Sefaria Jewish Library MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to Jewish texts from the Sefaria library. This server enables Large Language Models to retrieve and reference Jewish texts through a standardized interface.

Features

• Retrieve Jewish texts by reference
• Retrieve commentaries on a given text
• Search the Jewish library for a query
• Get daily/weekly learning schedule from Sefaria's calendar

Installation

Requires Python 3.10 or higher.

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/sivan22/mcp-sefaria-server.git
cd mcp-sefaria-server

Running the Server

The server can be run directly:

uv --directory path/to/directory run sefaria_jewish_library

Or through an MCP client that supports the Model Context Protocol.

for claude desktop app and cline you should use the following config:

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

Installing via Smithery

To install Sefaria Jewish Library for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-sefaria-server --client claude

Available tools

The server provides the following tools through the MCP interface:

get_text

Retrieves a specific Jewish text by its reference.

Example:

reference: "Genesis 1:1"
reference: "שמות פרק ב פסוק ג"
reference: "משנה ברכות פרק א משנה א"

get_commentaries

Retrieves a list of commentaries for a given text.

Example:

reference: "Genesis 1:1"
reference: "שמות פרק ב פסוק ג"
reference: "משנה ברכות פרק א משנה א"

search_texts

Searches for Jewish texts in the Sefaria library based on a query.

Example:

query: "moshiach"
slop: 1
filters: ["Talmud", "Bavli"]
size: 5

get_daily_learnings

Retrieves the daily or weekly learning schedule from Sefaria's calendar API.

Parameters (all optional):

• diaspora (boolean): When true, returns weekly Torah reading for diaspora. When false, returns Torah reading for Israel. Default: true
• custom (string): If available, the weekly Haftarah will be returned for the selected custom
• year, month, day (integers): Specific date (all three must be used together, or API falls back to current date)
• timezone (string): Timezone name in accordance with IANA Standards

Example:

# Get current day's learning schedule
{}

# Get learning schedule for a specific date in Israel
{
  "diaspora": false,
  "year": 2024,
  "month": 12,
  "day": 25,
  "timezone": "Asia/Jerusalem"
}

Returns a formatted schedule including:

• Weekly Torah portion (Parashat Hashavua) with aliyot
• Haftarah reading
• Daf Yomi (daily Talmud page)
• Daily Mishnah, Rambam, and other learning cycles
• Various Jewish learning programs and their daily selections

Development

This project uses:

• MCP SDK for server implementation
• Sefaria API for accessing Jewish texts

Requirements

• Python >= 3.10
• MCP SDK >= 1.1.1
• Sefaria API

License

MIT License