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 First Pioneers
Alpersohn’s narrative about the early days of Colonia Mauricio blames the Jewish Colonization Association’s local administrators for the colonists’ suffering.
The Neila
The end of the day approaches.
The Book of Life and Death
is about to be closed,
and the hand of God will inscribe
the destiny of man.
It hesitates, trembles, stops.
A voice, sweet and frail,
an…
This Matter of Abortion
This essay, written after Roe v. Wade, during a time of rising abortion polarization, offers a Jewish legal perspective that shaped national discussions.
Torah Binder (Munich)
This Torah binder, made for boys at birth and later brought by young men as a symbol of participation in the synagogue, illustrates the fixed nature of traditional gender expectations.
Justyna’s Diary
While imprisoned by the Nazis and awaiting her death, Gusta Dawidsohn-Draenger recalls her last supper with other resistance leaders in the Vilna ghetto.
Così Fan Tutte
[A coffee-houseFerrando, Don Alfonso and Guglielmo]No. i TrioFerrando My Dorabella couldn’tDo such a thing:Heaven made herAs faithful as she’s fair.GuglielmoFiordiligi simplyCouldn…
Comedia de Amán y Mordochay (Comedy of Haman and Mordechai)
Enter David, Moses, and Samson, all singing:Blessed Adonai,may Haman always die,viva Mordechai,Esther my lady.Viva my lady,blessed Adonai,may Haman always die,viva Mordechai.David:It is well that all…
Don Carlos at the Turn of the Century
Karle:Who is coming? What do I hear! God Almighty![Markwitz standing in the door.]Markwitz, tall, thin appearance. Threadbare elegance of the nineties. He is, without a doubt, a…
The Bible View of Slavery
A Civil War–era Jewish leader defends the institution of slavery in the South based on his reading of the Hebrew Bible.
Oppression and Exodus
From movies to civil-rights movements, the Exodus stands at the center of Western thought and culture. You will still be surprised by what is, and what isn’t, in the account.
The Shohet (from “Had Gadya”)
The violence of the Passover song “Had Gadya” (“Who Knows One”) clearly spoke to this illustrator’s sense of horror following World War I.
Purim Eve, a One-Act Comedy
Cast [in this passage]Abraham Levi: Rich merchantAneta: Abraham Levi’s wifeMax, Yosef, and Aron: Abraham and Aneta Levi’s sonsFrida and Klerchen: Abraham and Aneta Levi’s daughtersShmuel Natan: Zionis…