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.
Nineteen Letters on Judaism
You ask me for my opinion on the question which at present agitates so greatly the minds of men, emancipation; whether I consider it feasible and desirable, according to the spirit of Judaism, our…
Igerot Shadal (Letters of Samuel David Luzzatto)
I am a friend to all lovers of Torah and wisdom and my only desire and my complete salvation rest in disseminating the sources of the Torah in order that the earth will be full of the knowledge of God…
Jew in the Holy Land
This illustration is from Franciscan monk Eugène Roger’s La terre saincte (The Holy Land), a comprehensive study of the Land of Israel which includes dozens of etchings depicting Jewish, Muslim, Druze…
Self Portrait in His Map of Eretz Israel
When Jacob ben Abraham Tsaddik created the first printed map of the Holy Land in Hebrew, he included this portrait of himself. The Hebrew under the image of the sun intertwined with a Star of David…
Portrait of Yeḥiel Mikhel ben Nathan of Lublin
The rhymed Hebrew inscription below the picture of Yeḥiel Mikhel ben Nathan of Lublin notes that he had formerly been a cantor in Lublin and is presently serving in that role in Amsterdam, in 1699…
“Hayya Ga’on’s” Pitron ḥalomot (Dream Interpretation)
This is the title page and the first page of Pitron ḥalomot (Dream Interpretation), a work incorrectly attributed to Hayya ben Sherira Ga’on. The book was published by Gershom ben Eliezer Soncino (d…
Gazeta de Amsterdam (Amsterdam Gazette)
The Gazeta de Amsterdam was printed by David de Castro Tartas, in that city, not regularly, from 1672 to 1702. This is considered the first Jewish newspaper, although it has no particular Jewish…
Spanish Edition of David Nieto’s Mateh Dan (The Tribe of Dan)
This is a Spanish edition of David Nieto’s Mateh Dan (The Tribe of Dan). David Nieto’s best-known work constitutes a defense of the oral law and rabbinic tradition, addressed to former New Christians…
For Becoming Invisible
For becoming invisible: write the following on a deerskin parchment, wrap it in three layers of leathers, and wear it: Glospats Tsamarkhad, Kilkel, YHWH. Take a rooster in the month of March and put…
Amulet for a Newborn Girl
Printed amulet for an infant girl from Germany. It was (presumably) printed alongside its companion amulet for a male child (see “Amulet for a Newborn Boy”). However, the pair were separated. A woman…
Printer’s Introduction: Bomberg Bible, Second Edition
Thus saith the humble Jacob ben Chajim ben Isaac Ibn Adonijah: “He entereth in peace, where the righteous rest upon their couches, who walked in uprightness.”
Praised be the Creator, who exists and…
Editor’s Apology: She’elot u-teshuvot Maharil
Thus said the editor [megihah], who bursts forth [megi’aḥ] in prostration from his place, and offers his greeting of peace with a bow and while kneeling. His labor is for all those who are wise of…