Our mission
Daat Torah came out of a simple observation: halacha — the corpus that shapes every piece of Yiddishkeit lema'aseh — stays largely out of reach for English speakers who don't have a strong command of rabbinic loshon hakodesh. The English seforim out there often boil down to summaries without mekoros, or partial translations that lose the halachic precision.
The project offers a different derech: reproducing in English the experience of the beis midrash — full Hebrew text of the Mehaber, a faithful English translation, access to the mekoros of the rishonim and acharonim, and an AI assistant to go through a sugya in depth.
« ויקח את ספר התורה ויקרא באזני העם » The Shulchan Aruch is the bridge between the holy text and life lema'aseh
The project is built on one vision: limud has to stay serious — original text, mekoros cited, the machlokes brought down faithfully — but it also has to be accessible, so every English speaker can sit down and learn the Shulchan Aruch b'iyun, whether he's just starting out or already a talmid chacham.
Rav Yossef Haim Samama
Background
Rav Yossef Haim Samama grew up in France and today lives in Eretz Yisrael. A talmid of Rav Abichid, he learned in the Tomchei Tmimim yeshivos of Chabad-Lubavitch — the yeshivos established by the Rebbe Rashab (fifth Rebbe of Chabad), known for a demanding talmudic standard joined with the inner depth of chassidus.
Halachic specialty
His training makes him particularly bekiyus in the chitta of the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi) — his Shulchan Aruch HaRav is the halachic authority of record for Chabad. That speciality is the whole reason for Level 4 (Daas HaRav) on the platform, and it's what sets Daat Torah apart from the other halachic resources for English speakers.
Vision for Daat Torah
The Rav sees Daat Torah as a didactic project first and foremost: to open up serious limud in depth, not to replace the personal relationship with a posek. For halacha lema'aseh, every user is told to ask his own Rav. But for understanding, comparing the shittos, finding a new mekor — the platform offers the tools of a full halachic library, in English.
The derech of the 4 levels
1. Base — the entry point
Full Hebrew text of the Mehaber (Rabbi Yosef Karo) with a clear English translation and a pedagogical biur. This is the way in for discovering a siman or going back over the basics.
2. Lamdan — the pilpul
In-depth limud in Hebrew (lashon hakodesh, the loshon of the beis midrash) with the shittos of the rishonim (Rambam, Rosh, Ran…) and acharonim (Magen Avraham, Taz, Shach…). The level for the talmid chacham who wants to dig in.
3. Synthesis — the chazara
A structured summary in English: central axiom, decision trees, mnemonics, practical FAQ. Built for long-term retention and quick review.
4. Daas HaRav — the chitta of the Alter Rebbe
The full Shulchan Aruch HaRav with English translation — the text of the Alter Rebbe, the koach of the psak, חידושים of the Rav, and דברי הרבי (words of the Rebbe) that throw light on the sugya. Specific to the Chabad chitta.
Transcription conventions
The site embraces an editorial diglossia between rabbinic registers to preserve the voice of each source text:
- Levels 1 to 3 (French-language pedagogy): modern standard transcription — Shabbat, halakha, siman.
- Level 4 (Shulchan Aruch HaRav translation): classical French rabbinic register of the Alter Rebbe — Chabbat, traditional turns of phrase preserved.
- English versions: consistent Ashkenazic register — Shabbos, Hilchos Shabbos, Daas HaRav (canonical "yeshivish" transcription for Chabad texts).
- Hebrew versions: שבת, no transliteration.
This choice preserves each register's voice: a student reading Level 4 finds the tone of the arba'a haturim rabbinic style, while Levels 1 to 3 remain accessible in contemporary language.
Our editorial method
Daat Torah follows a strict editorial discipline that is verifiable, traceable, and self-correcting. These are the safeguards we hold ourselves to:
Word-for-word sources vs. the Sefaria reference
The Hebrew text of the Mehaber, the Rama, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav and the Mishna Berurah shown on the site is checked seif by seif against the official Sefaria edition. No silent paraphrase, no unmarked cuts: the letter of the source text is kept.
Continuous automated audit
Audit scripts (audit-vs-sefaria.py, audit-vs-harav.py, audit-rama-by-seif.py) run continuously across the 124 simanim and flag any divergence between the published version and the source. A consistency guard (audit-simanim.py) blocks deployment until the counter reads 124/124 conformant.
Four levels of depth, each with a defined role
Every siman is learned at 4 distinct levels — Base (text + translation + biur), Lamdan (pilpul in Hebrew with rishonim and acharonim), Synthesis (a structured chazara), Daas HaRav (the chitta of the Alter Rebbe). The stacking enforces consistency: what is stated at the Synthesis level has to be traceable to the mekoros cited at the Lamdan level.
Corrections policy
When a halachic error, a missing mekor or an unintended cut is found, it is corrected immediately in the published version, and the correction is traced in the public history of the project. Recent examples: restoring hagahos of the Rama that had been truncated in earlier versions, reintroducing missing seifim verified against Sefaria. No silent corrections — the change log stays open.
Strict trilingual parity
A change is not considered finished until it is reflected in all three languages (English, French, Hebrew). The FR, HE and EN pages stay in editorial parity — this is an internal requirement of the project, not an option.
Why DAAT
Daat Torah is one of the very few resources that offers the Shulchan Aruch HaRav of the Alter Rebbe in full English translation, seif by seif, with its halachic structure preserved. For this chitta in particular, which shapes the halacha lema'aseh of Chabad communities, the English-speaking talmid had until now only scattered fragments or summaries without mekoros.
Our approach is "answer first, mekoros accessible": the halachic answer is given clearly in English, but it is always tied back to its mekoros cited word for word; and the Daat AI assistant lets the user explore the sugya in depth, within the limits of what the source text actually says.
The site is fully free, ad-free, and without commercial tracking. No data is resold. It runs entirely on the donations of its kehilla and on siman dedications.
How we guarantee quality
Editorial board
Editorial board: in formation. The reviewers are rabbis from a range of streams, sourced from French- and English-speaking communities, asked to check sensitive passages before publication. The names of the reviewers will be published once the board has reached its stable form. In the meantime, final editorial responsibility is held by Rav Yossef Haim Samama, founder of the project.
Report an error
A halachic mistake, a transcription error, a mekor that doesn't match? Tell us — that's what makes the project self-correcting. Three channels:
- The 👎 button directly under any AI answer or any siman learned
- Email to Daattorah.com@gmail.com with the subject "Halachic error report"
- An open thread in the WhatsApp group on the Community page
Every report is reviewed. Verified halachic corrections are usually deployed within 72 hours, in all three languages at once.
Version history
The entire site (the text of the simanim, the translations, the audit scripts, the AI prompts) is publicly versioned. Every halachic correction is tracked — date, the seif involved, the reason for the correction — and stays open to inspection. That transparency is our guarantee that nothing changes in the dark.
Where the project stands
Join, contribute, get in touch
The platform runs on its kehilla of talmidim and supporters. A few ways to take part:
- Learn through the Shulchan Aruch and report mistakes via the 👍 / 👎 buttons
- Find a chavrusa or come into the WhatsApp group on the Community page
- Support the project financially so it can iy"H expand to the other chalakim of Shulchan Aruch
- Ask the AI assistant a sha'aleh and share the answers to spread the word
A question, a dedication, a mistake to report? Email us at Daattorah.com@gmail.com.