What is Sefaria?
Sefaria is a free, living library of Jewish texts, in Hebrew and in translation. The texts in our library are fully searchable, categorized by topic, and related sections of text are interlinked, making it easy for users to move from one source to another.
Sefaria’s Sheet Builder allows registered users to create content that includes texts from the Sefaria library, outside texts, comments, and media. Sheet authors have the opportunity to share their work with the Sefaria community by making them public – adding the Sheet to the library.
To make the library available on-the-go, Sefaria has both Android and iOS apps. The apps allow you to download the library to your phone, which means that you can have an entire Jewish library in the palm of your hand, even without an internet connection.
This Sheet and others in the Help Group will help you get the most out of the features Sefaria has to offer. If you have additional questions, please feel free to write to us anytime at [email protected].
What is a Sefaria account and why do I want one?
A free Sefaria account allows you full access to everything that Sefaria has to offer.
While you don't need an account to access Sefaria's library, logging into Sefaria allows you to personalize your learning experience. When you are logged in, you can save texts, view your reading history, and track your learning with our Torah Tracker. You can also take notes alongside the text, create Sheets, and curate collections for sharing content.
How do I sign up for a Sefaria account?
Signing up for a free Sefaria account is quick and easy.
1. Click "Sign Up" on the homepage.
2. Enter an e-mail address and create a password. Check the box if you wish to receive the educator newsletter.
How do I Navigate through Sefaria from the header toolbar?
Each of the items on the header will be explained below.
Texts - 1
Clicking on "Texts" in the header will lead you to the Sefaria library.
- Read descriptions of each text.
- Navigate to any text in the library
Go to Finding Texts for complete instructions for navigating the Sefaria library.
- Follow a learning schedule (formerly "Calendars").
Topics - 2
Explore the Sefaria library by topic. Choose from thousands of topics and begin a journey of discovery. Click on "All Topics A-Z" for a complete listing of Sefaria topics. See what others are studying by clicking on a topic in "Trending Topics".
Go to Topics Tutorial for a complete discussion of Topics on Sefaria.
Community - 3
Connect with the Sefaria community on the "Community" page. See what's new at Sefaria, discover sheets for the weekly Torah reading and daily Daf Yomi, create your own sheet, and browse collections.
A - Today on Sefaria - Discover sheets pertaining to the weekly Torah portion, daily Talmud learning, holidays, and news from Sefaria.
B - Recently Published - A list of newly published sheets. The list is constantly updating.
C - Join the Conversation - Click on "Make a Sheet" to start a new Sefaria sheet. (Need help? Learn how to make and format sheets.)
D - Who to Follow - A suggested list of Sefaria learners who have created sheets that you might enjoy. Click on their name and select "Follow". You will be notified whenever they publish a new sheet.
E - Collections - Explore curated sheets created by an organization or individual on a variety of topics.
Donate - 4
Sefaria is a 501(c)(3) organization that relies on user donations to maintain and grow the library.
Click on "Donate" for all of the information that you need to support Sefaria's mission.
Search - 5
Type the name of a text, author, or topic into the search bar. Type in English, transliteration, or Hebrew. Click “Search” then click on the keyboard icon to access a Hebrew keyboard. A key to the icons is below.
Bookmark - 6
Save your place by clicking on the bookmark icon. Please note that you must be logged into your Sefaria account to use the bookmark feature. (Don’t have a Sefaria account? Create an account now!)
Clicking on the bookmark with the resource panel closed will save the text at the chapter level.
Clicking on the bookmark with the resource panel open will save the text at the segment level.
Click on the bookmark icon in the header to see all of your saved texts.
Notifications - 7
Keep up with updates to the Sefaria library by clicking on the notification icon.
New texts and newly published sheets by authors that you follow appear in the notification list.
Profile - 8
Open your profile page, start a new sheet, choose your account settings, switch between the Hebrew and English websites, open the Help Center, and log out of your account via the profile dropdown menu.
The Help Center is a collection of sheets which explain Sefaria's many features.
What information can I find at the bottom of the page?
From the footer, you can navigate to many important places on the site. Want to learn about the Sefaria team? Interested in teaching with Sefaria? Need information about the Sefaria API? It's all there, and more, in the footer.
