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.
A Voyage to the Land of Ze-ka
Before continuing my story about the events in Pinsk in the summer of 1940, I would like to digress briefly into the realm of the miraculous. Let us imagine the impossible—something fantastic and…
The Prisoner
Shepherds and their flocks were scattered on the rocky hillsides, among the woods of low terebinth and the stretches of wild rose, and even along the swirling contours of valleys foaming with light…
Love in Reverse
Early in the morning he went out to carry out the assignment which he had been given. Jerusalem seemed to be tired and her hair was unkempt. The first revellers had reached the streets. One window was…
A Son of Two Cities
No sooner had he laid his head on the pillow that he was fast asleep. His insomnia of the night before, his great fatigue on the sailing date, and the ship’s swaying in the waves—all combined to…
The Zero Hour
You,
blood stain of land on the map,
tired you, immersed in soot and ashes,
forever a small piece of land.
And the monuments are witnesses
at every junction and at the roadsides,
and far, far from…
Speak to Me with Flowers
In winter, the rain beat down on the roof.
She said white was her favorite shade.
At hand he then gave her, his heart filled with joy,
A bunch of daffodils, fragrant and moist.
She laughed: “My dear…
Why Should I Take It to Heart
Why should I take it to heart
I have new things on my mind,
Imagination that helps me to forget at times.
Why should I take it to heart
I have so much before that to love,
I always have friends…
The Vigil
This is a night of vigil for me,
in the shudder of my soul
I shall conceal
the secret of my youth.
I shall stand on guard:
No sleep nor slumber!
And in just one moment
the veil was taken away.
A…
The Art of Boxing, Preface
After the many marks of encouragement bestowed on me by a generous publick, I thought that I could not better evince my gratitude for such favours, than by disseminating to as wide an extent, and at…
Sermon of Ethical Rebuke Preached . . . during the Penitential Period Preceding the New Year’s Day, 5505 [1744], to the Congregation of Metz
The prophet Hosea cried out: Come, let us turn back to the Lord; He attacked, and He can heal us; He wounded, and He can bind us up. In two days He will make us whole again; on the third day He will…
Sefer ḥeshbon ha-nefesh (Book of Moral Accounting)
[ . . . ] 2. When you stroll along the riverbank, you find an entire plain filled with reeds and bulrushes, all of which are standing erect, one adjacent to the other, and none of them…
Israel and Humanity
Judaism’s approach to history is shaped by the fact that unlike other religions, it locates perfection not at the beginning but at the end of history. This, surely, is the…