Jewish Text Study Resources
This is really a PSA that I should have shared a long time ago, because there are so many amazing free resources for Jewish texts that are already out there! But especially now, when people may be at a loss to “replace” chaburot, chavrutot, shiurim, batei midrash, and classes, some of these links may be very helpful!
First and foremost is Sefaria. I cannot express in words how incredible Sefaria is. They have the most user-friendly site, with a vast database of Jewish texts, most of which are in both Hebrew and English (with some other languages available as well), all cross-referenced in a way that makes it extremely easy to use, not to mention the source sheet database and maker... and of course, it all has always been, and always will be, totally free and open-source and legal to use however you want! I recently attended a workshop on Sefaria, and if you remind me when I have time, I will absolutely make a separate post highlighting some of the possibly-lesser-known amazing features it has.
Before I knew about Sefaria, I swore by Mechon Mamre. This landing page has a listing of all their text resources, both online and downloadable (and also totally free!). Much of what it offers includes English translation, as well as some other languages.
Self-styled “Google for Tanach,” the Herzog Institute’s Hatanakh website has some great resources that I use regularly in teaching. In addition to a variety of multimedia resources for each chapter (and a bright, colourful interface), it offers dynamic biblical maps with locations of interest for a given chapter marked! The site also has English functionality.
For tzurat hadaf (i.e., learning Gemara online from something that looks exactly the way it looks in a standard print Gemara), I use E-daf or Hebrew Books, which both offer scans from the standard vilna Talmud Bavli, on an almost daily basis.
If you’re studying Gemara, you may want to make use of the Jastrow - the most popular Talmudic Aramaic-English dictionary. (Note that this resource is also available on Sefaria.)
929 provides a schedule and plan for learning all 929 chapters of Tanach through daily study - like daf yomi, but for Tanach! The site includes the text itself, along with a multitude of multimedia resources to enrich your learning.
Dicta is a resource which far too few people know about, and which I use on a level with Sefaria. It’s a non-profit, so totally and always free to use, which provides a number of advanced tools for studying Jewish texts, including two versions of an automatic Nakdan to add vowels to Hebrew and Aramaic texts (including Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval poetry texts), advanced searches for the Tanach and Talmud, a dictionary of Talmudic abbreviations, a tool to assist in making your own Hebrew/liturgical poetry????, and more, as detailed on the landing page which can toggle between English and Hebrew. I am planning on attending a webinar to learn more about Dicta’s amazing uses soon, so if reminded after that point, I will be happy to make a longer post focused on Dicta and sharing my learning about how you can benefit from it!
But wait, there’s more! Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and widespread quarantining/isolation, two proprietary sites have made their content free to use for the duration:
When I was in university (and had access to the database through my institution’s library), I found the Bar-Ilan Responsa Project to be an incredible resource. It’s tabbed, highly searchable with advanced search properties, and contains a truly vast store of Jewish texts in general but particularly responsa, including from Acharonim that are difficult to find elsewhere! Note: you will have to register / make an account to use this resource, but it is free to do so now, and probably worth it!
I’ve never used Otzar Hachochma, but I understand it also has a vast database of Jewish texts, and a very refined search system. Note that this resource appears to only have a Hebrew interface.
These are just the resources I know of off the top of my head, and (mostly) which I use and/or talk about regularly. I am happy to update this if you reply with other sites that are legally free and contain Jewish texts and/or study tools!