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.
My Sister Ruḥamah
In honor of Jacob’s daughter who was raped by Ben ḤamorWhy should you weep my sister Ruḥamah,Why are you downcast, why does your spirit quiver,And why have your rosy cheeks wilted?Because raiders…
Troops Marching, Israel
Many of Robert Capa’s war photographs are of solitary soldiers or small groups of fighters (such as this one, of Israeli troops during Israel’s War of Independence) rather than scenes of heroism on…
My Own
My lovely lady is like flights of scent—
the other day she opened like a flower—
She is beautiful as angels in the spring—
the other night her sun warmed my heart—
My lady’s lips are the single…
Speak to Us in Jewish
And after all the argumentation and consideration
The Jew will arise and speak to us:
“In our blessed country all voices of the Torah are at the doorway
And all lessons will captivate the hearts of…
Hebrew Ballads
The little sons of Abraham took shells
And floated boats made out of mother-pearl;
Then Isaac leaned in fear on Ishmael.
And mournfully sang the two black swans
Quite gloomy notes…
The Sum of Suffering
The sum of suffering is greater
Than the sum of happiness.
That’s what a philosopher said
Long ago, years and years.
The waves of suffering wash away
Happiness’s tiny isle.
The bridge of suffering…
At the Road
The whole day
In the roads’ realm
The whole day
Facing only wind
Just a narrow ditch between road and shoulder
Just young lids between sun and eye
What in the world
Can be more beautiful?
Translated…
The Good Girl
[The first act is set in Tuscany in September. The second and third acts are set in Rome in January.]
Hand-Washing Basin
Before the priestly blessing is recited in the synagogue, those making the blessing ritually wash their hands. It is also customary for Jews to wash their hands before entering a synagogue for worship…
Aesthetic Culture
The world is full of armies.
But that is not what will kill us.
Béla Balázs
If there is culture today, it can only be an aesthetic culture. If one wants to raise seriously the question whether there…
On the Question of All Questions Concerning the Settling of the Land
The Arab Question—with which the youngsters born in this Land have been familiar for many years, and because of which they were subject to disgrace and ridicule by the prominent men within the Yishuv…
Nationalism and Jewish Emancipation
Those who are engrossed by the Jewish problem and strive to resolve it approach it from the most various points of view, save that which alone would be logical—I mean the Jewish point of view.
Indeed…