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.
The Age of Wonders
Autumn came and Father decided to put an end to the growing hostility surrounding us. We were already isolated, friendless, and bankrupt, deep in the heart of a cold, gray season. I was still going to…
The Ritual Bath
“You found the victim?”
She nodded.
“Was she conscious at the time?”
“Yes. Baruch Hashem.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Mrs. Adler was conscious.”
“That’s fine,” Decker said. He faced the uniforms. “Cordon off…
The Circumcision
All the Jewish children’s homes and live-in kindergartens that Robi Singer had been attending since the age of four had something in common. Besides a birth certificate and vaccination papers, they…
Cry of the Peacock
In the women’s prison where the Guards had taken Peacock, six people slept in a cell designed for one. They sat on the floor, occupying every rat-infested inch, blindfolded and handcuffed for weeks in…
Beyond the Pale
Gutke found her journal at the bottom of her midwife’s bag and opened it for the first time that year:
Even with my talent for visions, I never would have guessed half of what happened. I suppose that…
Cuckoo
So, like I said before, the only problem of Pnina was, she couldn’t have children. Everything else, a husband, money, work, vacations, she had. Only no children. Not that she and Yochanan didn’t try…
Circumcision in an Egyptian Relief
Circumcision in an Egyptian relief, Sakkara, Egypt, Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2350–2170 BCE). Priests perform circumcision on boys. The hieroglyphic legend reads “circumcision.” The hands of the boy on the…
I Protest
I wipe the dust off my books
with a small t-shirt, an old t-shirt
which was once my son’s. We have
more dust this summer than last,
and its composition is different…
Lot (puru), Assyria
Lot (puru), Assyria, 8th century BCE. The inscription identifies this as a lot (puru—the Akkadian form of Hebrew pur, the word used in Esther 3:7) that belonged to an Assyrian official named Yahalu…
Prisoners, Naked and Bound, in Embossed Relief
Prisoners, naked and bound, in embossed relief, Assyria, Iron Age II, 9th century BCE. These prisoners, from a city in Syria, were conquered by the army of Shalmaneser III, King of Assyria (reigned…
Words Taken to Heart: Four Answers to One Question
You Will Be Wrapped in Silk
“And how do you merit to live so long?”
—Because I know there is need to consider.
At my birth someone said, “He will be wrapped
in silk.” And now the guests are…
Fierce Attachments
My mother and I are out walking. I ask if she remembers the women in that building in the Bronx. “Of course,” she replies. I tell her I’ve always thought sexual rage was what made them so crazy.…