Judaism

Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)

The Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible, the quintessential sacred text. The first five books of this comprise the Torah (or Pentateuch), the core sacred writings of the ancient Jews, traditionally written by Moses under divine inspiration.

Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Unicode with vowels.

Talmud and Mishna

The Babylonian Talmud
Translated by M.L. Rodkinson [1918]
A massive ten volume abridgement of the Talmud, the Jewish compendium of law and tradition, the only extensive public domain translation. Presented for the first time anywhere on the Internet at sacred-texts.com.

Eighteen Treatises from the Mishna
by D. A. Sola and M. J. Raphall [1843]
One of the first English translations of a substantial portion of the Mishna, the treasure-house of Jewish law and tradition.

The Wisdom of the Talmud
by Ben Zion Bokser [1951]
A great introduction to the Talmud for contemporary readers.

The Talmud
by Joseph Barclay [1878]
Seventeen representative tracts from the Talmud.

The Talmud: Selections
by H. Polano [1876]
A Talmud miscellany.

The Babylonian Talmud in Selection
by Leo Auerbach [1944]
An original mid-20th century translation of selections from the Talmud.

Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Pirqe Aboth)
tr. by Charles Taylor [1897]
A beautiful extract from the Talmud, which has been used as liturgy. Devoted to ethics with some mystical touches, the Pirqe Aboth is distinguished for its transparency and simplicity. This was one of the first English translations in modern times of any portion of the Talmud.

Hebraic Literature
Edited by Maurice Harris [1901]
Extracts from the Talmud, Midrash and Kabbalah.

The Wisdom of Israel
by Edwin Collins [1910]
A short look at Jewish wisdom literature from the Talmud and Midrash.

Tractate Sanhedrin, Mishnah and Tosefta
by Herbert Danby [1919]
A key portion of the Mishna dealing with crime and punishment.

Tractate Berakoth
by A. Lukyn Williams [1921]
The Mishna about prayer.

Haggada

Legends of the Jews
by Louis Ginzberg [1909].
A huge collection of traditional stories which have grown up around the Bible narrative.

Kabbalah

The Kabbalah Unveiled
S.L. MacGregor Mathers, Translator. [1912]
An extensive introduction to the Kabbalah. Includes translations of three texts from branch of the Kabbalah known as the Zohar: The Book of Concealed Mystery, The Greater Holy Assembly, and The Lesser Holy Assembly.

Sepher Yezirah
translated by Isidor Kalisch [1877]
Includes English translation and pointed Hebrew for this key text of the Kabbalah.

Kabbalah - Sepher Yetzirah
W.W. Westcot tr. [1887] 26,374 bytes

The Cabala
by Bernhard Pick [1913]
A short critical introduction to the Kabbalah.

Midrash

Tales and Maxims from the Midrash
by Samuel Rapaport [1907]
A popular Midrash compilation. This is the (unattributed) source for the next two entries' Midrash extracts. This book has the references for each of the passages quoted lacking in the texts below, which makes it the best source if you wish to quote some of this material.

The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Vol. IV: Medieval Hebrew
[1917]
Some sizeable extracts from the Midrash, medieval collections of Jewish Biblical lore and legend.

Midrash Tanhuma
60,529 bytes

Haggadah

The Union Haggadah
ed. by The Central Conference of American Rabbis, illus. Isidore Lipton [1923]
A guide to the celebration of Passover.

Haggada For Pesach According To Chabad-Lubavitch Custom 66,858 bytes

Prayer Books (Siddur)

The Standard Prayer Book by Simeon Singer [1915]
Complete English translation of a Jewish Prayer Book, or Siddur, including prayers, holidays, ceremonies, and important texts.

Other texts from late Antiquity and Middle Ages

The Works of Flavius Josephus
by Josephus, tr. by William Whiston [1737]
Josephus was a Jewish historian, soldier and scholar who lived in the first century [37-100 C.E.]. His works are primary historical sources of information about the doomed Jewish revolt of 66-9 C.E.

The Kitab al Khazari
of Judah Hallevi, translated by Hartwig Hirschfeld [1905]
A classic of Medieval Jewish philosophy, set in a legendary (but historical) central Asian kingdom.

The Guide for the Perplexed
by Moses Maimonides, M. Freidländer, tr. (2nd Ed.) [1904]
Maimonides' masterful summation of theology, natural philosophy and divine law.

Selected Religious Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol
by Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Israel Zangwill [1923]
A key medieval Jewish Spanish poet and philosopher's devotional poetry, some of which was adopted into liturgy.

The Fountain of Life
by Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Harry E. Wedeck [1962]
An extract from the Jewish writer Solomon ibn Gabirol's philosophical treatise on the First Cause, misattributed for centuries to an Islamic or Christian author named Avicebron.

Original Hebrew of a Portion of Ecclesiasticus
by A.E. Cowley and A. Neubauer [1897]
Includes the Alphabet of Ben Sira.

Modern

The Duties of the Heart
by Rabbi Bachye, tr. by Edwin Collins [1909]
A 12th Century Spanish Rabbi's systematic treatment of Ethics as a universal.
Ancient Jewish Proverbs
by Abraham Cohen [1911]
A treasury of Jewish proverbs from the Mishna and Talmud.
Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion
by Joshua Trachtenberg [1939]
A comprehensive study of medieval Jewish folk magic, a primary source of modern ceremonial magic.
A Rabbi's Impressions of the Oberammergau Passion Play
by Joseph Krauskopf [1901]
A Rabbi examines the tangled narrative of the Crucifixion, and the roots of anti-Semitism in the early Church.

Reform Judaism - 1885 Pittsburgh Conference 4,588 bytes
Articles of Faith from the Jewish Encyclopedia 29,628 bytes
The Columbus Platform: The Guiding Principles Of Reform Judaism [1937] 8,706 bytes
Reform Judaism - A Centenary Perspective 11,054 bytes
Maimonides: Ani Maamin - I believe... 34,307 bytes
Solomon Schechter - Studies in Judaism - The Dogmas of Judaism 64,107 bytes
The Thirteen Wants by Mordecai M. Kaplan 2,127 bytes

Links

Jewish Virtual Library [External Site]