Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server

What is Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server?

The Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to Jewish texts from the Sefaria library. It enables Large Language Models to retrieve and reference Jewish texts and their commentaries through a standardized interface. This server is intended for developers who want to integrate Jewish textual sources into AI-driven applications.

How to use Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server?

Clone the repository, ensure Python 3.10 or higher is installed, then run uv --directory path/to/directory run sefaria_jewish_library. For use with MCP clients like Claude Desktop App or Cline, add the provided JSON configuration to the client's MCP settings. The server exposes two tools: get_text and get_commentaries, each accepting a reference parameter (e.g., "Genesis 1:1" or Hebrew references like "שמות פרק ב פסוק ג").

Key features of Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server

• Retrieve Jewish texts by reference (Torah, Talmud, Mishnah, etc.)
• Retrieve commentaries on a given text
• Supports both English and Hebrew references
• Standard MCP interface for easy integration
• Uses the official Sefaria API as data source

Use cases of Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server

• Enabling an LLM to quote or summarize a specific verse from the Torah
• Building a study assistant that can fetch commentaries on a Talmudic passage
• Creating a chatbot that answers questions about Jewish texts using primary sources
• Automatically referencing Jewish legal sources in a document generation workflow

FAQ from Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server

What tools does the server provide?

It provides two MCP tools: get_text to retrieve the text of a given reference, and get_commentaries to retrieve a list of commentaries for that reference.

What languages are supported for references?

References can be in English (e.g., "Genesis 1:1") or in Hebrew (e.g., "שמות פרק ב פסוק ג" or "משנה ברכות פרק א משנה א").

What are the system requirements?

Python 3.10 or higher, MCP SDK version 1.1.1 or later, and the Sefaria API library.

How do I configure it for Claude Desktop App?

Add the following to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {        
      "sefaria_jewish_library": {
          "command": "uv",
          "args": ["--directory", "C:/dev/mcp-sefaria-server", "run", "sefaria_jewish_library"],
          "env": { "PYTHONIOENCODING": "utf-8" }
      }
  }
}

Where does the text data come from?

All text data is sourced from the Sefaria library via the Sefaria API.