basic skills he needed to tackle a page of gemara. The Yeshiva Online seemed a perfect choice.
According to his mother, Daniel has always been “computer savvy,” and the online classes allowed him to channel his love of computers towards learning basic gemara skills. The other boys in his online class had no idea that Daniel was a few years older. That level of anonymity helped him succeed in his studies. After only one year, Daniel caught up on several years of learning and gained both the confidence and the skills to fit into a regular gemara classroom.
Way Down South
When Bracha Estner, from Jacksonville, Florida, reached third grade, her parents were in a quandary. While Jacksonville’s frum community was growing, the new Orthodox elementary school went only until first grade. The Conservative day school that Bracha attended left much to be desired; she was the only frum child in her grade, and one of very few in her whole school. This all changed the day that Mr. Estner clicked on a random link labeled “The Yeshiva Online.”  
“What began as a casual email received a surprisingly non-casual response,” testified Mr. Estner. “Rabbi Pollack replied by putting together a class that fit our needs completely…It’s not simply a fee-for-service arrangement; Rabbi Pollack has taken a personal interest in both Bracha and our family, and the personal interaction and warmth he provides really make the difference.”
Perhaps even more important than her newfound textual skills are the recent feelings of pride in Yiddishkeit that Bracha has gained through the Yeshiva Online. Her father sees how this extra learning opportunity give her a “uniqueness and a mark of achievement that her classmates don’t have.” In fact, she learns more in the Yeshiva Online than they would ever dream of learning. In addition, she meets with three other children in the online classroom who find themselves in the same situation, which is a tremendous source of chizuk (encouragement) for her.
Speeding Along
When Adam Popper, 15, began having trouble keeping up with his classmates, his parents became worried. He had always excelled in school, and his IQ remained high. Adam was diagnosed with dysgraphia, a temporary disorder that slows both hand-eye coordination and writing skills, and his parents searched desperately for a yeshiva that could accommodate him. After one yeshiva failed to meet Adam’s needs, a local rabbi recommended that the parents contact Rabbi Pollack. Now, over a year later, Adam attends a New York yeshiva, learning gemara at a level that he had once deemed impossible. In fact, his only complaint is that he had to leave the Yeshiva Online, where he was able to learn much more quickly and in depth than his current classroom environment offers.
The Art of Teaching
Why do Rabbi Pollack’s students enjoy his online lessons so much? Many parents found that Rabbi Pollack has mastered the art of teaching to several modalities at once. Visual learners discovered that his clear diagrams and vocabulary sheets strengthened their understanding immeasurably. Other students loved Rabbi Pollack’s distinct way of teaching through singing; one family even dubbed him “the rebbe with a nigun.” Restless students were free to move around without distracting the rest of the class, and they especially enjoyed the various vocabulary matches and worksheets that Rabbi Pollack assigned.
Small class size seems to play a large part in the yeshiva’s success as well. While some students receive individual tutoring, even those in a small group of three or four can be very involved. The interactive nature of the class lends itself to constant stimulation and frequent participation. Classroom discipline is ideal; Rabbi Pollack can speak privately with a disruptive student, and can even turn off his microphone to stop him from disturbing the others.
Most of all, parents commented on Rabbi Pollack’s ability to connect with each individual student. “Rabbi Pollack is so engaging, enthusiastic, charismatic…Seth has never enjoyed learning so much before!” exclaimed one parent. Another mentioned that Rabbi Pollack always made sure to keep in touch with them, both while their child was his student and afterwards. “He takes a personal interest in his students,” remarked a third. “It wasn’t superficial. And he actually believes in his mission – to bring a good Torah education to every Jewish child.”

For more information or to download a free lesson, go to www.yeshivaonline.com. Anyone wishing to attend a lesson free of charge should contact Rabbi Pollack at 866-870-9421.