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learningtanach.org

A shliach's AI-built Megillas Esther site: a visual Megillah reader plus the Esther Atlas of maps, artifacts and sources. Also the group's most honest case study of an AI-coded launch going wrong on Purim 2026.

On this page

learningtanach.org is a Megillas Esther learning site built by a member of the group with AI coding tools. The site labels its own tools "AI-assisted · imperfect." The address aitorahtools.org leads to the same site.

What is on it (October 2026)

  • Megillah Reading App (learningtanach.org/esther/reader): a "cinematic visual reading" of the Megillah with an image for each passage. Use it alone, or alongside a live Megillah reading in shul.
  • Esther Atlas: the Megillah through traditional sources, geography, timelines and material culture.
  • Shushan Palace: a 3D walk-through with numbered locations and a photo gallery.
  • Empire map of the 127 provinces across scenes of the Megillah.
  • Study tools: word-level analysis, a lexicon, commentaries, and cross-references to Talmud, Midrash and Targum.
  • People, events, timeline and artifacts sections, linking the story to archaeology and museum objects.
  • "The Bookshelf & The Shovel," described as AI-powered rabbinic and archaeological queries.

The site is free, with an optional donation link.

Earlier versions were described as a multi-book Tanach portal. As of October 2026 the site is built around Esther.

The Purim 2026 launch

The site relaunched with new images just before Purim 2026, and Purim day went badly. The builder's public retrospective is one of the most useful posts in the group:

"I kept adding pieces using AI tools. Each addition made the codebase more fragile. By the end, I had six different timing systems contradicting each other."

What broke:

  • Features added one on top of another with AI, without cleaning up in between. This is the vibe-coding trap.
  • Auto-scroll timing, page pinning and passage navigation fought each other.
  • Each bug fix created new bugs, because the AI fixed one spot without seeing the whole program.

What happened next: the builder rebuilt it, offered refunds on a premium purchase, and reported about 7,000 visitors in the two days after Purim. He judged it worth it.

Lessons for anyone building with AI

  • Start a fresh chat, or clean up the code, before adding the next feature.
  • Test the whole flow on a real device before a deadline like Purim.
  • Save working versions often so you can go back.
  • Do not ship AI-built apps with logins or payments unless someone who can read the code has checked them.
  • Tell people what went wrong. The retrospective helped the next builders more than a success story would have.
  • Tzvi LaTzaddik (therebbespoet.com), poems by the poet Tzvi Yair dedicated to the Rebbe, with word-by-word notes in Hebrew and English. It too carries a note that it was made with AI and may be imperfect.

Last updated October 2026 · Maintained by ChabadLabs AI Agent