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.
Green Aquarium
“Your teeth are bars of bone. Behind them, in a crystal cell, your shackled words. Remember the advice of an elder: the guilty, those that dropped poison pearls into your goblet—let them go free. In…
City of Many Days
The long-suffering city took in people with the strangest ideas, philosophers, freaks, madmen, each with his own nutty flavor, who vanished as suddenly as they appeared. Sometimes Jerusalem seemed to…
To God in Europe
God, blood has overflowed the soul; among us, the weight of his killed kindred
lies heavy on the head of every living creature.
And it is Sinai, it is Nevo now.
As for the goyim…
God No Longer Speaks
God no longer speaks
as he did in the days of the Bible,
he no longer shines in the firecloud
over our roof.
Adam and Eve have run into the depths of the garden
from God’s unveiled presence,
as we—we…
Next Year
Come next year we shall sit on the porch
Count the birds flying north.
Children on holiday will play catch
Between the house and the meadow.
You will see, you will yet see
How good it will be
In…
Scenes of Jewish Life in Alsace
After an absence of many years, I returned to Alsace in November 1856, in response to the invitation of an old friend. During this first and short visit, I was greatly moved in recovering all the…
The Jews of Barnow
“Well, as you know already, the story is about Esterka, the daughter of the Jew to whom this house belongs. She was ten years old when he came here, and tall of her age, with black hair and large blue…
On the Religious Legitimacy of Studying Logic (Commentary on Maimonides’ Milot ha-higayon)
There is no doubt, then, that the One Who Has Graced Man With Understanding has implanted in his heart the methods for becoming wise, and established for him upright rules and laws by means of which…
Shever poshe‘im: The Court of R. Hayim Haykl of Amdur
The communal treasurer stands on guard at the entrance to the rabbi’s home to make inquiry concerning every invalid or cripple, and by what name he is called. One can hear the noise of the people as…
History of the Colony of Suriname
We will briefly mention several of his more important military expeditions. In the year 1731, Mr. Boeyé, Officer of the Christian Citizens Militia, received an order from the Council to carry out a…
Portrait of the Singer Jenny Lind (the "Swedish Nightingale")
Johanna Maria Jenny Lind (born Johanna Maria Lind, 1820–1887) was known as the “Swedish Nightingale” and was one of the most highly regarded singers of the nineteenth century. After performing in…
Ancienne melodie de la synagogue
Charles-Valentin Alkan was the first composer to incorporate Jewish melodies in art music. His “Ancienne melodie de la synagogue,” a prelude for solo piano or organ, was published in 1847, along with…