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.
First Will
I request my husband to dispose as follows:I would wish to be able to give my family in Berlin the capital of 10,000 gulden held for me by my husband . . . my pearls, as my favorite pieces of jewelery…
The Childhood and Youth of a Man of the Enlightenment
I was born on 19 February 1758 in Nový Bydžov [in Bohemia] of well-to-do parents who destined me at birth to be a rabbi, a common practice among the Israelites then. For at that time, when all…
The Tithe
[ . . . ] The sofer’s work is poorly compensated. There is an old proverb about how the soferim never grow wealthy in the land of Israel. I don’t know who gave birth to that pearl detached from the…
Responsa binyan tsiyon (Responsa: Building Zion)
The Holy Community of Altona, Friday, 29 Marheshvan 5621[14 November 1860]
To my dear friend, father of my son-in-law, the distinguished rabbi, our Teacher, R. Shemaryahu Zuckerman, may his…
Bene Zion: A Religious-Moralistic Textbook for the Youth of the Israelite Nation
374. No man, in isolation, can gain for himself the means through which to satisfy his physical needs and develop his spiritual strength; he…
L’educatore Israelita: A Newspaper of Readings for Jewish Families. Compiled by the Teachers Giuseppe Levi and Esdra Pontremoli
We have already offered a glimpse, in our program, into the nature of this publication. Yet the desire to open our heart, especially to those benevolent people who have looked favorably upon…
Fishke the Lame
Fishke started to narrate in his lisping, stammering way.
“You seem to know I married the blind orphan girl, and after the wedding we lived well, like a Jewish couple should. I think I kept my part of…
La vocación de Abraham
Terah’s wife is pregnant
day after day she turned pale,
she already knew what she had
but she did not reveal it to her husband.
One day she went out to fields and vineyards,
she found a cavern and…
Song of the Railway
A whole world of railways appeared in our time
They carry their passengers—poor men and rich.
Admire the wonder, but bear this in mind:
It’s really a parable, meant just for you.
It is we who are…
