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.
Here Comes the Messiah!
…They landed in Lod at night, on the eve of the Day of Judgment.
After lengthy procedures at the airport (a bureaucrat-girl with the same heavy accent, just as tired and pale, couldn’t understand, for…
The Good Catch
Kohn practiced an important profession, the most important after that of God. He was arranging life. […]
[…] And from what does this personage, second only to God, live? He is given a part of the…
Vienna
We couldn’t be Jews, my brother finally explained, raising his voice, because our grandmother had not been Jewish, and for Jews only your mother counts. We weren’t even half-Jewish, because our father…
For Richard Turner
You wrote on the back page
of my last essay (“Political
Education in The Republic”)
“Good ideas, but style
too literary. Use of images
evades the…
Cyrus Cylinder
Cyrus Cylinder, Babylonia. In the inscription, Cyrus, the king of Persia (reigned 559–530 BCE), declares that he was chosen by Marduk, the god of Babylon, to free its citizens from the tyranny and…
Judicial Flogging in Egyptian Painting
Judicial flogging in Egyptian painting, Beni Hasan, Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty (1938–1759 BCE). A culprit is held down by three men as the court overseer watches. Biblical law included provisions for…
Papyrus, Rolled and Sealed
Papyrus, rolled and sealed, Samaria, 4th century BCE. This legal document had multiple seals affixed to it, apparently from different individuals (see the translation of this document, Slave Sale)…
No Other Place
It is possible, it is very possible, that here it is impossible to live, but here we must remain, here we must die, sleep…there is no other place…—Y. H. Brenner
Window Balustrade from Ramat Rahel Palace
Palm imagery is a common motif in decorative architectural elements like window balustrades. Each of the four columns in this partial restoration from the biblical period is six inches in diameter and…
Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story
Gootie, my grandma, was a short, large-boned woman who made the kitchen her kingdom. She entered the living room only on special occasions—like Monday night to watch “I Love Lucy.” She had to think…
Black White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self
In twelfth grade I am at the height of my power as a young woman. I am experienced. I am loved. I am excelling in my classes. I am president of my school and lead all school meetings in the gym every…
Dave at Night
I went back to my letter. “Every Sunday there’s a chess tournament.” I stopped writing.
It was crazy. Mr. Doom was supposed to take care of all of us. Mr. Meltzer was supposed to take care of the…