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.
Ḥizuk emunah (Faith Strengthened)
A member of the Greek Church once addressed me in the following words:—“Do you know wherefore you have no longer a king of your own people? It is because you have rejected the faith of…
Ma‘aseh Tuvyah (The Story of Tuviah)
In correctly understanding the truest theory, there were many opinions; but I will bring two…
Paḥad Yitsḥak (The Fear of Isaac)
What is the pipe (kaneh) of the heart? Rabbah b. R. Isaac, in the name of Rav [said]: The fat on the walls of the lung. Amemar, in the name of R. Nahman [said]: There are three pipes: one leads to the…
Peri megadim (Pleasant Fruit)
Meat strengthens the body and provides it better nourishment than the other foods. Right after slaughtering it is very good and useful, but old meat is one of the causes of illness. The hard meat of…
Sefer yuḥasin (Book of Genealogies)
Thus said Abraham the son of Samuel the son of Abraham Zacuto, may his memory be for the world to come. [ . . . ] [T]o bring merit upon myself and others, I was motivated to write this…
Ma‘aseh rokeaḥ (Work of the Perfumer)
Now we come to the clarification of the mishnah: “One may not expound upon forbidden sexual relations to three people”—and the Gemara explains that this is referring to the concealed aspects of…
Or ha-ḥayim (The Light of Life)
I wrote and compiled bit by bit, here a little, there a little (Isaiah 28:10), that which I was able to understand. Some of these provide an explanation of verses by analyzing their words themselves…
Sifte da‘at (Lips of Knowledge): On Genesis
This is the statute of the Torah . . . זאת חקת התורה—It should say זאת חקת הפרה (“this is the statute of the heifer”), as it says elsewhere “this is the statute of the Passover” (Exodus 12:43)! And if…
Gur aryeh (The Lion’s Whelp): On Rashi’s Commentary on the Pentateuch
“R. Isaac said, etc.” In Genesis Rabbah it says: “Even though there is not a single superfluous narrative in the Torah—not even ‘the sister of Lotan was Timna’”—for it says in Sanhedrin Chapter ḥelek…
Ayelet ahavim (Hind of Love): On the Song of Songs
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (Song of Songs 1:2).These are the first spoken words of the student who yearns for the Torah, which is like the daughter of the king of kings with its…