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.
Scuola Levantina, Venice
The Scuola Levantina (Levantine Synagogue), a Sephardic synagogue built in 1541, was restored in the late seventeenth century. The bimah is thought to have been carved by Andrea Brustolon, famed for…
Maḥzor for the Rite of Carpentras
This maḥzor (holiday prayer book) contains the festival prayers for the whole year, according to the rite of Carpentras, and was copied in Provence. The Jews of the former papal territory of Comtat…
Old Cemetery of Salonika, Gravestone Inscriptions
Here is a man who revered The Name with loveWhose name was known For his generous spiritHe gave to charity To failing soulsFrom his pocket and his wealth Until…
Jamaica Cemetery, Gravestone Inscriptions
Gravestone of honorable old lady Sra Rachel, wife of the wealthy citizen the honorable R. Jacob Fernandes Gill, deceased, seventh day of Passover, 22 Nisan 5486May her soul be…
Yado ba-kol (His Hand Against Every Man)
A song I engraved on the tombstone (matzevet) of my master, my father, may he be remembered for the life of the world to come. The holy seed shall be its stock (matzavtah; Isaiah 6:13), is it not the…
Ma‘aneh lashon (Expression of the Tongue)
Peace unto thy beautified and pious soul, beloved and affectionate mother, who hast given me birth, and who hast reared me. Thou who hast loved, fostered, and…
To Kill a Foe
To kill a foe: write these twelve names on deerskin or calfskin parchment on Monday evening at the third or fourth hour, or at those times at night. And this is what you shall write:He who gives forth…
Pardes rimonim (Garden of Pomegranates)
One who uses the Ineffable Name in this world will have a great punishment, and the reason for this is that he mentions holy letters in impurity, and combines that which is holy with that which is…
Sifte kohen (Lips of the Priest)
That which God puts in my mouth I shall express (Numbers 22:38) in succinct and easy language, so that it will be simple for the discerning to grasp. And my purpose is to inform everyone to whom this…
Shulḥan ha-panim (The Shewbread Table) or Meza de el alma
This book is a translation of all the Laws that are necessary for people of whatever sort. Translated from the book written by the accomplished sage who edited and expanded the Law in…
Mapah (Tablecloth) to Shulḥan ‘arukh
Says Moses, son to my Master, my father, R. Israel—may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing for the world to come—seeing that the illustrious author [Joseph Karo] of the Bet Yosef [Th…
Bet Yosef (The House of Joseph): Introduction
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who created His world for the purpose of mankind, and, from all the different sorts of men, chose for Himself a nation as a special treasure—namely…