How to Learn with a Chavrusa Online: Free Video and Voice Calls on Aneni
To learn with a chavrusa online you need three things: to see and hear each other, the same page of the sefer in front of both of you, and a set time. Aneni, the calling part of LeHallel, gives each member a free Aneni number, video and voice calls, and a sefer page that "turns for both of you". It works in a browser on a computer or a phone.
Why a chavrusa, in the Gemara's own words
Learning in pairs is older than any app. Three places in the sources say it plainly, each one open to read on Sefaria:
- Pirkei Avos 1:6. Yehoshua ben Perachya says "עשה לך רב, וקנה לך חבר" - in the English on Sefaria, "appoint for thyself a teacher, and acquire for thyself a companion". A chavrusa is not something that happens to you; you go and get one.
- Berachos 63b. "אין התורה נקנית אלא בחבורה" - "the Torah is only acquired through study in a group", in the William Davidson English on Sefaria.
- Taanis 23a. After the story of Choni HaMe'agel, Rava quotes the saying "או חברותא או מיתותא" - "Either friendship or death". The word the Gemara uses, chavrusa, is the word every beis medrash still uses for a learning partner.
What the sources ask for is a person across the table: someone who asks your question back to you, who notices when you skipped a word, who expects you at the same time tomorrow. The question online is only how much of that table a screen can bring back.
What an online chavrusa needs
A chavrusa on the phone with nothing else works, up to a point: one of you reads, the other searches for the place, and the first ten minutes go to "which line are you on?". From what a beis medrash table gives you, five things matter most. Use this list for any way you learn online, Aneni or anything else.
- See and hear each other, clearly enough to argue: a video call, or a voice call when the camera is off.
- The same page in front of both of you, so neither one reads aloud while the other hunts for the place.
- A way to point: "here, the second line of Rashi" without describing where it is.
- A set time that both of you keep, and an easy way to call again tomorrow.
- A way to find someone who learns what you learn, in your language, at your hours.
The rest of this guide walks through how Aneni covers each of the five, step by step, with a picture of the real screen at every step.
Step 1: your own number
Aneni lives on LeHallel's own page, lehallel.com/aneni, and on the gold phone line on LeHallel's home page. It uses a free LeHallel account. The first card says, in its own words, "One press - you get your own Aneni number." You type the name people will see in a call and press Turn on Aneni.
An Aneni number has the form 613-xxx-xxx. In Aneni's Settings you choose between Keep my own cell number, so friends call the number they already know, and Get a new Aneni number, so your cell number stays private. The Send my number button shares it with your chavrusa.
Step 2: call by number, by video or voice
Type your chavrusa's number in Call a number, or use the keypad, and press Video or Voice. Their LeHallel rings wherever they have it open, on a computer or a phone, in any country. Under the two buttons are two more: "Video call with a link" and "Voice call with a link", which make a link you can send to someone so they join from it.
Inside a video call the buttons are the ones you would expect: Mute, Camera off, Flip camera and Leave. A voice call is the same call without the cameras, for a chavrusa on the bus or a night when nobody wants to be seen (voice calls, 1:30 in the film).
One plain limit, in Aneni's own words: "Calls work between people who have Aneni. A friend without it? Press Invite." Aneni does not ring an ordinary phone line.
Step 3: open a sefer together
This is the part a chavrusa feels. During the call, type a place in Open a page together - today's daf, Berachos 2a, Rashi on the parsha, a perek of Tehillim - and press Open. The page opens on both screens at once. The bar above it says "Page synced live · Turns for both of you": when either of you goes to the next amud, it turns for the other one too.
The page is LeHallel's own sefarim library, the same one anyone can open at lehallel.com/sefarim, in Hebrew, English or both, with +A and -A to make the letters bigger or smaller. Close the page puts the sefer away and leaves you with the call.
Step 4: point to a line
A beis medrash has a finger on the page. Aneni has Point to a line: press it and a gold pointer, the Yad, marks the line on your chavrusa's screen as well as yours. "Here - the second line" stops being a description and becomes a mark both of you can see (the gold Yad, 1:16 in the film).
Learning groups and a live shiur
Some learning is not a pair. (For a shiur to learn from on your own, see Torah shiurim online; for the daf itself, Daf Yomi online.) In Aneni's Groups tab, in its own words: "Make a group, send its link to the people in it, and meet in the group's own call." A group has a name and a line for what it learns ("A daf a day, 9 PM"), a Group call button for video or voice, and a link to send. Someone who opens the link sees "You were invited to a learning group" and Join the group.
