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.
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…
Israel Is Rejuvenated: In Praise of Prominent Synagogue Members
Israel is rejuvenated like the majestic
Eagle, in the Sapphire of faithfulness,
Flying in the goodness of observance,
Its gaze fixed on the…
I shall recount the love of God: For the Penitential Prayer Service
I shall recount the love of God, the faithful God,
I shall study his words, and prostrate myself to the formidable God, the Lord,
I shall walk in his paths, to the central land, my palace.
Happy…
Tefilah mi-kol ha-shanah me-ha-ari (Prayer for the Whole Year According to the Ari)
Isaac Luria , known as “the holy ARI” (an acronym of his name, meaning “lion”), was one of the most significant figures in Jewish mysticism, famed for pioneering a new conception of theoretical…
Tokhaḥat megula (The Admonition of Magula)
Here is a song that I created,
well composed and uncomplicated;
you can call it a song or call it a dirge.
I’d like to tell you some of my troubles:
some men have problems by…
Dedication (to Gracia Nasi): Consolações às Tribulações de Israel
The heart is prized as the human body’s noblest and most important organ, for it is the first to feel the pain which any other part of the body…
Livro da união geral da nacão: On a Book by Manuel de Pina
Joining the meeting [of the Mahamad; board of governors] was ḥakham [R.] David Cohen who reported that it was brought to his attention that a very scandalous book from…
Judeo-Persian Haggadah (Kaifeng)
. . . and caused us to reach this appointed time.On the first night, one should recite the blessing “who has kept us alive . . .” But on the second night, one should not read it.Blessed are…
A Lovely Song about an Event in Hamburg
Which tells how a certain man took up with a prostitute in Hamburg, his first wife hearing of this came from Poland, how he was forced to give her a writ of divorce and this almost cost him his life…
Couplets of Joseph the Righteous
“It is only because the Lord was with us,”
says the old Israel;
in You lies holiness,
Israel’s praises.
“It is only because the Lord was with us,”
You elevated us above other men,
You saved us from…
Introduction: Salamone de Rossi’s Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomoh (The Songs of Solomon)
May the language of truth be established forever, or as the poet …
Counting the Omer
Leiba recognized that Fraydel was in danger of disappearing down the well of her own thoughts.
Fraydel was a secret keeping herself from the world. When she spoke, it was yet another way of keeping…