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.
Scribes as Tax-Exempt Temple Administrators
I would also have the work about the Temple finished, and the porticoes, and if there be anything else that ought to be built. And as for the materials of wood, let them be brought down from Judaea…
The Qumran Community as Temple
[ . . . ] When these things exist in Israel the Community council shall be founded on truth, to be an everlasting plantation, a holy house for Israel and the foundation of the holy of hol…
Conflict within the Priesthood
Around this time, King Agrippa granted the high priesthood to Ismael, the son of Fabi. And then hostility and internal division were ignited between the chief priests, on one side, and the priests and…
The Priests as False Stewards
You, priests, take the keys of the sanctuary,
and cast them to the highest heaven,
and give them to the Lord and say,
“Guard your house yourself,
because, behold, we have been found to be false…
Water Facilities at the Synagogue
“[ . . . ] We have further decreed that those who are willing among the Jews, both men and women, may observe their sabbaths and perform their sacred rites in keeping with Jewish law; and they may…
Tobit’s Hymn of Thanksgiving
They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and they acknowledged God for these marvelous deeds of his, when an angel of God had appeared to them.
Then Tobit said:
“Bl…
Ben Sira’s Prayer for the Salvation of Israel
Have mercy upon us, O God of all,
and put all the nations in fear of you.
Lift up your hand against foreign nations
and let them see your might.
As you have used us to show your holiness to them…
Rabbi Tanḥuma’s Prayer for Rain
R. Tanḥuma proclaimed a fast [ . . . ] but rain did not fall. He said to the people, “My children! Be filled with compassion for one another, and the Holy One, praised be He, will be filled with…
A Hymn to the Transcendent Creator
Maker of the world Who is to be worshipped and praised. The Maker Who made is not in the likeness of [another] maker.
You made new creations out of time in order that You make known that You are the…
Ethical Teachings of Yoḥanan ben Zakkai in the Babylonian Talmud
[The Gemara concludes its discussion of theft with several aggadic statements.] His students asked Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, “For what reason was the Torah stricter with a thief than with a robber?”…
The Rabbis’ Monopoly on Torah Study
An event concerning R. Yannai, who was walking on the way. He met a person who was very overbearing. He [R. Yannai] said to him, “Will the rabbi accept my hospitality?” He said to him, “Whatever…
Scribes and Craftsmen
The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure;
only the one who has little business can become wise.
How can one become wise who handles the plow,
and who glories in the…