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.
O my soul’s beloved (Yedid nefesh)
O my soul’s beloved, merciful father, drag your servant to do your will!
Your…
The day my heart was troubled doubly
The day my heart was troubled doubly,By your love, O crown unto my head,Delight and joy were mine beside the sheepfolds,When your beauteous traits were joined to me.Lovely are your dancing steps, you…
Upon Leaving Lisbon
Here is the infamous [city] gate,
the one of the olive branch and the sword,
for those who leave, it is so closed
and for those who enter, so open.
If in you peace is exiled
you cannot offer that…
Bridal Veil
Along the nocturnal road were trees, nodding heads like people. The light of the speeding bus falls on them, withdraws from them. And the vapour-veiled moon crescent is getting blurred. But why is her…
White
A day or two passed, but there was no sign of the two. A week later, the Bar-Mitzvah was supposed to have taken place already. He took his chair out of the shop and sat waiting in the doorway. In the…
Burning Holy Books
Holy books, said my friend, angry,
there’s no such thing. Books,
books: let them talk
to us about books.
It was a hot night.
At noon light rips
through the room, and everything’s clear:
over the…
Tomb of Cyrus
Tomb of Cyrus, King of Persia (reigned 559–530 BCE). The tomb stands in Cyrus’ capital, Pasargadae (near today’s Shiraz, Iran). See the Cyrus Cylinder for Cyrus’ role in the return of Judeans from…
City Gate, Gezer
City gate, Gezer, Early Iron Age (1200–980 BCE). This gatehouse complex had benches for participants in legal procedures and other public affairs. In the book of Ruth, Boaz goes to the city gate in…
Bulla of Gedalyahu
Bulla of Gedalyahu, Lachish. The text (bulla) reads: “Belonging to Gedalyahu, the Steward of the Palace.” This may be Gedaliah ben Ahikam, who was appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar after…
Scarab-shaped Seal
Scarab-shaped seal, Achziv, Iron Age IIC (732/701–586 BCE). Seals were used as stamps to impress images and/or words onto clay objects. They were often perforated so they could be suspended from cords…
Volute Capital from Ramat Rahel Palace
The palm and the palmette are common iconographic elements in ancient Near Eastern art, appearing, for example, in ivory decoration (see Ivory and Bone Carvings and Engraved Seashells) and in Assyrian…
The Heavens and the Earth: A Self-Portrait of the 1948 Generation
The tale of the Generation of the Land is a sad tale. Reflecting about the source of the depression that the situation in Israel instills in me, I can only ascribe it to expressions of ethnocentric…