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.
Confession
“Meanwhile months and years disappeared. At twenty-eight I was still without a husband, still an eligible virgin . . . It was spring—free, warm. My heart ached so, I thought I’d go crazy . . . the…
Bavli Bava Meẓi‘a
Until when is he [the defrauded party who has been given a worn coin] permitted to retract [the transaction and return the coin]? In towns, until he can show [the coin] to a money…
R. Ḥisda’s Daughter
[And in] what [way was prophecy given] to children? [It was] like this [incident involving the] daughter of Rav Ḥisda, [who when she was a child] was sitting on her father’s lap. […
Honor and Authority in the Jerusalem Talmud
In y. Bikkurim 3:3, 65c–d and y. Horayot 3:9, 48c, the rabbis reshape Roman customs of honor, redirecting respect from rulers to Torah and the sages who embody its wisdom.
Lifelong Torah Learning
Mishnah Avot 5:22 defines a lifetime of Torah study, linking each stage of life to learning and making study the essence of Jewish living.
Alexander Janneus
Aristobulus’ widow released his brothers from prison and made Alexander king, as he seemed to have the best claim both in seniority and for his apparent moderation. But when he came into power he had…
Augustus Expands Herod’s Kingdom
At the end of the first Actiad Caesar added again to Herod’s kingdom, giving him the district known as Trachonitis and the adjacent areas of Batanaea and Auranitis. What had happened was this…
Pheroras’ Wife
Pheroras was greatly enslaved to his wife, her mother, and her sister, notwithstanding the hatred he bore them for the indignities they had…
Roman Tactics against the Jewish Revolt
Still the Jews’ patience lasted until Gessius Florus became procurator: in his time war began. When Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, tried to stop it, he suffered varied fortunes and met defeat more…
Revolts of 66 CE in Alexandria
In Alexandria there had always been antagonism between the natives and the Jewish colony ever since Alexander, grateful for the Jews’ enthusiastic support against the Egyptians, had rewarded their…
Self-Rule under Empire
But you say, “How could they who were in captivity pass a sentence of death?” asserting, I know not on what grounds, that Susanna was the wife of a king, because of the name Joakim. The answer is…
Judaism as a Destructive Religion
One, as that which broadens the world is the law of the Mazdaean religion [worshipers of the Supreme God, Ahura Mazda, i.e., Zoroastrian], and that which destroys the world is the law of the Jewish…