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.
Thesaurus of Hebrew-Oriental Melodies: Songs of the Yemenite Jews
A systematic collection of the traditional songs of Oriental Jews is of great importance, both for the elucidation of the vocal music used in synagogues and for the study of the origins of…
How Should Yiddish Be Written?
Ever since the written word in Russia became a bit freer, the country has released a torrent of Yiddish publications of every sort. Various publishing houses have appeared, and every one of them is…
Letter to the Alliance Israélite Universelle
I am in the process of preparing a rather copious work on Salonica, its past, and its present. The history of the [Jewish] community has given me quite a headache. I have gone through a pile of…
La juive
The plot of La Juive (The Jewish Woman), an opera in five acts, centered around a romance between a Jewish woman and a Christian man. It was one of the most popular operas of the nineteenth century.
The Hunt in Bohemia
The great controversy in Bohemia surrounding the language legislation shows Austrian Jews in a strange position. They go along loyally with those who only yesterday had been their fiercest enemies—and…
On the Tasks of the Folkspartay
We must not repeat the mistake made by western Jews . . . in denying their nationality and in assimilating completely in all areas of life except religion. . . . We eastern Jews have seen all the…
Wailing Wall
In these days when Jews are being killed in Palestine, I chose to go to Grenadierstrasse—not to Jerusalem. I had the feeling it was better to be with the bereaved than the dead. I paid a condolence…
Letters to Sholem Aleichem
June 17, 1888 [June 29 in the Gregorian calendar]Dear Sir:Several days ago, I received an undated and terse postcard from one of my friends, a person close to me, H. Epstein, in which the following…
To the Modern Girl
It is you, modern girls, whom I address. The modern spirit has completely changed your natures. If the sages of old, who spoke so much about the wonderful strength of woman as opposed to man, found…
To the Reader of Ha-Me‘orer
Look: the life and death of this organ [publication] is in your hands. If you wish, it will expand, flourish, and branch out in quality and quantity, and, if you wish, it will dry up, wither, and fade…