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.
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…
Yerushalmi Ḥagigah
R. Joshua b. Levi said [in reference to Deuteronomy 9:10: And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God, and upon them the exact words that the Lord has addressed to you…
Sifre Deuteronomy
Furthermore, one should rejoice more in chastisement than in prosperity. For if one is prosperous all his life, no sin of his will be forgiven. What brings him forgiveness of sins…
Jews as Seleucid Soldiers
The Jews also received honors from the kings of Asia when they served them in war; for example, Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of the cities that he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in the…
Conflicts between the Young Herod and Hyrcanus
Antipater saw Caesar out of Syria and then returned to Judaea. His first act was to rebuild the wall of the capital which had been destroyed by Pompey. He then toured the country, suppressing any…
Antipas Contests Archelaus’ Rule
Meanwhile Antipas returned to the fray and disputed the succession to the throne, asserting that the original will, which named him as king, had greater…