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.
Chronicle of Fez
I have found written in the handwriting of the sage, our master, the crown and glory that rests upon our heads, the perfect sage and excellent judge, who is modest and happy in all his affairs. His…
Wedding Poem for Jacob Teixeira and Sarah Ximenes
Jacob Teixeira was born in Amsterdam in 1724 to Judith Nunes Henriques (b. Amsterdam, 1703–1732) and Joseph Teixeira (b. London, 1699–1775), who descended from the wealthy Portuguese Teixeira family…
Confusión de Confusiones (Confusion of Confusions)
Philosopher:
I think I have fully grasped usque ad ultimas differentias the meaning of the Company, its shares, its principles, its reputation, its splendor, its initiation, its progress, its…
Responsum: On the Decoration of a Torah Ark
Question: I was asked by the leaders of the holy congregation of Prostějov: A small piece of paper on which was drawn the image of a menorah, with the verses beginning “May God be gracious to us” from…
Hymn to the Sabbath
Come, my beloved, to meet the bride, we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.Observe and remember in a single utterance the singular Lord instructed us; the Lord is One, and One is His Name, for glory, for…
Vía de salvación (Path of Salvation)
Great God, author of death and life! for as much as Thy sovereign clemency shows itself so propitious toward me, that in the midst of the illness in which Thou hast placed me…
She‘are kedushah (Gates of Holiness)
You already know that concerning all matters of supernal attainment, one needs to be alone in his house so that others will not disturb his thought, and he himself needs to…
Letter on the Ten Tribes
Concerning the matter of the ten tribes, my dear sir should know that in Egypt, there is a place that is called Sawakin, almost a thirty-day distance away—from there, some say it is a three-day…
The Biography of Shabbetai Tzvi
It happened one day that Sabbatai Zevi returned from Egypt with his wife. As he entered Gaza, the prophet Nathan cried out with a loud voice: “This is the saviour of Israel, the messiah of the God of…
Letter from Safed
[And I read some words to this effect in the letter of R. Abraham Blipp—may the All-Merciful protect and redeem him—written to Venice on November 5, 1607, to our teacher, R. Judah—may the righteous be…
Approbation for a Prayer Book
The great value of prayer is well known. It is formulated in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, and explained further in the words of our rabbis of blessed memory. It is called the service of…