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.
When to Let Blood
Samuel said: [Aramaic] The interval for blood[letting]: [Hebrew] every thirty days; in middle age one should decrease [this frequency]; at advanced age one should once again decrease [the frequency].…
The Physician
Honor physicians for their services,
for the Lord created them;
for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
and they are rewarded by the king.
The skill of physicians makes them…
Cain and Abel Fight over Land and Women
And Cain said to his brother Abel, etc. (Genesis 4:8). What were they disputing? They said, “Come, let’s divide up the world.” One took the land and one took the moveable property. This one said,…
David as Author and Prophet
And David, son of Jesse, was wise, and a light like the light of the sun, /and/ learned, [ ] and discerning, and perfect in all his paths before God and men. And [ ] YHWH gave him a discerning and…
Abraham’s Prayer for Protection and Good Counsel
That night he prayed and said:
My God, my God, God Most High,You alone are my God.You have created everything:Everything that was and has been is the product of your hands.You and your lordship I…
Abraham’s Prayer after the Akedah
R. Bibi Abba said in the name of R. Yoḥanan, “Abraham said before the Holy One: Master of the universe! It is revealed and known before You that when You told me to sacrifice my son Isaac, I had a…
Esther’s Prayer before Going to the King
Then Queen Esther, seized with deadly anxiety, fled to the Lord. She took off her splendid apparel and put on the garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she covered her…
R. Yoḥanan and Resh Lakish
One day, R. Yoḥanan was bathing in the Jordan [River]. Resh Lakish saw him and jumped into the Jordan, pursuing him. [R. Yoḥanan] said to [Resh Lakish], “Your strength [is fit] for Torah [study].”…
The Old Man and the Fig Tree
Hadrian, let his bones rot, was walking up from Tiberias to the Land of Israel when he saw an old man planting saplings. Said Hadrian: Old man, old man, up at sunrise free at sunset—had you toiled in…
Arabs in the Synagogue
Sha’azrek the Tayaya donated a lamp to the synagogue of R. Judah. Raḥaba changed it[s usage from what the donor had intended], and Rava became angry. And some say, Rava changed it and…
Mishnah Bava Kamma
If one causes a fire through a deaf person, a mentally incompetent person, or a minor, that one is exempt from human law but liable under the law of heaven. If one caused it through a legally…