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.
Concluding Poem () for Rosh Hashanah
And now may the Sanctification rise to you, for you are our God and king:
Let us speak of this day’s sanctity,
For it is terrifying, fearsome—
the day your kingdom is established,
your throne set…
Jesus’ Teachings on the Mount
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit…
The Martyrdom of the Eldest Son
When they had said these things, the tyrant was not only indignant, as at those who are disobedient, but also infuriated, as at those who are ungrateful. Then at his command the guards brought…
The State of Agriculture
It was not without reason that the first settlers constructed the city with fitting proportions, and they planned wisely. For the country is broad and beautiful, and some parts are flat, such as…
Fair Weights and Measures
Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he…
The Festivals and the Calendar Controversy
For this reason it has been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets that they should celebrate the Festival of Weeks during this month—once a year—to renew the covenant each and…
Philo’s Explanation of Rosh Hashanah
Next comes the opening of the sacred month, when it is customary to sound the trumpet in the temple at the same time that the sacrifices are brought there, and its name of “trumpet feast” is derived…
Gentile Ridicule and Reasons for Circumcision
Now the practice which is thus ridiculed, namely the circumcision of the genital organs, is very zealously observed by many other nations, particularly by the Egyptians, a race regarded as pre-eminent…
Admonishing the
4. They bring her up to the great court which is in Jerusalem, and [the judges] solemnly admonish her in the same way that they admonish witnesses in capital cases. And they say to her, “My daughter…
Dying Souls Have a Vision of Their Future
It is written: She is clothed with strength and splendor; [she looks to the future cheerfully] (Proverbs 31:25, NJPS). The entire reward for the righteous is prepared for them in the future to come…
Greeting the Messiah
R. Yoḥanan ben Zakkai taught: If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone says to you that the Messiah has come, stay and plant the sapling, then go to greet the Messiah.
Translated by Carol…