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 Descendants of Levi
And they said to me, “Levi, your posterity shall be divided into three offices as a sign of the glory of the Lord who is coming. The first lot shall be great; no other shall be greater than it.
Synagogue Behavior
And [in a similar vein], R. Zeira says [that] R. Ḥisda says: The congregation is not permitted to answer amen [to the blessing recited over the Torah reading] until the blessing of the one reading…
The Water Libation Ceremony
1. The flute was for five or six days. This refers to the flute at the place of the water drawing, which does not override the Sabbath or the festival day. They said: He who has not seen the rejoicing…
Priests in the Political Leadership
In the Community council (there shall be) twelve men and three priests, perfect in everything that has been revealed from all the law to implement truth, justice, judgment, compassionate love and…
The Heavenly Temple
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from…
Conflicting Rulings
A bolt which has a knob at one end: R. Eliezer forbids it [to be moved, due to a Sabbath prohibition], but R. Yosi permits it. R. Eliezer said: It happened in a synagogue in Tiberias that they were…
Prayer Salutation in Letter
The Jews in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea,
To their Jewish kindred in Egypt,
Greetings and true peace.
May God do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac…
Levi’s Prayer on Occasion of Drought
Levi ordained a fast, but no rain fell, so he exclaimed:
Master of the Universe!
You have ascended and taken Your seat on high, and You will not show mercy to Your children?!
The rain fell, but he…
A Lament for Yom Kippur
We have no high priest
to atone for us;
how shall we be expiated
on account of our misdeeds?
We have no Urim and Thummim
to inquire;
how can we have light
while our desire lies in darkness?
…
The Sayings of “The Four Who Entered the Garden ()”
3:13. R. Akiva said: Merriment and frivolity accustom one to sexual licentiousness. Tradition is a fence to the Torah. Tithes [are] a fence to wealth. Vows [are] a fence to abstinence. A fence to…
The Martyrdom of R. Simeon ben Gamaliel and R. Ishmael ben Elisha
When they captured Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Ishmael to be killed [ . . . ] Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel sat and was deep in thought. [ . . . ] He said: Woe unto us that we are being killed…
Examples of Agricultural Practices
2. They may manure and hoe cucumbers and gourds until Rosh Hashanah. So too with regard to irrigated fields. They may remove flaws from trees, strip off leaves, cover roots with earth, and fumigate…