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.
Letter to the Editor: On Kashering for Passover
Since time immemorial Jews in every city would customarily kasher the dishes they use throughout the year for Passover—glassware by soaking, and pots by heating them to a very high temperature. But a…
My Restlessness Is of a Wolf
My restlessness is of a wolf, and of a bear my rest,
Riot shouts in me, and boredom listens.
I am not what I want, I am not what I think,
I am the magician and I’m the magic-trick.
I am an ancient…
Commentary on Sotah: On the Education of Girls
Rabbi Eliezer said: Whoever teaches his daughter Torah teaches her indecency [m. Sotah 3:4]
The rabbis wrote that this refers only to the Oral Torah; but the Written Torah—even though one should not…
Upon Your Nakedness a White Day Celebrates
Upon your nakedness a white day celebrates,
You who are [so] poor and so rich,
A wall of mountains has frozen,
Transparent like a deceptive vision,
Attached to the horizon.
Noon. The vastnesses of…
Oyfn pripetshik (At the Hearth)
There’s a fire in the hearth
Warm and cozy as it gets
The rebbe teaches children
The Hebrew alphabet
Abischag
King David was old, advanced in years. Though covered in bedclothes, he could not get warm. They searched the land of Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abischag the Shunammite, who was…
To the Common Man
When they begin to plaster the walls
With freshly printed proclamations,
When black print sounds alarm
Calling “To the People” and “To Soldiers”
And ruffians and adolescents
Are taken in by their…
The Melting Pot
Vera [Agitated, coming nearer]: Irony, Mr. Quixano? Please, please, do not imagine there is any irony in my congratulations.David: The irony is in all the congratulations. How can I endure them when…
Zangwill
Someone gathered rich apples, rich corn,
Grown of your heart and your brain,
And in me, as a loft, has stored
Some of the fruit and grain.
The loft smells sweet with its store:
The corn for making…
Salute
There are things in this country too—
And if they find no streetlamp pole,
There will be a tree—and that means clearly
That a Negro over twenty years old
May hate all things which spire
To hold a man…
Self-Hatred among Jews
That self-hatred is present among Jews is a fact that the non-Jew would hardly believe, but which is well known among the Jews themselves. It is a phenomenon which has been observed ever since the…
The Situation of the Jewish Writer
All discussions pertaining to the Jews must begin with some very gloomy observations. The Jews are, everywhere, a minority group, and it is a particular misfortune these days to be a minority group in…