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 Young Wife and an Old Wife
R. Ammi and R. Assi sat before R. Isaac Nappaḥa. [One] sage said to [R. Isaac Nappaḥa,] “Let the Master say [words of] halakhah,” and [the other] sage said to [R. Isaac Nappaḥa,] “Let the Master say…
Unequal Treatment under the Law
Simeon ben Shetaḥ was working with flax. His students said to him, “Let us ease things for you. We will buy you a donkey, and you will not have to work as hard.” They went and bought him a donkey from…
Tosefta Shevu‘ot
3. R. Simeon used to say: Rendering the sanctuary and its holy things impure is more serious than all other transgressions listed in the Torah.
All other transgressions listed in the Torah are atoned…
Bavli Menaḥot
Rava says: Anyone who engages in Torah [study] need not [bring] a burnt offering, nor a sin [lit., purification—Ed.] offering, nor a meal offering, nor a guilt offering.
R. Isaac said: What [is the…
Esther Rabbah
1:17. The elite of Persia and Media (Esther 1:3): It is taught in the name of R. Nathan about these ten measures: There are ten portions of licentiousness in the world, nine in Alexandria and one in…
Pompey Enters Jerusalem
Furious at this, Pompey kept Aristobulus in custody and advanced up to the city to review the possible means of assault. He could now see the strength of the walls which made them virtually…
Herod’s Response to Famine
Now on this very year, which was the thirteenth of Herod’s reign, the most severe calamities overtook the country, whether because of God’s harboring wrath or because such misery recurs naturally in…
The Sicarii
The countryside may thus have been swept clear, but a new breed of terrorists was growing like a cancer in Jerusalem, the so-called Sicarii who murdered people right in the middle of the city in broad…
Titus Besieges Jerusalem
Titus now held a conference with his officers. The more bullish recommended bringing up the entire army and launching a full-scale assault on the wall: so…
Bar Kokhba’s Defeat
The rebellion of the Jews once more progressed in character and extent, and Rufus, the governor of Judaea, when military aid had been sent him by the Emperor, moved out against them, treating their…
A Reference to the Patriarchate in Jerome’s Letter to Pammachius
At the outset before I defend my version, I wish to ask those persons who confound wisdom with cunning, some few questions. Where did you get your copy of the letter? Who gave it to you? How have you…
Iranians Visiting the Synagogue at Dura-Europos
The Sasanians conquered and destroyed the Roman garrison town of Dura-Europos in 256 CE. Dura-Europos was a multicultural city and the home of a sizable Jewish community that worshiped in a stunning…