Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
Letter to Johannes Bouwmeester
To the Very Learned and Experienced Mr. Johannes Bouwmeester
From B. d. S.
Most Learned Sir, special Friend,
I have not been able till now to reply to your last letter, which I received some time…
Like a wooer and a husband
Like a wooer and a husbandI devote myself to your faithsince being a husband does not implya courtly surrender.Like a wooer I pursue your lovebecause I wish to meritthe privileges of a husbandthough I…
Sefer ma‘aseh nisim (The Book of Miracles)
The house known today as the House of the Sun is a large stone structure next to the synagogue. But long, long ago it was called the Devil’s Head, and it was…
The Hill of Evil Counsel
Darkness fell on the Hill of Evil Counsel. The paper lanterns went out one by one. Only the searchlights continued to claw the gentle slope and the bushes that were gradually sinking into ever-deeper…
One Day, during World War II
One day, during World War Two, a military chaplain arrived at our army camp in the Australian outback, to celebrate the Feast of Hanukkah with us and tell us about the wars of the Maccabees. Apart…
The Book of Intimate Grammar
“You be the man. You lead!”
So his mother commanded him, taking his reluctant hands and putting them firmly around her middle. “Go on, lead!” She smiled at him. He could feel her breath on his face…
Evening Meeting with the Poet’s Daughter
This evening I met the daughter of the poet Haim Guri
I think, somewhat important in this country,
And she’s a twenty-year-old welfare officer.
At first we just spoke of average stuff,
But then when…
Françoise
Greetings 53 year old Tristess, you must have guessed
back then, before youth and old men in fancy cars
turned their backs on you,
how all this would vanish, only Mitterand and the Citroën remain;
yo…
Sderot
It took me twenty years to love
this hole in the middle of nowhere.
The cotton balls spread a white flame
and there was an ill wind in the cypresses
until for the first time I saw,
with a just eye,
t…
Balance Scale
Balance scale (reconstruction). Pans from Iron Age II (ca. 980-586 BCE). Balance scales were likely made mostly of wood. No complete example has survived, but they are depicted in ancient Near Eastern…
Memoirs of a Fortunate Jew
At the end of King George Boulevard stood a tall building with two black, cavernous entrances. It served as a brothel, first for Arabs and later for Allied troops. When passing in front of this…
Arad Sanctuary
The Arad sanctuary today exists in ruins (image on left), and scholars have attempted its reconstruction (right). The sanctuary included a building with a broad hall approximately 35 feet (10.5 m)…