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.
Torah Ark Curtain
Each of the four-sided shapes on Siona Shimshi’s Torah ark curtain represents a Jewish holiday, except for the one at left (second from top) with an image of hands arranged for a priestly blessing…
A Report on the Community of Isfahan
In response to questions put by the correspondent of the journal Der Israelit of Mayence to the (Chief) Rabbi of the Jewish community of Isfahan concerning the situation of that community, the (Chief…
Adam and Eve
This wall hanging by Saul Borisov depicts Adam and Eve, naked but for fig leaves, not separate beings but still attached to one another, possibly hiding from God after eating the fruit from the…
Among the Breslover Hasidim
If a visitor to Berditchev wishes to hear a typical Jewish melody, let him listen to Reb Nisson Belzer’s protégé. If it is Berditchever Chassidic song he desires, he should go to the Karliner shtibel…
From the Fair
4.
There are faces that God created to enchant you at first glance. Adore me, the face proclaims, and you adore it without knowing…
Inventory of Household Goods of Nathan Levy
The inventory of the goods belonging to Philadelphia Jewish merchant Nathan Levy includes religious books in Judeo-Spanish, as well as numerous secular classical books and musical instruments
Synagogue in the Park at Wörlitz, Germany
Designed in the German neoclassical style, the Wörlitz synagogue was modeled on Rome’s Temple of Vesta, featuring a circular building with a conical roof. It was commissioned by Prince Leopold…
The Benefits of Degeneracy
One of the most widespread concerns among the intellectual classes of the present period is that of the decline of the race, and to remedy this decline they demand…
An Early Reading of Shakespeare
Responding to a growing interest in Shakespeare among the English, Hart’s painting imagines what it might have been like to hear Shakespeare’s works read out loud, shortly after they became available…
Letter to Yehalel: On Creating a Yiddish (National) Newspaper
To the Poet Yehuda Leib Levin (“Yehalal”)Warsaw, Wednesday, Heshvan 5655, 1894Dear Sir and distinguished author,Recent years have shown us that the national movement is not merely failing to increase…
The Russian Jew in America
The Jewish population in the United States has grown from a quarter of a million to about one million. Scarcely a large American town but has some Russo-Jewish names in its directory, with an educated…