Rabbi Eli Stefansky Admits Some MDY AI Videos “Crossed the Line”

Rabbi Eli Stefansky, founder of the Mercaz Daf Yomi (MDY) shiur in Ramat Beit Shemesh, publicly acknowledged on Tuesday that some of the AI-generated videos shown during his Daf Yomi shiur went too far. He announced that a vaad will be set up to review such content before it is used.

Speaking before the start of Tuesday morning’s shiur, Rabbi Stefansky told participants that “in certain situations we did cross the line,” according to Yeshiva World News. He was referring to the videos’ depictions of the Beis Hamikdash, korbanos, and kohanim performing the avodah, Matzav.com reported.

The acknowledgment followed criticism from rabbonim and members of the Torah community over AI visualizations of sacred subjects, which MDY had used more and more to illustrate concepts in the Gemara.

Rabbi Stefansky said MDY would not stop using AI altogether, but would cut back while the review process is put in place. “We’re going to continue showing AI. We’re going to slow down,” he said, as quoted by Matzav.com.

He said the vaad would include people familiar with the sensitivities of different communities within the frum world, and would examine AI-generated material before it appears in the shiur. He did not name the committee’s members or say when it would begin work. He also did not say whether previously released videos would be reviewed or removed.

Rabbi Stefansky stressed that the goal of the videos was to bring the Gemara alive and draw more Jews to Torah learning.

The response among MDY’s followers has been mixed. Some commenters praised the videos for making the daf more engaging and voiced hope that they would not be dropped entirely. Others welcomed rabbinic oversight of depictions of the Beis Hamikdash and the avodah.

MDY is one of the most widely followed Daf Yomi programs in the world, with tens of thousands of participants joining its daily shiurim online. Rabbi Stefansky is known for a highly visual teaching style that uses charts, props, and multimedia to make difficult sugyos accessible. In recent months MDY expanded its use of AI, adding a gallery of AI-generated videos for each daf to its app.