
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.
The Naked and the Dead
The old man Moshe Sefardnick sits in the rear of the place on a camp stool. There is never any work for him to do and indeed he is too old for it, too bewildered. The old man has never been able to…
The Loudest Voice
There is a certain place where dumb-waiters boom, doors slam, dishes crash; every window is a mother’s mouth bidding the street shut up, go skate somewhere else, come home. My voice is the loudest. […
Without Jews
Without Jews, no Jewish God.
If, God forbid, we should quit
this world, Your poor tent’s light
would out.
Abraham knew You in a cloud:
since then, You are the flame
of our face, the rays
our eyes…
Letter to His Parents after His Conversion
Certainly, dearest parents, I know what is commonly the result of the influence of education and of misunderstood religion, but is it possible that you could hate your son because he harbors other…
Letter of Rabbinic Appointment to the City of Posen
When the leaders of the people were assembled, all the tribes of Israel together, on the evening of the twenty-first day of Adar 5572, to oversee the affairs of the general community and the needs of…
Igrot Meshulam (Epistles of Meshulam)
Sivan, 5529 Livorno [1769]
In the name of G-d, the G-d of mercy!
In such measure as light exceeds darkness, such is the superiority of the people of this country over the people of Spain…
The Love of Zion
Azrikam grew in his father’s house like a thorn, becoming uglier as he grew. Tamar, however, grew more beautiful day by day. The contrast between these two children was not only noticeable in their…
Noda bi-Yehudah (Known in Judah)
When I parted from my father and journeyed forth from his home to Brody, I joined up with friends, God-fearing men of purity; we built a bet midrash for…
Responsa hatam Sofer: Orah hayim 51
And likewise I say: Whoever mingles teachings of Kabbalah with rulings of halakhah is liable for kilayim—sowing a forbidden mixture of seeds, “Lest the fullness of the seed you have sown be forfeited”…
The Four Classes
The Yiddish language is our mother tongue. But is it the language of education, by means of which we can best understand each other? Does anyone even make the suggestion that…