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.
Etlekhe verter oyf mame-loshn / A Few Words in the Mother Tongue
lemoshl: for example
di kurve the whore
a woman who acknowledges her passions
di yidene the Jewess the Jewish woman
ignorant overbearing
let’s face it: every woman is one
di yente the gossip…
Ark of Covenant and Cherubs
These are modern reconstructions of the Ark of the Covenant. Chests with images on top and with carrying poles are known from ancient Egypt. The depictions of the cherubs here are based on winged…
New Sheets
I won’t be around forever, Mother said.
One day I’m going to die, so I might
as well nag you a little bit more,
while I have the chance. And when
I’m dead you’ll have to rely on someone else
to tell…
Cult statues in Assyrian relief
Cult statues in Assyrian relief from the Palace of Tiglath-pileser III (reigned 745–727 BCE) in Kalhu/Calah (today’s Nimrud, Iraq). Although no Mesopotamian cult statues have been found, reliefs such…
Acher
It was like this in the garden:
Ben Azzai looked and died,
Ben Zoma looked and went mad;
Akiba and I went forth in peace,
but they said I cut down the young plants.
I said that one is two…
Lamelekh Seal Impression with Four-winged Scarab Beetle
Some lamelekh impressions, like this one from Lachish, have a four-winged scarab beetle as their central image. The scarab beetle was an important mythological symbol in Egypt, associated with Khepri…
The Sisters Rosensweig
Merv:Sara, can I have my shirt? I’ve got a lunch date with the rabbi of Dublin.Sara:Mervyn, you came all the way to Queen Anne’s Gate. Please sit a minute.Tess:Sit down, Merv. I’ll get your shirt. Win…
Evening in Basel
You won’t find the restaurant in the guidebooks, which is a pity. The owner—he was tall and wearing a sport jacket—greeted us at the door. Our table was waiting in the corner.
“And the food is quite…
Words of Ahiqar
Words of Ahiqar, Elephantine, 5th century BCE. This Aramaic manuscript contains the oldest-known version of Ahiqar, a wisdom book that includes proverbs similar to those found in the biblical book of…
Your Land, Your Country
What, actually, am I doing here?
I owe myself, and perhaps others, an answer to this question. What, actually, am I doing here? Why do I go on a clear morning to Levinsky, why in zigzags, stopping…
The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949
In the course of 1948 and the first half of 1949, a number of processes definitively changed the physical and demographic face of Palestine. Taken collectively, they steadily rendered…
The State of Israel in Jewish Public Thought: The Quest for Collective Identity
At the same time, let it be pointed out that this call for a new Hibbat Zion is directed towards the idea rather than the movement, since the historical Hibbat Zion was a movement which failed and an…