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.
Register of Proceedings: On Charity
We the undersigned have agreed that, seeing the difficulty that there is to collect what every particular member of our Nation must…
Shulḥan ‘arukh (Set Table): Introduction
These are the words of the insignificant man, Joseph Karo, son of the great R. Ephraim, son of the great R. Joseph Karo, may he be remembered for the life of the world to come.
I shall…
Mif‘alot Elohim (The Works of God)
A baby that has fallen from a high place and become mute, his mother should take his hand and place it in her womb and afterwards thrust that hand into the mouth of the baby. After that, the woman…
Mesilat yesharim (Path of the Upright)
In summary, man was created not for his state in this world, but for his state in the world-to-come. His state in this world, however, serves as the means toward [attaining] his state in the world-to…
Regulations of a Pietistic Confraternity in Safed
These are the words that the divine man Moses, R. Moses Cordovero, may his memory be for a blessing for life in the world-to-come, spoke concerning that which man should do and live by, and there are…
Nishmat ḥayim (Breath of Life)
We are therefore obliged to examine the words of the living God, which are expressed through the wonderful wise men who have received the truth [i.e., kabbalists], the foundation of the Torah. The…
Piedra Gloriosa, o de la Estatua de Nebuchadnesar (Glorious Stone, or About the Statue of Nebuchadnezzar)
But leaving aside these allegations, and judging without passion, do they lack their own merits that would allow them to be saved with us, as we desire? No.
1. For their part they possess the…
The Current Expenses of Jerusalem
The current expenses of the city of Jerusalem, may it be speedily rebuilt and reestablished in our days, are close to five thousand kuruş per annum. This is not the case for Safed and Hebron. In the…
Torat Moshe (The Law of Moses)
My heart overflows inside me [see Psalms 45:2]; my heart, my heart moans [see Jeremiah 4:19], racing back and forth [see Ezekiel 1:14]; I am astounded by a voice, a voice that calls to me, saying to…
Sefer ha-ḥayim (The Book of Life)
In which it is explained that the essence of the Torah is the performance of the commandments, not intellectual knowledge; and also the reason why it is called the Talmud…
Letter to Jarig Jelles
From B. d. S.
[Dear Friend],
As far as Politics is concerned, the difference you ask about, between Hobbes and me, is this: I always preserve natural Right…
This wonder, this marvel
This wonder, this marvel,
which the deceitful fantasy
Basilisk or Asp believes it to be,
is an error of understanding:
Since if one considers it carefully,
the Divine Providence
is rewarding your…