About Us

The words "Torah Tavlin" are best known from a phrase in the Gemara in the tractate Kiddushin (30b): "בראתי יצר הרע ובראתי לו תורה תבלין" - "I created the Yetzer Hara, and I've also created the Torah Tavlin" - as an antidote; it is only in this passage that the context compels this translation. The word “Tavlin” has many understandings in the teachings of Chazal, but it is literally translated as “Spices.” Just as a master chef will employ a refreshing blend of spices and ingredients to make his culinary creation into a masterpiece, so too, does Hashem blend together a Divine brand of seasoning - “Tavlin” - into His Living Torah for us to absorb, each according to our individual understanding. Through the countless pages of our commentators, from thousands of years ago up to the present day, we “taste” these spices in every word and posuk in the Torah, and our intellectual senses are overloaded. It is the “Sam Hachaim” - the elixir of life, and the truest manner to experience the Torah.

Shortly after Rabbi Dovid Hoffman moved to Monsey, N.Y., his grandfather, Reb Alter Kurz, z"l, passed away. Rabbi Hoffman wanted to initiate something meaningful for his new community in memory of his grandfather. He created Torah Tavlin, envisioning it filled with parshah vertlach and stories that would bring not only Torah, but the enjoyment of Torah, to the Shabbos tables of all the families in his shul. He began by distributing a few dozen copies in his own shul.

Since then, Torah Tavlin has spread around the world, mushrooming well beyond Rabbi Hoffman's wildest dreams. In fact, the weekly Torah Tavlin sheets are distributed - via email and our mobile app - across the world (USA, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, Switzerland etc.) to approximately 45,000 readers each and every week.

In 2008, Rabbi Hoffman teemed up with Israel Bookshop Publications to produce the first Torah Tavlin sefer/book in a unique format based on the seven days of the week. This allows readers to “chap” a small piece of Torah or a vort which they can think about during the day, or even for study sessions with their friends or family.

Since then, Torah Tavlin has expanded to become the "Torah Tavlin Harbotzas Torah Network" - or TTHTN for short, and "Torah Tavlin Publications" has produced over two dozen seforim/books on Chumash, Moadim, Haggadah Shel Pesach, Yamim Noraim, Kinnos, Moadim Ketanim, and more. Rabbi Hoffman has also written a series known as the "Heroes Series" which focuses on the heroism during the holocaust and the Arab/Jewish conflict - and not only on the horrors and tragedies.

Although small at first, Torah Tavlin has grown tremendously and has been enhancing the Shabbos tables of thousands of Jews each and every week for the last thirty years.