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.
Tofteh ‘arukh (Hell Arranged)
What is this sound of tumult that I hear—
Roaring of the sea, not burbling of the brook
Like the roar of a lion or a tiger?
I am in great danger and do not know
If my time approaches when I must…
Sefer ma‘aseh nisim (The Book of Miracles)
The house known today as the House of the Sun is a large stone structure next to the synagogue. But long, long ago it was called the Devil’s Head, and it was…
Livyat ḥen (Ornament of Grace)
A simple four-syllable poem, where each of the four members of the line has four tenu‘ot, with no yated. In some of them, the members do not rhyme…
The Hill of Evil Counsel
Darkness fell on the Hill of Evil Counsel. The paper lanterns went out one by one. Only the searchlights continued to claw the gentle slope and the bushes that were gradually sinking into ever-deeper…
On Firmer Shores
“I must go to carols tomorrow night.”
Mother is serving the soup. Chicken soup again, with noodles, for the third day in a row. While from next door, a roast tickles the nostrils. A myriad globules…
One Day, during World War II
One day, during World War Two, a military chaplain arrived at our army camp in the Australian outback, to celebrate the Feast of Hanukkah with us and tell us about the wars of the Maccabees. Apart…
Perfumes of Carthage
In her death agony—which lasted no more than an instant or two—Nazira Mualdeb reviewed the months preceding her granddaughter Alcira’s wedding and a torrent of ghostly images spontaneously abandoned…
New Boy
Barry had joined the school three weeks earlier, at the start of the sixth form. There was a tradition at the school that any new boy would be ignored by everyone except the Christians for roughly a…
Prais
“The tragic element in Shostakovich’s worldview” is the subject of longstanding debate. Was it a prophetic dream of Soviet Jewry, the spirit of which weighed on Shostakovich even in his youth? His…
Hester among the Ruins
At the appointed café on Leopoldstrasse, HF is waiting by the door, which he holds open for me. It is perfect weather for sitting out of doors, but he rejects the sidewalk tables. Inside it is dark…