Torah Shiurim Online: How to Find the Speaker, the Subject and the Shiur
Torah shiurim online are classes by rabbanim and maggidei shiur, posted mostly to YouTube by the speakers, their shuls and their organizations. The quickest way to the right one is by speaker first, then subject, then length. On LeHallel on 1 October 2026, 54 featured speakers each had a shelf; Rabbi Eli Stefansky's held 5,642 approved shiurim from 2018 to 2026. Each speaker's own channel is linked below.
Where Torah shiurim online come from
Almost every shiur you can find online started on one of three kinds of channel. Knowing which one you are looking at saves a lot of searching.
- The speaker's own channel. Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, Rabbi YY Jacobson and Rabbi Shais Taub each post to channels under their own names. This is where a speaker's newest shiurim usually appear first.
- A shul or a yeshiva. Many shuls film the shiurim given in their beis medrash. On LeHallel's list, Musayof Synagogue is a shul, not a person, and it held 17,772 approved videos on 1 October 2026.
- An organization. Learning programs and outreach organizations post many speakers at once. Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter's daf shiurim, for example, sit on Dirshu's channel.
The same shiur often appears on several of these at once. LeHallel's shelf for Rabbi Eli Stefansky says it outright: "also on 15 other channels", with 740 of "his shiurim uploaded by 15 other channels." That is why searching by channel alone misses so much, and why following the person, not the channel, works better.
The speakers with the most approved shiurim
Counting shiurim is not counting greatness, and nobody should choose a rav by a number. But the count tells you something practical: how deep a shelf is before you run out. Here are the twelve largest of the 54 featured on LeHallel's Speakers list, from LeHallel's own catalog counts for 1 October 2026.
Three things in the chart are worth reading slowly. The largest bar is not one man's: LeHallel files the Dirshu channel under Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter's name, so its 30,975 approved videos are the channel's daf shiurim, events and songs together. Two more of the twelve, Musayof Synagogue and Anafeam, are a shul and an organization, each carrying many speakers. And a speaker can have far more Torah online than appears on one shelf; the shelf counts what is approved and gathered under his name.
Who teaches what: a table by subject
Most people do not start from a name. They start from what they are learning this week. The table below takes LeHallel's subject shelves and shows, for each, the speakers with the most approved shiurim on it on 1 October 2026, with each speaker's own channel. Use it to find a voice, then go and listen to two or three before you decide.
| You are learning | Speakers with the most on that shelf | His own channel |
|---|---|---|
| Daf Yomi | Rabbi Eli Stefansky, and the Dirshu channel (filed under Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter's name). Counting titles that name Bechoros: 155 by Rabbi Stefansky, 147 on the Dirshu channel | Dirshu Global · Mercaz Daf Yomi |
| The parsha | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein: the most approved shiurim on Parshas Bereishis (80), and on parsha shiurim that do not name their week (437) | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official |
| Yom tov | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein and Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky lead almost every yom tov shelf (Sukkos: 139 and 58) | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official |
| Chassidus | The Yanuka, Rav Shlomo Yehuda (6,246); Rabbi Shalom Arush (1,080); the Breslov Research Institute (938) | The Yanuka · BRI Breslov |
| Hashkafa and Jewish thought | Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (347 on Jewish thought); Rabbi Shmuel Silber (152); Rabbi YY Jacobson (275 on hashkafa) | Rabbi Shmuel Silber · Rabbi YY Jacobson |
| Tefillah | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (109); Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer (81) | Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer |
| Shalom bayis | Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (80); Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (53); Rabbi YY Jacobson (39); Rabbi Shais Taub (36) | SoulWords, Rabbi Shais Taub |
| Parenting | Rabbi Shais Taub (74); Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (64) | SoulWords, Rabbi Shais Taub |
| Stories | Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (159); Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (153) | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official |
Two cautions. First, the table shows who has the most shiurim placed on each shelf, not who is best at the subject, and many shiurim are not on a subject shelf yet. Second, a speaker's channel carries everything he posts. LeHallel's shelf carries what LeHallel approved; his own channel is the open YouTube page, with YouTube's feed and comments around it.
What a speaker's shelf shows
On 1 October 2026 we opened Rabbi Eli Stefansky's shelf on LeHallel at iPhone size, nothing signed in, to see what a learner gets there.
Here is what each part of the shelf is for, in the order a learner uses them:
- Start here gathers, in the shelf's own words, "most played · newest · also loved": the right door for someone new to this speaker.
- Series keeps a run of shiurim in order. For a daf shiur this matters more than anything; you want daf 14 after daf 13, not whatever is newest.
- By year and By length answer the two practical questions: is this recent, and does it fit the twenty minutes I have. Stefansky's lengths are split "Under 10 min · 10 to 40 min · Over 40 min".
