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.
In the Tower
From his ivory bed
The king rises at night—
Alone, without guard or escort,
Makes his way to the ancient wall
Climbing to the top of the highest tower.
There, at the window
One can see the dead, gray…
The Ghetto
A street. At the right the entrance to the synagogue, with steps and a portico. At the left the house of Aaron, before which are some chairs, in the shade of an awning. Some trees and…
Bust of Moses Mendelssohn
This sculpture of Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) was created by Tassaert, a distinguished sculptor of the day. Mendelssohn sat for him, and copies of the bust were later made for Mendelssohn’s closest…
Antisemitism, Its History and Causes
To make the history of antisemitism complete, omitting none of the manifestations of this sentiment and following its divers phases and modifications, it is necessary to go into the history of Israel…
Minute Book of Psalms Society Serving in the Russian Army
In 1827, Tsar Nicholas I issued a statute that effectively made Russian Jews liable to military service, as part of a policy that sought to transform the Jewish population into integrated subjects who…
The Mind of Primitive Man
One of the chief aims of anthropology is the study of the mind of man under the varying conditions of race and of environment. The activities of the mind manifest themselves in thoughts and actions…
A Trip to the Land of Israel in 2040
Jerusalem, our holy city, our soul’s yearning and the joy of our hope! Beautiful landscape, the joy of the entire land, if not the city of a great king (Psalm 48:1) . . . Now we cannot know how it was…
About Autonomism: Decisions from the First Zionist Socialist Workers Party Congress
Recognizing, that any national political institution created on the basis of national autonomy in all its forms, is of value only to the extent that it answers a number of definite necessities—needs…
An Anti-Zionist Appeal from Istanbul
Nearly fifteen years ago, following frequent persecutions against our coreligionists in Russia and Romania, a few European Jews conceived of the project of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine and…
The World Convention of YIVO (Yiddish Scientific Institute) upon the Tenth Anniversary of Its Founding
Professor Fishl Shneerson (Warsaw): Out of great respect for YIVO I…
Speech on the Opening of the Hebrew University, 1925
The prophet of consolation prophesied (Isaiah 60: 4–5): “Lift up your eyes and look about; they have all gathered and come to you. Your sons shall be brought from afar, your daughters like babes on…
Speech: The Frank Tragedy, the Jews, and the Negroes
That Leo Frank was lynched primarily because he was a Jew has been asserted by the most serious, and best informed newspapers all over the country. A newspaper like the local Evening Post went so far…