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.
Dividing, Combining, and Binding Scrolls
Abaye said to R. Joseph: That [statement] of R. Judah is [actually the opinion] of Samuel, [his teacher,] as we learned [in the Mishnah]: But [in the case of] sacred writings, [i.e., a scroll of any…
The Priestly Service
Now the service of the priests is not to be surpassed by anything in physical strength or in its state of decorum and silence. For all, of their own accord, work diligently at a greatly laborious…
Priestly Status and Privilege
In m. Horayot 3:8, the rabbis redefined authority after the Temple’s fall, elevating Torah study over priestly lineage and transforming Jewish leadership.
The Temple Vessels Are Buried
And Jeremiah said, “Behold, Lord, we know now that you are delivering the city into the hands of its enemies, and they will carry the people off into Babylon. What do you want me to do…
Prayer Is like Sacrifice
R. Phineas in the name of R. Hoshaiah: He who prays in the synagogue is as if he had sacrificed a pure flour offering. What is the reason? As the children of Israel bring flour offering in a pure…
Qumran Daily Blessings
[When the sun] ris[es to shine on the earth they shall bless. They shall recite saying: Blessed is the God of Israel] who makes kno[wn . . . ] for…
Tobit’s Prayer of Confession
Then with much grief and anguish of heart I wept, and with groaning began to pray:
“You are righteous, O Lord,and all your deeds are just;all your ways are mercy and truth;you judge the world.And…
Poetic Fragment for the Sabbath Morning Tefillah
Moses rejoiced in the gift of his portion,
for You called him a faithful servant.
A glorious crown You placed on his head
as he stood before You on Mount Sinai.
Stone tablets he brought down in his…
The Origins of Idolatry
For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,
and the invention of them was the corruption of life;
for they did not exist from the beginning,
nor will they last forever.
For…
The Martyrdom of a Mother and Her Seven Sons
It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and thongs, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh. One of them…
Labor Is Honorable
When R. Judah would go to the study hall he would carry a pitcher on his shoulder [to sit on], saying, “Labor is great, as it brings honor to the laborer [who performs] it.” [Similarly…
Rising from Merchant Status
And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old [when he died] (Deuteronomy 34:7).
He was one of four who died at the age of one hundred and twenty, and these were Moses, Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yoḥanan…