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.
Jesús
He didn’t take it seriously the first few times his roommates suggested that he start peddling images of Jesus, of Yoshke, as he preferred to call him. He thought they were kidding. How could they be…
Responsum: On Uniting European Jewry
Now, the editor [of the Maḥzike hadas journal] suggested that we keep away from the people of this generation, that is, separate from one another entirely, just as Abraham separated from Lot [see…
The Old Bunch
“It was my fault, Sammy. I aggravate you when you’re tired,” she said, sitting up and drawing his head to her. “I shouldn’t even have mentioned Ev. We ought to go to your family this year. It’s only…
History of the Bene Israel of India: Natal Ritual
On the morning of the twelfth day, the child is bathed and laid in a cradle with the repetition of the word Beshem Adonai that is, “in the…
On Emancipation and Jewish Education
Throughout the duration of the exile of Israel, Jews worshiped God in awe, and from the time that freedom was granted to them and the exile of the body was made easier, the exile of the soul increased…
1919
Lately, there’s no trace left
Of Yankl, son of Yitskhok,
But for a tiny round dot
That rolls crazily through the streets
With hooked-on, clumsy limbs.
The lord-above surrounded
The whole world with…
Frightened Mothers Surround the Neighborhood: Tonsil Riots
A foolish, misunderstood order by the Board of Education about cutting out “mandlen” [tonsils] from children’s throats is interpreted to mean a command to slit childrens’ throats and causes a wild…
The Jewish Woman
I am a stranger.
Since no one dares approach me
I would be girded with towers
That wear their steep and stone-gray caps
Aloft in clouds.
The brazen key you will not find
That locks the musty…
Lullaby
Hush little baby. Forty-six years now
the night has rocked itself in my empty cradle
Now a gray head is rocked to sleep with the same tune:
Standing at the cradle’s head
No angel with two white wings…
Goyim in the Ghetto
There’s a folk saying: “The way it goes with the Christians, so it goes with the Jews.” Many concessions were made to the goyim, especially in matters concerning the ghetto. The guards at the ghetto…
Heart of a Wife: The Diary of a Southern Jewish Woman
D-Day at last. The invasion started about 1 a.m., and I have been listening to the radio since 8. My first reaction, and I’m sure everyone else’s—“Thank God, and God keep…