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.
Rabbis of Schwerin to Moses Mendelssohn
Schwerin, 18 May 1772
15 Iyar 5532 to the Jewish counting
To the man possessed of abundant dominion, wisdom, and understanding, renowned for his knowledge, whose name is spoken of in the far-flung…
Kedushat Yom Tov (The Sanctity of Yom Tov)
Reuben spoke in the marketplace with two men, inviting them to come to his house for the purpose of giving them the monies accrued from a business partnership, and they entered his house…
La Reine de Chypre
La reine de Chypre (The Queen of Cyprus) is a grand opera in five acts, first performed in Paris in 1841. It is regarded as one of the greatest works of the composer Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie…
Duette: Mein Liebchen, wir sassen beisammen (Duet: My Sweetheart, We Sat Together)
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel wrote numerous songs, piano compositions, cantatas, and other musical works, which were not published in her lifetime. The illustration on this hand-written manuscript…
Celebratory Processional in Prague to Honor Joseph II
A month after the birth of future Emperor Joseph II (March 13, 1741), the Jews of Prague held a festive procession in honor of the happy event. The procession, which was planned and led by the…
Torah Curtain
This Torah curtain was donated to the Altneuschul (Staranova Synagogue) in Prague in 1602 by Natan ben Issachar (called Karpel Zaks), and Hadassi bat Moses, who commissioned it, as attested to by its…
De Pinto Etrog Container
During the holiday of Sukkot, four plant species are used in rituals in the synagogue. One of these is the etrog (citron). While containers to protect the etrog later became more common, they were…
Synagogue (Gwoździec, Poland)
The wooden synagogue in Gwoździec, eastern Galicia (modern-day Poland), was one of more than two hundred wooden synagogues that existed in Poland before World War II. Wooden synagogues were a…
Gravestone of Esther de la Pena Gabay Henriques
Born in Córdoba, Spain, Esther Gabay Henriques married Daniel de la Penha, a Spanish merchant in Rotterdam. The family coat of arms appears above the epitaph. Beneath is a low relief of the couple’s…
Portrait of Hezekiah da Silva
Born in Livorno, Tuscany, in 1656, Hezekiah ben David de Silva was a scholar best known for his halakhic work Peri ḥadash (New Fruit). De Silva studied in Syria and later headed a yeshiva in Jerusalem…
Portrait of Rachel da Costa with the Child Catharina Suasso
Here, Catherine da Costa, the first known female Jewish painter, has painted her daughter and granddaughter to resemble a Madonna and child. An unidentified woman leans over the infant, seemingly…
Torah Finials
These gilt-silver Torah finials were made in Amsterdam by master silversmith Pieter van Hoven, who lived near the Jewish quarter and is best known for the Jewish ceremonial objects he crafted. Cast…