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.
Derushe ha-tselah (Sermons [of Landau])
One who exchanges good for bad and bad for good, and says that transgressions are really virtuous deeds, and that it is by this means that one can bring the Will of the Creator to fruition—such an…
Peri ha-arets (Fruit of the Earth)
Devekut requires that there be no impediment between man and God; only then is devekut possible. As in the parable of the Besht, it is impossible to join silver coins together…
The Jews in Our Time
They [the hasidim] study Kabbalah and Talmud diligently and successfully, and consequently they have among them excellent Talmud scholars. They also comprise three groups, each of them under one chief…
A Sermon Delivered at the Great Synagogue of Smyrna on the Arrival of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore in that City after His Successful Mission on Behalf of His Persecuted Brethren in Damascus
Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. —Genesis 28:15.
From the Midrash Shoḥer tov. “For the leader. Of the servant of the Lord, of David…
Jude
Cherkassky’s gold Star of David with the word “Jude” in its center was displayed in Collectio Judaica at the Rosenfeld Gallery in 2003. It was the artist’s first major solo exhibition. The theme of…
Human Follies: For Sukkot
Human follies, silver and gold and possessions,
Last only shortly on earth, and like flies, they fly away.
Wealth flowers like abundant grain, or like a tree’s boughs,
It bears recognizable fruit…
Discursos predicables y avisos espirituales (Preaching Discourses and Spiritual Advice)
God created man so that man might know His majesty, which is the highest good: knowing Him, being able to love Him, and loving Him, being able to possess…
Bliss
We shall live in the shade of the graceful doe and, living there, shall be sustained. We shall walk through darkness by her light, with never-ending joy. When she laughs, we will burst into song; when…
Her Eyes
The girl’s eyes are the heavens of love, a robe of light and splendour in which she clothes herself. Even when they are hidden by clouds of tears, lovers, do not be afraid to come near. Do not fear…
Hear O Israel
When we were the persecuted
I was one of you
How can I remain one
when you become the persecutors?
Your longing was
to become like other nations
who murdered you
Now you have become like them
You…
For Ethel Rosenberg
convicted, with her husband,
of “conspiracy to commit
espionage”; killed in the
electric chair June 19, 1953
Lamentation of the Borderguard
I do not want to be a borderguard, said the borderguard.
I don’t want to be a bodyguard.
I don’t want to be a guardian angel.
I don’t want to be a guide.
I want not to be a grinder.
I don’t want to…