For a maggid shiur, Start a live shiur on the same page turns the call around (shiurim that are live right now are listed under Live): one person teaches and the others watch and listen (a live shiur, 2:02 in the film). A group that learns together every night can keep both: its own call for the chabura, and a live shiur when someone gives one.
Finding a chavrusa
The hardest part of learning with someone is often finding the someone. Aneni's People tab lists members who chose to be found, and each member's own settings say what they learn. In My Aneni settings you fill in the name people see, What I like to learn, Languages and When I'm free, and a few words about yourself.
Being listed is a choice, and it is off until you turn it on. In the settings' own words: "Your name is what people see in a call. Being found is your choice: it stays off until you turn it on." The box to turn it on says what happens next: "Let people find me and ask to learn. Only men see you. You can block anyone, and turn this off any time." Men see only men under People, and women see only women.
Which way to learn: a table
Each of Aneni's ways to learn fits a different situation. A quick way to choose:
| Your situation | Use | How |
|---|---|---|
| A set chavrusa, every night | Call by number | Save their Aneni number; Video or Voice; open the sefer together |
| Someone new, once | Video call with a link | Send the link; they join from it |
| A chabura of five or ten | A learning group | Make the group, send its link, meet in its own call |
| You teach, they listen | A live shiur | Start a live shiur from the Aneni page |
| You have no chavrusa yet | People on Aneni | Fill in what you learn and when; turn on being found |
| No camera tonight | A voice call | The same call and the same page, without video |
Questions people ask
How do I find a chavrusa online?
Ask the people you already learn with first: a friend from yeshiva, a neighbor, someone at your shiur. If there is no one, Aneni's People tab lists members who chose to be found, with what they learn, their languages and when they are free. Fill in the same about yourself and turn on being found.
Is learning with a chavrusa on the phone free?
Aneni's calls are part of LeHallel, which is free; they use a free LeHallel account. LeHallel's FAQ: "No card is taken anywhere on this site."
Can we both see the same page of Gemara?
Yes. In an Aneni call, Open a page together opens the same page on both screens, and it turns for both of you. Point to a line marks a line on both screens.
Does my chavrusa need a computer?
No. Aneni opens in the browser of a phone or a computer; in the film above one chavrusa is on each. Android phones can also use LeHallel's app from Google Play.
Can I call my chavrusa's regular phone number?
No. In Aneni's words, "Calls work between people who have Aneni. A friend without it? Press Invite." Each of you needs Aneni turned on.
Can I keep my own number?
Yes. In Aneni's Settings, "Keep my own cell number" lets friends reach you on the number they already know; "Get a new Aneni number" keeps your cell number private.
Can women use Aneni to learn together?
Yes. Under People, women see only women and men see only men. A learning group or a call by number works the same for everyone.
How long should a chavrusa session be?
Whatever both of you will keep. The sources above ask for a partner and a regular time more than a length; ask your rav or your rosh yeshiva what fits your learning.
Sources
- LeHallel, Aneni, opened in two real browsers (a computer and an iPhone-size window) on 30 October 2026 as four of LeHallel's own tutorial members: the pictures above and the film. Quoted from it: "One press - you get your own Aneni number"; "Page synced live · Turns for both of you"; "Make a group, send its link to the people in it, and meet in the group's own call"; "Calls work between people who have Aneni. A friend without it? Press Invite."
- LeHallel, How to Use Aneni: Your Own Free Phone Line for Learning Together, LeHallel's YouTube channel, 30 October 2026.
- LeHallel, FAQ (read 28 October 2026): "No card is taken anywhere on this site"; "YouTube may show its own ad on some of those videos."
- LeHallel, Sefarim (read 30 October 2026): the library the call opens its pages from.
- Sefaria, Pirkei Avot 1:6 (read 30 October 2026): "עשה לך רב, וקנה לך חבר" - "appoint for thyself a teacher, and acquire for thyself a companion".
- Sefaria, Berakhot 63b, William Davidson edition (read 30 October 2026): "אין התורה נקנית אלא בחבורה" - "the Torah is only acquired through study in a group".
- Sefaria, Taanit 23a, William Davidson edition (read 30 October 2026): "או חברותא או מיתותא" - "Either friendship or death".
- The Lakewood Scoop, PSA: Free Jewish App Lehallel Plays The Exact Minute A Rav Answers Your Question (read 30 October 2026).
- LeHallel on Google Play (read 28 October 2026).