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.
Manasseh’s Prayer for Forgiveness
O Lord Almighty,
God of our ancestors,
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and of their righteous offspring;
you who made heaven and earth
with all their order;
who shackled the sea by your word of…
Qumran Blessings
Words of blessi[ng]. Of the Instructor. To bless those who fear [God, do] his will, keep his commandments, remain constant in his holy co[ven]ant and walk with perfection [on all the paths…
Afterlife of the Righteous
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seem to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and…
The Good in the Bad Inclination
Naḥman [taught] in the name of R. Samuel: Behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). This refers to the good inclination. And behold it was very good. This refers to the evil inclination. And is the…
Torah with Work Is Best
R. Gamaliel the son of R. Judah the Prince said: Excellent is the study of Torah when combined with a worldly occupation, for toil in them both keeps sin out of one’s mind. But [study of] Torah that…
Commerce Breeds Sin
A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing,
nor is a tradesman innocent of sin.
Many have committed sin for gain,
and those who seek to get rich will avert their…
Attendance at Festivals
Further, he does not consent to those who wish to perform the rites in their houses, but bids them rise up from the ends of the earth and come to this temple. In this way he also applies the severest…
Prescriptions and Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Now on the fifteenth day of the same month, when the season changes to winter, he [Moses] enjoins each household to pitch tents, in apprehension of the cold and for protection at that time of year…
Syrians in Palestine Practice Circumcision
[T]he Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practiced circumcision. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge of themselves that they…
Grounds for Divorce
Beth Shammai says: A man should not divorce his wife unless he has found her guilty of some unseemly conduct, as it says: Because he has found some unseemly thing in her (Deuteronomy 24:1). Beth…
No Life after Death
All this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate one does not know. Everything that confronts them is…
The Messiah as Son of God
He will be called son of God, and they will call him son of the Most High. Like the sparks that you saw, so will their kingdom be; they will rule several year[s] over the earth and crush…