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.
Divergent Conceptions of Fate
Jewish doctrine in fact takes three forms. The adherents of these sects are called Pharisees, Sadducees, and, thirdly, Essenes. [ . . . ] Of the two schools mentioned first, the Pharisees constitute…
The Damascus Document
And now, listen, all those who know justice, and understand the actions of God; for he has a dispute with all flesh and will carry out judgment on all those who spurn him. For when they…
Sermon on the Mount
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke…
The Council at Jerusalem
Then certain individuals came down from Judaea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no…
Pompey Rewards Hyrcanus II with the High Priesthood
Pompey did not touch the money or any other of the holy treasures, but just one day after its capture he instructed the sacristans to cleanse the temple and resume the usual rites. He also reinstated…
Philo on the Jewish Settlement of Alexandria
What then did the governor of the country do? He knew that the city, as the rest of Egypt, has two kinds of inhabitants, us and them, and that there are no less than one million Jews living in…
The Decree of Caesar Augustus to the Jews of Cyrene
Caesar Augustus, high priest and tribune of the people, ordains as follows: Since the nation of the Jews has been found agreeable to the Roman people, not only at this time but also in the past, and…
Scribes Appointed by David
David, desiring to appoint his son king over all the people, called together their rulers in Jerusalem, along with the priests and Levites. Having first counted the Levites, he found them to be thirty…
Rabbinic Descriptions of the Second Temple Structure
1:3. There were five gates to the Temple Mount: the two Huldah Gates on the south, which were used for both entrance and exit; the Kiponus Gate on the west, which was used for both entrance and exit…
Pompey’s Conquest and Appointment of Hyrcanus II
But when the siege engine was brought forward, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it and brought down, and it broke through part of the fortifications, so that the enemy began pouring in. First…
The Corruption of the Priests
And now, my children, I know from the writings of Enoch that in the end-time you will act impiously against the Lord, setting your hands to every evil deed; because of you, your brothers…
The Synagogue as Travelers’ Inn
The dilemma was raised before [the sages: In the case of] two partitions [that] have a roof over them, what is [the halakhah? Is this structure also treated like a house?] Come [and]…