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.
Amputation
And so its pain is unremitting, like an amputated leg
This ash and feathery void chafes at us,
They say two willows were seen in Mazowsze
wearing green prayer shawls also a market stall
in the middle…
The East Side: Matrix of the Jewish Labor Movement
Concentration in specific trades was a distinctive feature of the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. In America this concentration assumed extreme forms. More than half of all Jewish workers (wage…
To Uncle Tom and Other Such Jews
The Jew can be an ally of the black liberation movement and he should be. But first he must find himself. He must realize that his own struggle for liberation is a continuing one, that he also has…
Love and Illusion
Dedicated to my friend Ignacio Móntes de Oca.
Why, if summer strips the garden
Of flowers and verdant foliage,
Does Spring so generously restore
Lush greenery, soft flowers,
And brilliant color;
An…
For a Mother Whose Son Is in Military Service
Almighty ruler of armies, you who reign mightily
In heaven and on earth, I raise my prayer to you
From the depths of a mother’s heart.
Turn your presence toward me
And hear me in your mercy.
Follow…
Open Letter
Open Letter to His Most Worthy,
Supreme Consistorial Counselor and
Provost Teller at Berlin, from some
Householders of the Jewish Religion
But when the more perfect comes, the
imperfect will pass…
Scroll of the Book of Esther
Like Torah scrolls, the scroll of the biblical book of Esther, read ritually in the synagogue on the holiday of Purim, must be completely unadorned. However, in the sixteenth century, for reasons…
The Empty Chair
The empty chair was a recurrent image in the work of Israeli artists. Because of its associations with the (fallen) throne of the biblical King David, it was sometimes used to represent a fallen…
Yosef omets (He Will Be Stronger): On the Ten Days of Repentance
980. It is written in Re’shit ḥokhmah [The Beginning of Wisdom (1579), by Elijah de Vidas]: The name of the Ten Days of Repentance indicates that they were ordained to amend the year. They are days of…
Sefat ha-shulḥan (Rim of the Table)
To cause a blessing to rest within your house, by virtue of your deeds in this world throughout your life; to include [a blessing in] the world to come, as indicated by the length of your days…
The day my heart was troubled doubly
The day my heart was troubled doubly,By your love, O crown unto my head,Delight and joy were mine beside the sheepfolds,When your beauteous traits were joined to me.Lovely are your dancing steps, you…