Free-content digital library of Jewish texts
Sefaria
is an online
open source
,
[1]
free content
,
digital library
of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author
Joshua Foer
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Promoted as a "living library of Jewish texts", Sefaria relies partially upon volunteers to add texts and translations.
[5]
[6]
The site provides
cross-references
and interconnections between various texts.
[3]
Hebrew, Aramaic, and
Judeo-Arabic
texts are provided under a
free license
in the original and in translation. The website also provides a tool for creating source sheets.
[7]
Sefaria is maintained by an
eponymous
non-profit organization
[8]
[9]
which employs 18 engineers.
[10]
According to their
chief data officer
Lev Israel in 2019, the service received 250,000 unique visitors monthly.
[11]
Etymology
[
edit
]
The name
Sefaria
derives from the words
sefer
, or "book",
[3]
and
sifria
("library") in Hebrew.
[3]
[12]
[13]
History
[
edit
]
Sefaria was originally founded in 2011 by journalist Joshua Foer and Brett Lockspeiser, a former product manager at
Google
. The site's first beta was released in 2012. The company was formally incorporated in 2013, with funding from the Natan Fund, Jonathan and Tamar Koschitzky, and the Jim Joseph Foundation. By 2015, twelve
apps
used Sefaria's
API
and database. Also in 2015, Sefaria reached a deal to use
Urim Publications
' translations of the
Tanakh
and commentaries.
[14]
Sefaria's website received a major redesign in 2016, alongside the release of new apps for
smartphones
running
iOS
and
Android
, and a complete English translation of
Rashi
's commentary on the
Torah
. By this point, over a dozen people were part of the website's staff. Sefaria reached a major milestone in 2017, with the release of the William Davidson Talmud.
[15]
In 2020, the site announced a
pilot program
to introduce its model to some secular works such as American
constitutional studies
.
[16]
Lockspeiser was recognized by
Forward Magazine
's 2019
Forward 50
list for his role in creating Sefaria.
[17]
Content
[
edit
]
Sefaria offers a library of Jewish texts, including
Tanakh
,
Talmud
, and Jewish prayers alongside sources in philosophy, mysticism, Jewish law, and newer works.
[18]
[19]
Sefaria's content comes from a variety of sources. Books in the public domain are scanned and processed using
optical character recognition
software, which a team then corrects and formats. Other online sources such as
On Your Way
are also used. Some publishers have also provided works directly to Sefaria.
[20]
Sefaria also produces
visualizations
of the texts in its corpus, such as illustrating connections between the Tanakh and Talmud.
[21]
Translations
[
edit
]
In 2021, Sefaria announced a major addition of a complete translation of
Ibn Ezra
's Torah commentaries provided by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver, one of the only resources to have a complete translation of these works in English.
[22]
A new English translation of the Tanakh was made available in 2022 by Sefaria in collaboration with
Jewish Publication Society
. This version translated gender
idiomatically
, rather than
literally
, and notably referred to God in a gender-neutral manner.
[23]
The addition of this translation received some criticism from some Orthodox Jewish users, although there is continued availability of translations from Orthodox-oriented publishing houses.
[24]
Features
[
edit
]
Links
[
edit
]
Many works are linked with their respective commentaries.
[25]
For example, clicking on a verse in Tanakh will open a window on the side, allowing the user to open a commentary on that verse.
Source Sheets
[
edit
]
Sefaria's Source Sheet Builder allows users to create a page with source text from Sefaria.
[26]
[9]
Source Sheets may be published online, within Sefaria's ecosystem, and they may also be downloaded as
PDF
files, which are easy to print.
[27]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Yudelson, Larry (April 26, 2018).
"Beyond the book"
.
The Jewish Standard
. The Times of Israel
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
Maier, Lilly (February 8, 2017).
"You Can Now Read The Whole Talmud Online - For Free"
.
The Forward
. Retrieved
25 July
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Solomon, Zachary (September 8, 2014).
"A New, Digital Wonderland of Jewish Text"
.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
Arbesman, Samuel (July 10, 2014).
"The Network Structure of Jewish Texts"
.
Wired
.
ISSN
1059-1028
. Retrieved
2021-10-16
.
- ^
Borschei-Dan, Amanda (November 13, 2014).
"Old-school educators go hi-tech to promote Torah accessibility"
.
The Times of Israel
. Retrieved
25 July
2017
.
- ^
Henze, Matthias; Werline, Rodney A. (2020-11-29).
Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters
.
Society of Biblical Literature
. p. 244.
ISBN
978-0-88414-482-3
.
- ^
Schifrin, Dan (11 July 2014).
"Locally fueled Sefaria project has radical ambitions for traditional Jewish texts"
.
J. The Jewish News of Northern California
.
- ^
Chabin, Michele (February 10, 2017).
"Nonprofit offers online English-language translation of the Talmud for free"
.
Religion News Service
. Retrieved
25 July
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Smith, Noah (September 18, 2018).
"The quest to put the Talmud online"
.
The Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
2021-10-16
.
- ^
"How Can Secular Jews Create the Future of Torah?"
.
Oshman Family JCC
. Retrieved
2020-01-19
.
- ^
Spiro, Amy (May 2, 2019).
"Sefaria turns a female page"
.
The Jerusalem Post
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
"Herz und Hirn des Judentums"
[Heart and brain of Judaism].
Deutschlandfunk Kultur
(in German). October 8, 2021
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
Maier, Lilly (February 8, 2017).
"You Can Now Read The Whole Talmud Online - For Free"
.
The Forward
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
"Sefaria and Urim Publications Strike Unprecedented Agreement"
.
The Sefaria Blog
. 2015-02-11
. Retrieved
2021-08-24
.
- ^
"Setting the Talmud Free"
.
www.sefaria.org
. 2017-02-07
. Retrieved
2021-08-24
.
- ^
Cohen, Sam Zieve (July 15, 2020).
"Sefaria releases new 'Democracy' project"
.
Jewish Insider
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
Rudoren, Jodi (December 20, 2019).
"Forward 50: Meet The Machers And Shakers Who Influenced, Intrigued And Inspired Us This Year"
.
The Forward
. Retrieved
2020-01-19
.
- ^
Rocker, Simon (December 23, 2019).
"The greatest Jewish website in the world"
.
The Jewish Chronicle
. Retrieved
2020-01-19
.
- ^
Dashefsky, Arnold; Sheskin, Ira M. (2019-03-14).
American Jewish Year Book 2018: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities Since 1899
.
American Jewish Year Book
. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. p. 848.
ISBN
978-3-030-03907-3
.
- ^
"Content FAQ"
.
GitHub
. Retrieved
October 4,
2017
.
- ^
Sefaria: Visualizations
- ^
"Library Updates - June 2021 | Sefaria"
.
www.sefaria.org
. Retrieved
2021-06-21
.
- ^
Jewish Publication Society (1 February 2022).
"Preface to "The Contemporary Torah: A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation"
"
.
sefaria.org
.
Sefaria
. Retrieved
6 July
2023
.
- ^
Hajdenberg, Jackie (30 May 2023).
"A 'gender-sensitive' translation of the Hebrew Bible has hit digital shelves. Not everyone is happy"
.
jta.org
.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
. Retrieved
6 July
2023
.
- ^
"English Translation of Davidson Talmud on Sefaria"
.
The Detroit Jewish News
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
Cramer, Philissa; Baur, Joe (October 14, 2021).
"A pioneering German translation of the Talmud, finished in 1935, is now accessible online"
.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
- ^
"The Five Steps to Make a Source Sheet on Sefaria"
.
The Rabbi's Manual
. June 24, 2018
. Retrieved
October 15,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]