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.
Periodization of the Eras and the Evolution of the Generations
Rabbi Elhanan related:
“I once asked the Hafetz Chaim:
“Granted that we are accustomed to a division of eras in Jewish religious history—the Tannaitic era separately, and the Amoraic era separately…
Jewish Music—National Music
“There is no Jewish music!” Thus concluded not only our assimilationists but also most of our nationalists.
We will not argue with the former at all, since, according to them, because there is no…
The Common Names of Plants
The common names of plants used by different nations and languages were not coined by chance alone. If we examine the origin of these names, we find they are based on ancient legend and that the…
The Stormy Life of Lasik Roitschwantz
Lasik’s downfall did not come because of his name. It was only because of that sigh. Perhaps it was not even the sigh, but rather the economic situation, or the hot weather, or perhaps even certain…
Letter to Rachel Bluwstein
Kinneret, 12 Nissan, 5674 [8 April 1914]
There was a time when the writing of a letter, like the receiving of a letter, was in itself like a holiday for me. I lived in letters—as I told you once and…
Tel Aviv
Avigdor walked beyond the city limits of Tel Aviv into the endless stretch of sand. He had never seen such sand. He walked among the sand dunes, as in a forest, seeing nothing except the glaring sands…
Responsum: On Technology and Jewish Law
In the main portion of this work I spoke of the use of an electric light. Here I shall discuss the law of whether one is permitted to speak on Shabbat by means of a machine called a “telephone.”…
The Tale of the Ba‘al Shem and the Dybbuk
This is no fairy tale, it really happened.
In our shtetl, there was a bright young man named Móyshele. He was as smart as a whip, and also a good-for-nothing. Then all at once he disappeared, and no…
A Child
I have a friend, a teacher, with shaggy hair black as pitch.
He has a child (his wife is still a child too)
and when he comes home, difficult and gloomy,
she runs to meet him, like a quivering wave:…
Midrashim of Redemption
And I will wait upon the Lord,
who hides His face from the house of Jacob,
and I will look for Him. (Isaiah 8:16)
I endeavored to place before the educated reader all the literature of redemption…
Dina’s Braids
Dina has reached the age of seventeen, but her mind and manners are far beyond those years. She is comely and demure and full of charm. Two modest eyes and two wild braids. Why wild? Because they have…
My Blue Piano
At home I have a blue piano,
I, who cannot play a note.
It stands in the gloom of the cellar door,
now that the world has grown coarse.
The four hands of the stars play there
—the moonwife sang…