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.
Last Will and Testament
O most high and sovereign Creator of heaven and earth, not one of Your countless creatures can resist Your will. Without it neither men nor birds nor brutish beasts could live upon the earth. Unless…
Testament (Jamaica)
In the name of God Amen I Judith Baruh Alvares of the parish of Port Royal in the island of Jamaica widow being in an ill state of health but of sound mind and disposing memory thanks be to my eternal…
Acordos (Regulations): On Unruly Boys
On the 28th of Tisry, yr. 5468 [1707], the gentlemen of the Mahamad and their councillors met to correct the disorders caused in this Holy House by the big boys and lads who do not attend the Medras…
Community Register
We the undersigned hereby declare that to sustain the community and for the welfare and the peace of the communities of our city, of common accord we have issued for twenty years the following…
Regulations
With the help of the Almighty; this is a true copy of the original.
We, the undersigned, hereby confirm that the guild of kayīkjis [caique-owners; boatmen] of Ortaköy have undertaken the obligation to…
Magen Avraham (Shield of Abraham)
When a borrower is asked to pay usury or interest, they frequently use this…
Takkanot Kandia (Regulations of Candia): On Purim
May salvation be near, and we be cleansed of great sin. Amen.
I, the undersigned, have witnessed the bad custom practiced among young men on the days of Purim, that in the synagogue during the…
Amulet to Be Hung over the Crib of a Newborn
The Hebrew word Shaddai—another name for God—is etched in the center of this ornate silver amulet from Italy.
A Song That Ought to Be Sung Every Day
I have experienced in yishuvim [Jewish communities—Ed.] that old women are unable to keep the commandment of nido [menstrual purity—Ed.] properly. When they examine themselves and find a spot of blood…
Bayit ne’eman (Faithful House)
In Midrash ḥazit [Midrash Rabbah Song of Songs] it is stated:
And besides that Koheleth was wise, he also taught the people knowledge; ye…
Nishmat Shabbetai ha-Levi (The Breath of Shabbetai ha-Levi)
Everything proceeds from above, from the world of emanation, excepting no point in the lower world. And even a tree, and a stone, and everything comes from above; and this is the procession of…