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.
Shemen ha-tov u-zekan Aharon (The Goodly Oil and the Beard of Aaron)
There was once a little city with few Jewish inhabitants, roughly twenty households, the name [of the city] being Ragusa; and it was self-governing. Now it transpired that in the year 5383 [1622], on…
Shevaḥ nashim (In Praise of Women)
I have realized, and my attention has been drawn to the fact that many people say that the salvation of women is not on the same level as that of men, for their [women’s] knowledge is limited. They…
Jar with Governor of the City Inscription
To/of the governor of the city. Translated by Shmuel Aḥituv, Ze’ev Meshel, and Esther Eshel.
Ma’amar ‘olam katan (Treatise on the Microcosm)
Let the entire soul praise the Lord (Psalms 150:6) concerning the four quarters of the component of the souls that approach the Lord; and they are in detail as follows: the greatest, which…
The Diaspora: Construction of Jewish History
This is the eighteen-hundred-year era of the diaspora, of unprecedented suffering, of uninterrupted martyrdom without parallel in world history. But it is also a period of spiritual alertness, of…
Confirmation Manual
The compiler of this Manual, after many years of experience in the ministry, and frequent occasions of conferring the rite of Confirmation on his pupils, desires to place before his…
Tekhine (Women’s Supplication): For a Pregnant Woman
Lord of the world, my God,
I humbly beg You, with a broken heart,
And with my weak body,
To confirm my baby in Torah,
As a person of honor and riches.…
Tratado sobre Medicina . . . para seu filho levar consigo quando se foy para o Brazil (A Treatise on Medicine . . . for His Son to Take with Him When He Went to Brazil)
A sweet-water bath is a serious remedy to refresh the body from mange, itching, leprosy, melancholy, watchfulness, and thinness of the body. It is taken by a person placing himself in a vat, or…
O Lord of everything
O Lord of everything, who seeks the nation that seeks you,
Do not separate yourself from us, and we will not separate from you—O Lord of everything!
For you, O…
The Sixteenth Lamb—Songs and Stories for Children
How is a song born?
Like a baby.
At first it hurts
But then, it comes out
And everyone is happy
And suddenly—
How wonderful!
It’s walking
All on its own.
How is a song born?
Like…
Ivory Spoon
This spoon from Hazor has a wide handle intricately incised on its front with a sequence of palmettes curving upward instead of the more common downward-turning volutes. The spoon’s use is unclear. It…
