Essential Jewish Websites

Question

What websites are essential bookmarks on a Jew's internet browser? I am thinking broadly of resources like a place to get online texts or a particularly good blog etc...

Please include links as well as a description of the particular value of each website to the Jewish bookmark collection.

Answer 1

Others have stated some good ones, which I won't repeat. Some more:

• http://hebrewbooks.org: various texts as PDFs, many of which are not elsewhere online AFAIK. Some of them have OCR (I don't know how good it is), but most AFAICT do not. Nonetheless, they're good if you know the title (or author, which you can also search by) you seek, and don't need to search within the book.
• http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp: Rabbi Kaplan's chumash
• http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/showrashi/true: Rashi on chumash, in Hebrew and English
• http://wwwx.uwm.edu/cgi-bin/corre/calendar: Jewish-Gregorian calendar for any year you like

Answer 2

• Online Texts: Mechon Mamre, he.wikisource.org, Hebrew Books, Chumash - Rabbi Kaplan Translation
• Blogs: Hirhurim, Text & Texture, parshablog, Cross Currents, Emes ve-Emunah
• Shiurim: YU Torah, Virtual Beit Midrash, Daf Yomi Advancement Forum, Torah.org, Aish, AishDas
• Q & A: Judaism.SE, Ask Moses, Jewish Answers

Answer 3

Aside for all those already mentioned, I find these websites very useful (probability says I visit most of these 1/week)

Edited: Added descriptions of value

• More Shiurim: Kol Halahoson, TorahAnytime, MP3Shiur, 613 - Some of these have my favorite speakers so I keep updated by downloading their latest shiurim (on a weekly basis)
• Brochos - If I don't remember a particular Bracha on a food (especially cereals)
• Revach, Halachically Speaking (very good to search through for obscure halachos)
• Zmanim - One stop place to get all relevant times
• GoDaven, Minyan Maps - Not so common, but used every time I go to "far-out" places, and need to find a minyan
• Jewish Calendar - Useful if I want to quickly lookup what day is Yom Tov, etc.
• Shamash Kosher Database - If I'm going to an unfamiliar place, and need a place to eat
• Whenever I need to lookup Seforim online (especially in the course of researching for Judaism.SE): HebrewBooks, and Hebrew Wikisource
• Whenever I see an unfamiliar Hebrew or Yiddish word: Google Translate
• Whenever I need a quick Aramaic (from Gemara) term lookup: Jastrow's Dictionary

Answer 4

Someone has to say it. Judaism.SE!

Answer 5

http://chabadlibrary.org/books has digital, searchable texts of a couple of hundred sefarim.

Most of the collection is sefarim of Chabad interest: Keser Shem Tov (by the Baal Shem Tov) and Ohr Torah (by the Maggid of Mezeritch), various works of the rebbeim of Chabad-Lubavitch (including really fundamental ones like Tanya and Shulchan Aruch Harav), plus some from their prominent disciples; some books discussing specific areas of halachah as elucidated and practiced by Chabad; and some books on general Chabad history and personal memoirs.

Answer 6

Here is one I recently came across that has a massive searchable index of all the essential Jewish Websites:

Gannopedia

Here is another meta index of Jewish Web Sites: Free Primary and Jewish Sources and Resources on the Internet by Dr. Melech Tanen

Answer 7

http://www.Google.co.il

For all your Jewish needs.