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.
Fire and Revelation in Song of Songs Rabbah
In Song of Songs Rabbah 1:10, Ben Azai’s study burns with divine fire, revealing how rabbinic interpretation could reenact revelation through Torah itself.
The Mishnah Begins: Debate and Daily Practice
The Mishnah’s opening debate about when to recite the Shema‘ models how the rabbis shaped Jewish life through debate.
Hillel and Shammai: Sacred Debate in the Talmud
In b. Eruvin 13b, a divine voice declares both Hillel and Shammai correct, revealing how the Talmud sanctifies disagreement and pluralism in law.
Avot on the Transmission of the Oral Torah
Mishnah Avot 1:1 traces rabbinic authority from Moses to the sages, linking Oral Torah to Sinai and defining the roots of Jewish interpretation.
Surrounded by the Mitzvot: Gender and Daily Ritual in Tosefta Berakhot
Tosefta Berakhot 6 presents Jewish life as immersed in ritual, blessings, and physical commandments that mark the (male) body as sacred.
Beruriah: A Woman of Wisdom in the Talmud
Beruriah’s wit, insight, and authority, preserved in texts like b. Eruvin and b. Pesaḥim, challenged rabbinic norms and expanded the bounds of Torah study.
The Androgynous Human
Genesis Rabbah 8:1 imagines an androgynous first human, blending Torah and Greco-Roman ideas about creation and gender.
Bathhouses and Boundaries in Roman Jewish Life
In m. Avodah Zarah 3:4, the rabbis consider how Jews may join in Roman civic life without crossing into idol worship or losing their religious identity.
Law as Story and Prayer in Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah 27:6 turns a legal question into narrative, showing that the Shema‘ can be recited anywhere.
The Talmud Begins with a Question
The Babylonian Talmud opens by questioning the Mishnah itself, revealing a tradition built on inquiry, scripture, and layered reasoning.
Judaism and the Jews
The question I put before you, as well as before myself, is the question of the meaning of Judaism for the Jews.Why do we call ourselves Jews? Because we are Jews? What does that mean: we are Jews? I…
Tasks of the Polish Jews
The Jews in Poland still have a very demanding and holy task ahead of themselves. Or, to be more exact, they have a holy, lofty, most important and most responsible mission. Hasidism was born in…