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.
Criticism of Scribes
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is…
The Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim
Now it happened that the Jews in Alexandria and the Samaritans who worshiped at the temple on Mount Gerizim, which was built in the days of Alexander, were in conflict. They were disputing about their…
Leading Priests Desert Jerusalem
Many of the upper class, though, were shaken by his [Josephus’] speech. Some of them were too frightened of the revolutionary police to make a move, despite recognizing that they themselves were…
A Jewish Perspective
Another time, [Rabban Gamaliel, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiva] were ascending to Jerusalem. On reaching Mount Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount and…
Studying Torah in the Synagogue
According to b. Megillah 29a, after the Temple’s fall God’s presence moved to synagogues and study houses—creating new centers of sacred life.
The Requirement of Prayer
Another interpretation of and to serve Him: This refers to prayer. You might say, “This refers to prayer [according to you], but might it not refer to [Temple] service?” [The answer is no,] since…
The Prayer of the Priests after Blessing the People
Master of the Universe!
We have done that which You have ordained us to do.
Do for us that which You have promised us to do—Look down from Your holy…
Life, Old Age, and Death
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon…
Philo on Soul and Body
It is for this reason that Moses, the all-wise, ascribes to the righteous man soul-husbandry as a science in keeping with him and rightly pertaining to him, saying “Noah began to be a husbandman,”…
Babatha’s Loan to Her Second Husband, Judah
In the consulship of Publius Metilius Nepos for the 2nd time and Marcus Annius Libo ten days before the kalends of March, and by the compute of the new province of Arabia year twenty-second on the…
Jesus’ Apostles Filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were…
The Food of Outsiders
20. Meat that is found in the possession of a non-Jew: one is permitted to derive benefit from it. [Meat found] in the possession of a heretic: one is prohibited from deriving benefit from it. [Meat]…