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.
Tosefta Shevu‘ot
3. R. Simeon used to say: Rendering the sanctuary and its holy things impure is more serious than all other transgressions listed in the Torah.
All other transgressions listed in the Torah are atoned…
Bavli Menaḥot
Rava says: Anyone who engages in Torah [study] need not [bring] a burnt offering, nor a sin [lit., purification—Ed.] offering, nor a meal offering, nor a guilt offering.
R. Isaac said: What [is the…
Esther Rabbah
1:17. The elite of Persia and Media (Esther 1:3): It is taught in the name of R. Nathan about these ten measures: There are ten portions of licentiousness in the world, nine in Alexandria and one in…
Pompey Enters Jerusalem
Furious at this, Pompey kept Aristobulus in custody and advanced up to the city to review the possible means of assault. He could now see the strength of the walls which made them virtually…
Herod’s Response to Famine
Now on this very year, which was the thirteenth of Herod’s reign, the most severe calamities overtook the country, whether because of God’s harboring wrath or because such misery recurs naturally in…
An Egyptian False Prophet
As well as these [the Sicarii] another group of criminals came into being, less bloodstained in action but with a more blasphemous agenda, who ruined the calm of the city just as much as the assassins…
Titus Besieges Jerusalem
Titus now held a conference with his officers. The more bullish recommended bringing up the entire army and launching a full-scale assault on the wall: so…
Bar Kokhba’s Defeat
The rebellion of the Jews once more progressed in character and extent, and Rufus, the governor of Judaea, when military aid had been sent him by the Emperor, moved out against them, treating their…
A Reference to the Patriarchate in Jerome’s Letter to Pammachius
At the outset before I defend my version, I wish to ask those persons who confound wisdom with cunning, some few questions. Where did you get your copy of the letter? Who gave it to you? How have you…
Battle between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II
A man should not teach his son Greek. Our rabbis taught: When the Hasmonean kings laid siege to each other, Hyrcanus was outside [of the city of Jerusalem] and Aristobulus was inside [the city]. Every…
Antoninus and Judah the Prince
[Antoninus] had a certain daughter whose name was Gira, [who] performed a prohibited action, [i.e., she engaged in promiscuous intercourse. Antoninus] sent a rocket plant [gargira] to [Rabbi, to…
Sadducee Rejection of the Law of Eruv
1. One who lives in a courtyard with a non-Jew or with one who does not acknowledge the [principle of] eruv, that [person] restricts him [from making use of the eruv]—the words of R. Meir. R. Eliezer…