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.
Responsum: On the Right to Bequeath a Mitzvah
Question: Since it is true from time immemorial and ancient years that we observe the customs of our ancestors, as is the practice of the Musta‘arabim [Arabic-speaking Jews] everywhere among the Jews…
Yosef omets (He Will Be Stronger): On Going to the Synagogue
[ . . . ] 5. When one wishes to go to the synagogue, he should say, “I will go to the synagogue for the sake of the unification of the presence of the Holy One and to raise it from its fall,” as…
Ḥavvot Yair (The Villages of Yair): On Ceremonial Objects
Question: A woman pledged, when she lay ill, to give her disukia, which is embroidered with gilt silver thread, to be made into a ceremonial object for the synagogue. The disukia is what is called in…
Description of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (Esnoga) in Amsterdam
On the south it is separated from the synagogue of the Polish and German Jews by a branch of the River Amstel; on the west it faces the opulent Casa de los lázaros [hospice for the poor]; on the north…
Acordos (Regulations): Against Libelous Verses
The gentlemen of the Mahamad [board of governors—Ed.] have received a letter from the very illustrious gentlemen of the Mahamad of the Holy Congregation of T: T: [Talmud…
Takkanot Fez (Regulations of Fez): On Financial Matters
Since there have been a great many requests about matters of taxes, and the gates of wealth and influence are limited, and we have seen that the…
Ḥayye ‘olam (Eternal Life)
Chapter 15. In Explanation of Bills of Exchange Called Cambii and of Maritime Insurance
We could have dispensed with the discussion of bills of exchange which are called in Italian cambii since they…
Declarations
Good words of the society of orphan girls of Izmir. In the Name of the Holy One, regulations and new ordinances established for the good governance and with worthy dissemination, with which we must…
Takkanot (Regulations)
Inasmuch as the association of balbirer [artisan barbers] have seen boys break away from their masters and think of themselves as expert physicians, and, on account of which, they have failed in…
Ohale Ya‘akov (The Tents of Jacob): On Prayer Customs
To the city of London, to the complete sage R. Solomon Ayalon, in the year 1697.
Appointment of Isaiah Horowitz as Communal Rabbi
We have accepted upon ourselves the rabbi, aluf, the gaon, our teacher and master R. Isaiah ben R. Abraham ha-Levi, of blessed memory, to serve as our av bet din [head of the court] and rosh yeshiva…
Letter to the Community of ‘Akron (Kurdistan)
Blessed are you to God . . . You the holy congregation of ‘Akron, may your Rock and Creator preserve you; inform us about your concerns and tell us about your happenings, for I and the Minister, the…