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 Song That Ought to Be Sung Every Day
I have experienced in yishuvim [Jewish communities—Ed.] that old women are unable to keep the commandment of nido [menstrual purity—Ed.] properly. When they examine themselves and find a spot of blood…
Ḥayat kaneh (Wild Beast of the Reed)
A scion from Portugal by the name of Solomon Molkho sprouted forth from the trunk of Israel [see Isaiah 11:1] and spent his youth among the scribes of the king—where they had been scattered since the…
Devar Shemu’el (The Word of Samuel)
Throughout the tribes of Israel, we faithfully made it known how the holy and wise Nathan of Gaza came here to our camp. He said that he was a prophet, bringing news of the coming of the Redeemer and…
Letter to Modena
From the rabbis and geonim of the holy city of Safed, may it be speedily rebuilt in our days, sent to Modena, may God protect it, in 5370 [1610]He shall be called a holy man [see Isaiah 4:3]; the…
Proofreader’s Preface: Seder tefilot ke-minhag kahal kadosh Sefarad (The Order of the Prayers of the Holy Congregation of Spain)
Menasseh ben Joseph ben Israel, seeing the Bomberg types worn out, and since nothing can be imperfect for the Holy Work, arose from within the community and went out, and came to the house of an…
Ladino Translation of Baḥya Ibn Pakuda’s Ḥovot ha-levavot (Duties of the Heart)
A book titled in Ladino Obligasyon de los korazones [Duty of the Hearts] because it is translated from a text written by the pious gaon, our master Baḥya the judge, of blessed…
Proposal for the Establishment of a Jewish College
The following are the statutes, laws, and regulations which, with God’s help, are ultimately to be established in the institution dedicated to Torah [ . . . ] and to the sciences which our master, the…
Letter to Johannes Bouwmeester
To the Very Learned and Experienced Mr. Johannes Bouwmeester
From B. d. S.
Most Learned Sir, special Friend,
I have not been able till now to reply to your last letter, which I received some time…
Ḥerem against the Karaites
We have placed in ḥerem [excommunication] David Henriq[ue]s, alias David Almansa, [and] Aron and Ishack Dias da Fonseca and the account reads, as follows:
(In Adar I). The gentlemen of the Mahamad…
Why, death, do you tarry so?
Why, death, do you tarry so?
Why does your chariot come so slow?
Old age has prepared for me
Every illness and complaint.
What good are my hundred years?
If such pain I undergo—
Why, death…
Tofteh ‘arukh (Hell Arranged)
What is this sound of tumult that I hear—
Roaring of the sea, not burbling of the brook
Like the roar of a lion or a tiger?
I am in great danger and do not know
If my time approaches when I must…
Sefer ma‘aseh nisim (The Book of Miracles)
The house known today as the House of the Sun is a large stone structure next to the synagogue. But long, long ago it was called the Devil’s Head, and it was…