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.
Josephus Goes over to the Romans
“Our best course then, my friends, is to take the sensible view and not compound our human predicament with impiety towards the God who created us. If our lives are…
The Fortress at Masada
So the Roman general arrived with his forces to take on Eleazar and the Sicarii occupying Masada with him. Silva quickly established control of the whole surrounding area, set…
Conflicts between Christians and Jews at Alexandria
About this same time, it happened that the Jewish inhabitants were driven out of Alexandria by Cyril the bishop, on the following account. The Alexandrian public is more delighted with turmoil than…
Kartīr’s Smiting of Religious Minorities
And from province to province, place to place, and throughout the empire, the services to Ohrmazd and the gods increased. And the Mazdayasnian [Zoroastrian] tradition and the magi received great honor…
Alexander Tries to Enter the Jerusalem Temple
[Alexander the Macedonian] desired to go up to Jerusalem. The Samaritans said to him, “Beware, for they will not let you enter their holy of holies.” When Geviah the son of Kosem discovered this, he…
Rejection of Bar Kokhba as the Messiah
Bar Koziba ruled for two and a half years. He said to the rabbis, “I am the Messiah.” They said to him, “About the Messiah, it is written that he smells and judges.” Let us see if he is able to smell…
Rava Accepts Money from Ifra Hormiz, the Mother of Shapur II
[It is related that] Ifra Hormiz, the mother of King Shapur, sent four hundred dinars to R. Ami, but he did not accept them. She [then] sent them to Rava, and he accepted them for the sake of peace…
Simplicity, Pacifism, and Virtue
Palestinian Syria, too, has not failed to produce high moral excellence. In this country live a considerable part of the very populous nation of the Jews, including as it is said, certain persons…
How to Achieve Eternal Life
Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish…
Law and Gentiles
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are…
Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch
“I, Julius Caesar, imperator the second time and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the Senate. Whereas Hyrcanus the son of Alexander, the Jew, has demonstrated his fidelity…
To Qualify as a “Murderous Court”
If one fled after having been convicted at a court and again comes up before the same court, the [first] judgment is not set aside. Wherever two witnesses stand up and declare, “We testify that so-and…