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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.
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Sculpture of seated figure with blanket draped over legs and book in lap.
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Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza, the Portuguese-Jewish philosopher considered one of the most important thinkers of the early modern period, served as a “countercultural” icon for many Jewish artists and intellectuals…
Filigree container in shape of a train car with four wheels and two smoke stacks.
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Train-Shaped Besamim Box

In Jewish tradition, the end of the Sabbath (or a festival) is marked by the ceremony of Havdalah, which includes the ritual smelling of spices (besomim). Many Jewish cultures approached the box…
Sculpture of bearded man wearing shawl, with mouth open and hands clasped.
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Moses’ Death

Mendes da Costa was best known for the reliefs he sculpted for buildings in Amsterdam (many of which were figures of animals) in the style of the Niewe Kunst, the Dutch variant of Art Nouveau. But he…

The Queen of Sheba

On the Lord’s hills, white with lustrous light, Far from rich palaces reeking of wine, Drunk on the night and sidereal sadness, The King dreams in self-imposed exile. Below, mid the wheat, the…

For Mother

Mother, there’s a tedium today, some sadness that’s got into everything, even an ambitious man’s dreams show signs of a slow despair. Mother, try loving your self-despising son on a day he’s alone an…

My Astarte

My Astarte, won’t you tell me: from where    Did you come to us in this valley? Was it in the hand of a merchant (Canaanite) of Sidon    From [the] city stronghold of the sea, through waves of agate…
Page of Hebrew and Italian text framed by floral motifs and three women at the top: one with drawing tool and Zodiac symbols, one with two babies, and one holding sword.
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Wedding Riddle

This wedding riddle from Italy is written in Hebrew and Judeo-Italian. Wedding songs, sometimes performed by professional jesters, were traditional at Jewish weddings. Some had lyrics in the form of…
Wood-carving of a man in skullcap examining an object in his hands.
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A Jewish Tailor

A Jewish Tailor is one of Mark Antokolski’s earliest sculptures, created while he was still a student at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. The work appeared in an era of liberalization of tsarist…