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.
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…
Tobiad Family Conflict: War between Hyrcanus and His Brothers
Upon Joseph’s death, the people grew rebellious on account of his sons. For whereas the brothers made war against Hyrcanus, who was the youngest of Joseph’s sons, the multitude was divided, but the…
The Death of Antipater and Herod’s Revenge
When war was declared on Cassius and Brutus by the young Caesar [i.e., Octavian] and Antony, Cassius and Murcus raised an army in Syria, and, seeing great…
Philip and Antipas Reign as Tetrarchs
After Archelaus’ ethnarchy had been turned into a Roman province, the other two brothers, Philip and Herod Antipas, continued to administer their own tetrarchies. When Salome died she bequeathed her…
Outbreak of the Revolt
Agrippa Banished from Jerusalem
So for the time being Agrippa managed to hold off the threat of war [he gave advice to the people to rebuild the Temple colonnade and pay the tribute], but…
The Temple’s Fate Realized
While there must be deep mourning for the loss of this marvellous building—a monument more remarkable than any of which we have had sight or report for the quality of…