- Also on other channels gathers the same speaker's shiurim that someone else uploaded, so you do not have to hunt for them.
- Follow, Play all, Shuffle, Share sit under his name. The shiurim play without signing in.
Finding the moment inside a long shiur
A real shiur is long. Searching titles finds the shiur; it does not find the five minutes on the question you actually have. Two parts of LeHallel's shelves are built for that.
"Searchable inside." Stefansky's shelf says 1,030 of his shiurim are "searchable inside": you can search those shiurim by what was said, not only by what the video is called. A shiur that spends twenty minutes on a question is findable by that question even when the title never names it.
"Moments by topic." His shelf lists 33 moments across 15 topics: the exact seconds inside his shiurim where a topic is spoken about. LeHallel's topic pages work the same way. Its Sukkos page, on the day we looked, offered "60 moments from 31 rabbis and maggidim", each a snippet that starts at the second the subject comes up.
A word of care: a moment is a starting point, not a psak. Listen to the whole sugya before you rely on it, and bring a practical question to your rav.
Choosing a speaker you will keep listening to
The best shiur is the one you actually finish, day after day. Before you settle on a speaker, run through this list with two or three of his shiurim.
- Language and pace. English, Hebrew or Yiddish; quick or slow. A speaker who is too fast for you on day one will still be too fast on day thirty.
- Level. Does he assume you have the text open and know the background, or does he build it with you?
- Length. Match the shiur to the time you really have: the commute, the walk, the twenty minutes before Maariv.
- Kept in order. For anything sequential (daf, a sefer, a series), check that the shiurim are kept in order so you can pick up where you left off.
- Recent or classic. Look at the years on the shelf. Some learners want this week's shiur; others want a series given years ago.
- Where you will listen. If the open YouTube page is a problem for you, decide now to open the shiur from a library, not from YouTube.
- Your rav's view. If you are choosing a speaker for halacha l'maaseh or for a child, ask your rav.
One more practical note. Lots of people find a speaker online and then lose him: the next time they open YouTube, the feed shows something else. Following the speaker, or simply opening his shelf directly, is what keeps a daily seder alive. For the daily daf in particular, see Daf Yomi today; for the weekly parsha, see this week's parsha.
Questions people ask
Where can I watch Torah shiurim online?
On the speakers' own YouTube channels and websites, on the channels of shuls and organizations, and in approved libraries such as LeHallel, which gathers each speaker's approved shiurim on one shelf.
How do I find shiurim by a specific rabbi?
Search his name, then open his shelf or his own channel. On LeHallel, Shiurim, then Speakers, lists 54 featured speakers from A to Z, and search finds every other speaker.
Which speakers have the most shiurim on LeHallel?
On 1 October 2026: the Dirshu channel, filed under Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter's name (30,975 approved videos), then Musayof Synagogue, Anafeam, Rabbi Yoram Abergel and Rabbi Daniel Glatstein. A count says how deep a shelf is, not who to learn from.
Can I find the part of a shiur about my question?
Often, yes. Shiurim marked "searchable inside" can be searched by what was said, and topic pages list the moments inside shiurim where a subject comes up.
Are shiurim online kept in order?
On a speaker's channel they are usually newest first. On LeHallel a series is kept in order, so a daf or a sefer can be followed from the beginning.
Do I need an account to listen?
No. Shiurim play without one. A free account is there if you want it; Following, Playlists and Watch later sit under Me.
Is a shiur online the same as learning with a rebbi?
It is a wonderful way to hear Torah, and it cannot answer your question back. Keep a rebbi or a chavrusa for what a recording cannot do, and ask your rav for psak.
Sources
- LeHallel, Shiurim, Speakers and Rabbi Eli Stefansky's shelf, opened in a real browser at iPhone size on 1 October 2026 (the pictures above).
- LeHallel's own catalog counts for 1 October 2026: approved videos per speaker, per subject shelf and per speaker on each shelf (the chart and the table above).
- LeHallel, Sukkos — The Season of Our Joy (read 1 October 2026): "60 moments from 31 rabbis and maggidim".
- LeHallel, Rabbi Eli Stefansky's page (read 1 October 2026).
- YouTube, Mercaz Daf Yomi by R' Eli Stefansky, Rabbi Daniel Glatstein Official, Dirshu Global, SoulWords, Rabbi Shais Taub, Rabbi YY Jacobson: each channel named by YouTube's own record of the speaker's top approved videos (checked 1 October 2026).
- Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, rabbidg.com (read 1 October 2026).
- Rabbi Shais Taub, SoulWords (read 1 October 2026).
- Rabbi YY Jacobson, TheYeshiva.net (read 1 October 2026).
- LeHallel, FAQ (read 1 October 2026): "No card is taken anywhere on this site"; every video "plays through YouTube's official player"; "YouTube may show its own ad on some of those videos."