Israel365 first launched The Israel Bible last year, and it has grown in popularity ever since. Now, in a bid to enhance readers’ connection with the Bible and the Land of Israel, Israel365 has initiated the Israel Bible Reading Plan to study the entire Torah, or Five Books of Moses, over the course of a single year.

The idea of a Bible reading plan is not new. Many church and synagogue groups offer a variety of Bible reading plans, designed to take the reader through the Bible, or parts of it, in a specific time period, the most common being one year.

The State of Israel even launched its own Bible reading plan to go through a chapter a day, five days a week, from mid-December of 2014, culminating in a joint celebration on the country’s 70th anniversary in 2018. It is called 929 Tanakh Together, to correspond to the 929 chapters of the Jewish Bible.

What makes the Israel Bible Reading Plan unique, however, is that it goes beyond just reading the Bible. Subscribers are able to log into a forum and join a virtual classroom discussion on topics set out on the website. Reading Plan facilitator Aliza Abrahamovitz helps keep the discussion lively, by adding insights and asking thought-provoking questions.

Interestingly, the Israel Bible Reading Plan began this week, not with the Book of Genesis, but with the book of Exodus. This, Abrahamovitz explained in a letter to subscribers, is in keeping with Jewish tradition, which reads a single portion of the Torah every week starting just after the Jewish New Year (usually in September or October). Currently, synagogues around the world are reading the first portion of Exodus, or Shemot.

“I’m excited about it,” says Abrahamovitz. “I think that the virtual classroom discussions are a wonderful opportunity to enhance an individual’s learning. You get the best of both worlds; you have the chance to learn with others, but on your own time.”

That’s not the only advantage, she adds. “It’s also really an opportunity to learn with people all over the world, which is something that our technology affords. We can have a discussion that began in Australia on Sunday morning, and by Monday afternoon we have responses from readers in England, America and Brazil! That same reader in Australia can now go back and see how other readers worldwide have reflected on their comments.”

“This is bigger than a local church or synagogue study group.”

To learn how you can join the Israel Bible Reading Plan, click here.