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Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites, and continues to stand out in design functionality.
History
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad Rabbi, founded Chabad Lubavitch in Cyberspace.
In 1988, long before the internet was popularized, Kazen reached out to thousands of people on FidoNet, an online discussion network that was distributed on several thousand nodes around the world. So primitive was the technology that it would sometimes take three days for messages to travel from one part of the world to the next.
With the advent of computer communication technology, Kazen recognized its potential for reaching an almost limitless audience, particularly people limited by geographic and other constraints. Kazen digitized thousands of documents into what became the world's first virtual Jewish library, and enabling thousands of people to learn about Judaism for the first time.
After Kazan's untimely death in 1998, the site was rolled under the umbrella of the Chabad Lubavitch Media Center. Today, Chabad Lubavitch Media Center, maintains some 600 websites, including the flagship Chabad.org, specialized holiday sites, and over 1500 customised sites for local Chabad houses.
Features
Chabad.org maintains a number of unique sub-sites, including
- A Weekly Magazine on Torah, and contemporary life.
- A search feature that enables the user to quickly find a Chabad House in any part of the world.
- An online Jewish library that contains some 200,000 articles.
- An "Ask the Rabbi" feature.
- A multimedia portal, where user can stream Jewish audio and video downloads.
- A children's section.
- A section featuring reports in the media on the activities of Chabad Lubavitch Shluchim "emissaries").
- Parts of the site have been translated into many languages.
Statistics
Chabad.org claims over 2.2 million visitors per month, and over 200,000 email subscribers.
External links
Sources
"Chabad.org"