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.
The Song at the Sea
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength…
Song at the Sea (Exodus 15), Leningrad Codex
Song at the Sea (Exodus 15), Leningrad Codex, 1009 CE. The photo shows the first fourteen verses of the poem (Exodus 15:1–14) and a few prose verses from the end of the preceding chapter. The text of…
Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), Aleppo Codex
Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), Aleppo Codex, ca. 925 CE. The photo shows the beginning of the poem (Deuteronomy 32:1–14) and the prose verses from the end of the preceding chapter. The text of the…
A Secret Letter to London
The evening of 5 Heshvan, 5642 [October 28, 1881]
Tomorrow with the second post, a pamphlet will be sent to you with a responsum entitled Isaac’s Stream (Naḥal Yitsḥak), regarding a miserable agunah…
Responsum: On Women’s Rights to Divorce
Question: Some of the poor members of the nation in Egypt [do as follows]. When a man fights with his wife and their marriage is not working out, and the wife wants to divorce but the husband does not…
The Women Shopkeepers, or, Golde-Mine, the Abandoned Wife of Brod
In short, in addition to being affluent, our Reb Hoshea Heffler was also steeped in the holy books. He was a traditional Jew, who could not abide the maskilim, the enlightened ones. He always used to…
‘Olelot Efrayim (The Gleanings of Ephraim)
[Text:] § 22 The Midrash says: “For the sake of four things were our…
Derush boker de-Avraham (Sermon: Morning of Abraham)
I propose to set forth the faith of our ancestors—our prophets, our sages—forgotten by us these thousand years, because of the long duration of our exile. This faith was known to the Tannaim and most…
Apology for His Language (On Yiddish and Hochdeutsch)
An apology for the fact that this is written in the language of Ashkenaz (in Hochdeutch [German]). In my opinion, there are two good reasons for this: first, I have found written in…
A Song on the Jews of Ashkenaz and Poland
I will raise the matter of trimming the beard
He trims it away like leaven [on the eve of Passover]
He leaves only a small goatee.
One more…
Where will you camp, O my ibex?
Where will you camp, O my ibex, for whom I yearn?
Where will you drip the droplets of your wine and your dew—O formidable one?
If you bring up your beauty to heaven on high,
You will dim…