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.
The Dove Keeper
David and Nicolás raised a dove for me. They had her for about a month in the count’s house, trying to become fond of her because she was from the messenger race, and they wanted me to use her to send…
A Cross and a Star: Memoirs of a Jewish Girl in Chile
Bread
Very early in the morning we went to pick up fresh bread at Doña Blanquita’s. However, before arriving at her house that resembled the generosity of her hands and clay ovens, we had to cross a…
A Diary of the Nazi Ghetto in Vilna
This morning I was in the children’s nursery. Women who work leave their children from 7 to 6. There are 150 children between the ages of three months and two years, [one…
Out of Egypt
Egyptian Jewish American author André Aciman describes celebrating his last Seder in Egypt with his bags packed to leave his homeland for good.
Building the Tabernacle
When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. The Presence of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day He called to…
Satan in Goray
It was Rabbi Benish’s practice to say his afternoon and evening prayers by himself in his study. When the news reached his ears he hurried to the prayer house. But it…
Sefer luḥot edut (Tablets of Testimony)
For it is not against me that these men have sinned, for what am I and what is my life? My days have passed like a transient shadow, and fly away as does a dream—like a dream upon…
Response to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship. We have tried you good people of the public and we have found you wanting. The old Inquisition had its rack and…
Heder Riddles and Puzzles among Lithuanian Jews
A peasant was transporting a large cart of hay. He had to pass through a low gateway, but the cart couldn’t pass under it. People advised the peasant to wear glasses with magnifying lenses, so that…
In my cottage was I one day
In my cottage was I one day merrily
Despite the Fortune full of treachery.
“What are you doing?” Providence asked me.
“Why are you obsessed only with this life?
You must also know of the…
Crimes against Persons
These Exodus verses form part of the Hebrew Bible's legal framework, addressing personal status and punishments for crimes against different social classes.