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.
Sermon of Ethical Rebuke Preached . . . during the Penitential Period Preceding the New Year’s Day, 5505 [1744], to the Congregation of Metz
The prophet Hosea cried out: Come, let us turn back to the Lord; He attacked, and He can heal us; He wounded, and He can bind us up. In two days He will make us whole again; on the third day He will…
Sermon for the Sabbath Preceding Passover
This is therefore followed by a question: since it is so that we are still slaves, why is this night of Egyptian exile different from all the other nights of exile under other kingdoms? Why all this…
Israel and Humanity
Judaism’s approach to history is shaped by the fact that unlike other religions, it locates perfection not at the beginning but at the end of history. This, surely, is the…
Arbol de vidas, en el qual se contienen los dinim mas necessarios que deve observar todo Ysrael (Tree of Life, in Which Are Included Those Laws Most Necessary for All Israel to Observe)
The will of the creator is that the world should be sustained, expanded, and populated daily by man, whom he shaped for his glory. That is, indeed, why he created this great machine, and…
Exemplar de penitencia dividido em tres discursos para o dia santo de Kipur (The Pattern of Penitence, or Three Discourses for the Sacred Day of Yom Kippur)
This disunity among us, the lack of piousness for one another, the civil war of murmurings in places where conversations and visits occur, evils that have caused the past and extend…
Di sreyfe fun Venedig (The Great Fire of Venice)
Now I would also like to sing a bit,
With my poor voice,
Of things that have happened recently,
Which everyone ought to know:
Of the plague and pestilence,
That have happened here this time
In the…
Five Polemics Concerning Women
Enough, you fools and idiots, enough!
Why do you come to me with sage advice?
Are you still infants? Are you soiling still
Your diapers and sheets with excrement…
Are You
Are you Avraham’s, Yitzhak’s, Yaakov’s?
Are you my mother’s god?
What’s mine of all this?
What did I take by force of hand
and why am I alone
in a city meant to be my city
on account of a mother born…
The Poverty Line
As if you could draw a line and say: below this there’s poverty.
Here’s the bread that turned black in the colorations
Of cheap makeup
And the olives in their little plate
Atop the cloth over the…
Horse and Rider Figurine
This terra-cotta figurine from Lachish is very schematic, and the rider’s legs are not shown. The rider cannot represent an average person because people—even kings—more often rode on donkeys and…
Seal of Yaazanyahu (Jaazaniah), Servant of the King, with Rooster
This agate seal with an image of a rooster was found in a Roman-period tomb at Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah), but its script dates it to the late seventh or early sixth century BCE. The bottom register…