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.
The Sale of the Priestly Service
Thus shall Aaron enter [the holy place] (Leviticus 16:3): R. Berekhiah [said] in the name of R. Levi: Thus [be-zot]: Scripture makes known that [Aaron] lived 410 years [the numerical equivalent of the…
The Relative Sanctity of the Synagogue and the Study Hall
And R. Pappi said in the name of Rava: [To convert a building] from a synagogue into a study hall [is] permitted, [but] from a study hall into a synagogue [is] prohibited, [as he…
Magnificat and Benedictus
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will…
Jesus’ Prayer on Jewish Models
But do not let your fasts fall on the same days as “the hypocrites,” who fast on Monday and Thursday. Rather, you should fast on Wednesday and Friday. Nor should you pray as “the hypocrites” do, but…
Rabban Gamaliel’s Prayer at Sea
Rabban Gamaliel was aboard a ship. A huge wave came up to drown him. He thought: “It seems to me that this is only happening on account of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus” [who had been put under a ban].…
Vanity of Vanities
The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under…
Jews as Servants or Sons of God
It was taught, R. Meir used to say: A litigant might respond to you and say, “If your God loves the poor, why does God not sustain them?” [If so,] say to [the litigant], “In order that we might be…
Rabbinic Study Sessions
And how many benches were there? R. Jacob b. Sisi said: Eighty benches were there for the disciples of sages, besides those who were standing beyond the fence. R. Yosi b. R. Abun said: Three hundred…
The Obligations of Contractors
If one hired craftsmen and they deceived each other, they have no legally valid complaint against each other but only cause for complaint. If one hired a donkey driver or a wagon driver to bring…
The Order of Inheritance
1. There are those who inherit and bequeath, there are those who inherit but do not bequeath, there are those who bequeath but do not inherit, and there are those who neither…
Philo’s Explanation of Shavuot
The festival of the Sheaf, which has all these grounds of precedence, indicated in the law, is also in fact anticipatory of another greater feast. For it is from it that the fiftieth day is reckoned…
Reading the Megillah
1. The Megillah is read on the eleventh, the twelfth, the thirteenth, the fourteenth, and the fifteenth [of Adar], never earlier and never later. Cities that have been walled since the days of Joshua…