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.
Why I Would Rather Not Be a Jew—and If I Must, Then Rather Not in Germany
When it came time for me to start school, my mother went to the director of the Wilhelm Pieck School in Katowice, Poland, where we were living then, to register me. My sister, nine years my senior…
Ethical and Religious Laws
You shall not tolerate a sorceress.
Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.
Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone shall be proscribed.
You shall not wrong…
Providing for the Poor
If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against…
The Levites
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Advance the tribe of Levi and place them in attendance upon Aaron the priest to serve him. They shall perform duties for him and for the whole community before the…
Buying a Calf
One calf, two years old, white, the top of its humpback is cleft (?). Haraa, daughter of Talimmu, sold to Neriyama, son of Ahiyakam, for 23 shekels of white silver, 1/8 per shekel impure, of average…
Isaiah’s Vineyard Poem
Let me sing for my beloved
A song of my lover about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard
On a fruitful hill.
He broke the ground, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with choice vines.
He…
Samson’s Riddle
Then Samson said to them, “Let me propound a riddle to you. If you can give me the right answer during the seven days of the feast, I shall give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of clothing;…
Self-Portrait with Candles
Self-Portrait with Candles is a rare example of a work with a Jewish theme by Lily Delissa Joseph. Here she has painted herself holding two Sabbath candles. Her head is covered, as is traditional for…
Koheleth’s Attempts to Find Meaning in Life
I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.—An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be…
Blessing in Burial Cave at Khirbet el-Kom (Makkedah) #3
This inscription was written by someone who was apparently hiding in the cave. For a photograph of the inscription, see Hamsa-like Hand in Khirbet el-Kom (Makkedah) Tomb.Uriyahu the governor wrote it…
About an Earlier Letter, Troop Movements, and a Letter from a Prophet
Your servant, Hoshayahu, sent to inform my lord, Yaush: May YHWH cause my lord to hear tidings of peace and tidings of good. And now, open the ear of your servant concerning the letter which you sent…
Temple Beth El (Detroit, Michigan)
Alfred Kahn’s grand classical revival synagogue and its location on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue attracted many new members to Temple Beth El. The congregation soon outgrew the building, and in 1922 it…