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.
Oratorio Israelitico Synagogue, Casale Monferrato, Italy
This Piedmontese synagogue, built in 1595, is typical of many synagogues constructed in times and places where Jews did not want to call attention to themselves because of fear of persecution. From…
Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue, Suriname
Built in 1736, the Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue served a Sephardic congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had migrated from Holland to Suriname. Located in Suriname’s capital of Paramaribo, the…
Jewish Woman at Home
This Jewish woman of the Ottoman Empire wears a blue jacket over a black blouse, with red shoes and a tall hat draped in a veil. The title “Dona Ebrea in casa” translates to "Jewish woman at home."
Burial Society Pitcher and Shield
This pitcher from Nuremberg, Germany, was made around 1650. Cast in silver, the repoussé piece is finely traced and engraved with floral patterns. On its lid sits a shield engraved with a Hebrew…
Astronomical Illustration
This diagram of the cosmos is from a treatise on astronomy, Sefer mareh ha-ofanim (The Appearance of the Heavenly Beings), by Solomon ben Abraham Avigdor. The treatise was mostly a translation of…
House of the Book, Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Brandeis, California
The minimalist aesthetic of the House of the Book, a chapel and conference hall, matches other buildings designed by Eisenshtat, a leading American synagogue architect. While he often favored…
If Not, Not
If Not, Not is one of Kitaj’s best-known works. Inspired by T. S. Eliot’s poem, "The Waste Land" (the poet is depicted at bottom left), it portrays a chaotic landscape, storm-swept and strewn with…
Dissolving Myths
Maor was a member of The Common Factor: Kibbutz, a group of artists who were interested in criticizing long-held Zionist and socialist beliefs and myths, at a time when many felt that the kibbutz…
Yad Vashem Children’s Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem, Israel
In 1976, Safdie was appointed by Israel’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority to design a museum at Yad Vashem devoted to the 1.5 million children who were murdered in the Holocaust…
A Jew in Germany
David is best known for painting with encaustic, a combination of beeswax and pigment. A Jew in Germany was painted with encaustic on wood. David often uses religious iconography in his works. In 1979…
Lament over the Jews of Kremzir
So since we are in the midst of writing a song,
We will write also about the destruction of the holy community of Kremzir,
Even though this happened five years before,
In the year 1643, on the 9th of…
Tseror ha-mor (Bundle of Myrrh) and Eshkol ha-kofer (Cluster of Henna)
When I was in Castile in the city of Zamora, tranquil and secure in my abode, I set my mind to inquire and explore matters of Torah and began to compose a book yielding lovely…