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.
Takkanot Kandia (Regulations of Candia): On Cursing
A protective fence against those who curse the public and open their mouths without restraint with foul language.
The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things…
Diario di un viaggio in Terra Santa (Diary of a Journey to the Holy Land): On the Jews of London
“There are two synagogues of the German Jews, and one of the Portuguese, twenty-four cubits broad and forty-two long. Each one has its own management; thus the income of one is not mixed with that of…
Darkhe Tsiyon (Paths to Zion)
There are several ways to get to Jerusalem, as follows. One route is via Vienna, which is a point of departure for group travel to Constantinople, with traders going from Vienna to Ofen [Budapest]…
Sefer ha-ḥezyonot (The Book of Visions): The Soul of the Gentile
In the year 5332 [1572], we went out in the fields and we passed the grave of a gentile that was more than a thousand years old. His Animus was seen on his tombstone and he tried to harm me and kill…
Sefer ha-ḥezyonot (The Book of Visions): On the Afterlife
That year my wife, Hannah, became extremely ill and one Sabbath she was in a coma and close to death. At night, at the conclusion of the Sabbath, we approached her to witness the departure of the…
Testament (Jamaica)
In the name of God, Amen.
I Moses Cohen DeLara of the parish of Kingston in the Island of Jamaica aforesaid Merchant being sick in Body but of Sound memory and…
Last Will and Testament
In the year fifteen hundred and forty-nine, the seventh indiction, the first day of the month of February, during the time of the pontificate of the Holy Father in Christ Our Lord, Lord Paul III, pope…
Sefer ha-tsava’ah (Book of the Testament): Ethical Will
Now I will give instructions concerning how to look after me from the beginning of my final illness—when the day of judgment comes, during all the period of my illness, and the time of my death, when…
Toledot ha-ari (Life of the Ari)
When [Isaac Luria] was sick, he blessed each companion with a suitable blessing for him, in accordance with the spark of his soul. R. Ḥayim Vital was not there with them at the time of the blessing…
Derashot (Sermons)
And now I will reveal to you why we call the Sabbath before Passover “the Great Sabbath.”
Know that the minister of Egypt is Aries [the ram], and Scorpio, which is with Aries, and its angel is Samael…
Sefer ha-zikhronot (The Book of Memories)
As for myself, I was constantly going back in my studies as well as in manners and conduct. After a while, my father decided to send me to Prague, which was a day’s journey. My older brother was also…
Family Chronicle
When I was born, I was given the name Manuel, after my grandfather, Manuel Alvares Pinto, as was said earlier. For this reason and because I was my father’s eldest son, my grandfather always had me…