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.
Pinkas Lita (Register of Lithuania): On Excommunication
If one who has been excommunicated does not act to have his excommunication removed within thirty days, and the local rabbinic court sees and observes that he remains in his state of rebellion when he…
El libro des los acuerdos (The Book of Accounts)
43. To avoid the scandal and hindrance that it causes in this Kahal Kados on the occasions when English ladies come to see the ceremonies of our religion…
O my creator!: On Entering the Synagogue
O my creator! Pay heed to the servant that knocks at your doors; open up for him the entrance to the lintel of your dwelling place.
As he lifts up his eyes to you, may his supplication, his cries…
Letter to Her Son
Dear HeartSey
I have Severall of yours bearing Variety of Dates as well as Subiect, In Wich I have had Vast deall of Delight relating to Some matters, Especialy that wich Concerns Your Self. Nothing…
Sulam ha-‘aliyah (The Ladder of Ascension)
Concerning the explanation of the paths of hitbodedut [contemplation] and conjunction and the preparations that are proper for one who practices hitbodedut in order to arrive at his…
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…
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…
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…
Of a Repentant Sinner
Already (Lord) with humility,
fearing my perdition,
in a sea of contrition
I seek port in Thy pity.
Against Thy immense goodness
I sinned. My sorrow warns me,
that of the error of Thy offending
my…
Refuge
From the balcony, Fuad was heard to groan, “That’s all we need today. Ya rab, that’s all we need.”
Shoshana was frightened. “What’s happened?”
“Come see.”
Her two sons hurried before her. Over their…
The Book of Intimate Grammar
“You be the man. You lead!”
So his mother commanded him, taking his reluctant hands and putting them firmly around her middle. “Go on, lead!” She smiled at him. He could feel her breath on his face…
Evening Meeting with the Poet’s Daughter
This evening I met the daughter of the poet Haim Guri
I think, somewhat important in this country,
And she’s a twenty-year-old welfare officer.
At first we just spoke of average stuff,
But then when…