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.
The Status and Character Traits of People Engaging in Medical Practices
Hebrew
[However,] R. Judah used to say in his [Abba Guriya’s] name: The majority of the donkey drivers are wicked, but most camel drivers are decent [people]. The majority of the seafarers are pious…
Abram as Literate
[ . . . ] After these five years [ . . . ] three men of the princes of Egyp[t came . . .] from Phara[oh] Zoa[n] on account of [my] words and of my wife. They gave [me many presents expecting…
David Sits in Rabbinic Judgment
[A prayer] of David [ . . . ] Keep my soul, for I am pious (Psalm 86:1–2). Levi [ben Sisi] and R. Isaac [debated the meaning of this verse].
One said: So said David before the Holy One: “Master of the…
Moses’ Prayer to See the Land
And I prayed and besought mercy from before the Lord in that hour saying:
“Lord, I beseech you, by the mercy that is before you, Lord, you have begun to show your servant your might and the power…
Moses’ Prayer to Evade Death
Moses said to God: Master of the Universe! You know full well how much toil and pain I bore for the sake of Israel until they would believe in Your name, how much grief I suffered on their account! […
Aseneth’s Prayer of Confession
She then began her confession to the Lord God and gave thanks, praying for all those who were deemed acceptable by the Lord:
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned!I have committed many sins in your…
To Honor One’s Parents
[The sages] raised a dilemma before R. Ulla: “How far [must one go to fulfill the mitzvah of] honoring one’s father and mother?” [R. Ulla] said to them, “Go and see what one gentile did in Ashkelon…
Susanna
There was a man living in Babylon whose name was Joakim. He married the daughter of Hilkiah, named Susanna, a very beautiful woman and one who feared the Lord. Her parents were righteous, and had…
R. Safra and the
R. Abbahu would praise R. Safra to the heretics [by saying] that he is a great man. [Therefore,] they remitted [R. Safra’s obligation to pay] taxes for thirteen years. One day they found [R. Safra and…
Mishnah Eduyyot
1:4. Why are the opinions of Hillel and Shammai recorded [only] to be nullified? To teach successive generations that they should not be insistent in their opinions, for the fathers of the world were…
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin
Said R. Yoḥanan, “One who does not know how to derive that a reptile is pure and impure in one hundred ways, may not investigate [testimony] in merit [of the defendant].”
Rabbi said, “My master had a…