Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
A Story with a Hermit and a Little Goat
It was a bright and frosty winter night, moon and stars in the sky, snow, bedded snow, in the fields, and no sound from the paths, no horse and sleigh, no bell from the way, just field and peace…
The Tale of the Ba‘al Shem and the Dybbuk
This is no fairy tale, it really happened.
In our shtetl, there was a bright young man named Móyshele. He was as smart as a whip, and also a good-for-nothing. Then all at once he disappeared, and no…
Departure
The rain cleaned off the steep facade of houses;
I write upon the white and stony sheet
And feel how my tired hand so softly rouses
From love poems that always, sweetly, were a cheat.
I wake in the…
Dream Question
A dream question: clean yourself from all impurity and abstain from eating meat, drinking wine, and lying with a woman. And lie in a clean bed after ritually immersing—a stringent immersion, because…
Igerot ha-remez (Epistles of the Secret)
To the eminent sage, his honor our rabbi, R. Samson Bacchi of Casale, may the Compassionate One keep and preserve him
To Ask a Question So as Not to Leave Empty-Handed
More for the aforementioned [recipe so as not to leave empty-handed]: wash your hands and feet in warm water and file the toenail of the left or right hallux with a new knife. Using a needle—not ink…
For One Who Becomes Possessed
One who becomes possessed by a demon should recite this adjuration three times, and it [the demon] will leave him, God willing.
In the explicit name [Shem ha-meforash] of the God of Israel may His…
For Opening the Heart
For opening the heart; tested and tried. Take a new glass and write on it:
I adjure you, Patḥiel, to open my heart to all the Torah to learn all that I desire. That my heart should be as an…
Adjuration for a Person in Shock and Falling Sickness
An adjuration for a person in shock and for a person with the falling sickness [epilepsy—Ed.]. When you go to a person in shock or a person with the falling sickness recite the following:
In the…
For the Voice
For the voice:
I entreat you Paskon, Atmon, Sagron: Paskon, that my voice not stop: Atmon, that my throat not be sealed; Sagron, that my throat not be closed. May it be your will, God and Lord of our…
For Exorcism
To exorcise any spirit or any demon from a person [is] a kabbalistic power [ma‘aseh merkavah] with which King Solomon, peace be upon him, ruled all the demons. Fast for three consecutive days—Monday…
Shoshan yesod ha-‘olam (Lily of the Foundation of the World)
To remove a demon [sheyd] from the body of a man or woman, or anything into which a male or female demon has entered
Take an empty flask and a white waxen candle, and recite this adjuration in…