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.
Whither?
I see his melancholy profile as though through a mist, through the curtain of thick cloud that descended on him in his lifetime and darkened his bright trail with a multitude of vain fictions and will…
Behind the Fence
One Sabbath eve, as darkness fell, Noah lay hidden among the thorns and thistles growing under the fences outside the quarter and waited. He knew that Marinka would be returning this way from her…
Lévy
“You come from Poland, Monsieur David . . . ?”
“Davidovich.”
Lévy, his host, looking with desperation at the traveling salesman, supplied the name. Still sweating from fear, Lévy was now sweating for…
Motl, the Cantor’s Son
It did our hearts good to see Vaytshepl. It did Pinye too much good. “Why, it’s Berdichev!” he shouted. “Children, I swear, we’re not in London at all, we’re in Berdichev!” The next thing I know he’s…
My White Snow Princess
Oh white spirit—
My princess!
The spring rips,
Tears at your dress.
The air is full of spring’s fame
Crowned with florets
Carrying its perfume
Spring’s fresh scents.
Bringing your death,
My white…
Benjamin, One of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Stained-Glass Window, Hadassah Medical Centre, Jerusalem
In the late 1950s, Marc Chagall began to work on stained-glass windows for the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Each of the twelve windows that were ultimately created for the hospital’s…
Bluebeard’s Castle
Judith:Ev’rything lies deep in shadow.[She feels her way forward.][She shudders.]The walls are sweating.Tell me BluebeardWhy this moisture on my fingers?Walls and rafters, all are weeping.[She covers…
My Life
You understand, my sweet confessor, that I could be even more of a sinner than not, and I hope just the same for your absolution. In the meantime, I will tell you that after…
The Mystical Autobiography of a Sephardic Woman from Salonika
One afternoon a friend from class asked me a religious question. After I answered her, she remarked that it was curious that our teacher had not been able to answer the same question. “Don’t be so…
Portrait of Fanny von Arnstein
Fanny von Arnstein (née Itzig; 1758–1818) was born into a prominent Jewish banking family in Berlin and married a leading Viennese financier. She entertained many luminaries at her famous salon. Having…
Expedition Findings on East European Jews
Khaye-Gite came. She is a typical grandmother. She talks to God quietly, politely. She wasn’t too keen on telling us about being a grandmother. She just told us a few things. She knows lots…
Diary Entries: On the Massacres in Urfa and Izmir
The city of Urfa, located between Palestine and Karaman, was the site of a very well-organized and previously planned massacre.
On the past August 18…