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 Name
About two weeks before the birth was due, Grandfather Zisskind appeared in Raya and Yehuda’s home for the second time. His face was yellow, angry, and the light had faded from his eyes. He greeted…
The Glass Bell
Opposite the windowsill is a shuttered curtain and a wasteland of chimneys. The street is being drained of life. A double-decker bus with gleaming windows of light passes by the corner. A woman pushes…
Behold, Our Bodies Are Laid Out
To Dani and his friends Behold, our bodies are laid out—a long, long row. Our faces are altered. Death looks out of our eyes. We do not breathe. Twilight dwindles and evening falls over the mountain.L…
Evening of Roses
Evening of roses
Let us go out to the orchard
Myrrh, perfumes, and frankincense
A threshold at your foot.
Night falls slowly
And the rose-wind blows
Let me sing to you in a soft whisper
A song of…
Lu Yehi
Beyond the cloud upon the ocean
There’s a white and lonely sail
Let us pray and hope
lu yehi
I light a candle at my window
And its flame is shy and frail
Let us pray and hope
lu yehi
Let us…
Destination Palestine: The Story of the Haganah Ship Exodus 1947
The voices of thousands of people floated to us on the quay. They were singing “Hatikvah,” the Hebrew hymn of hope. It was the song the Jews sang at every emergency and in every crisis. It was their…
Journey through a Small Planet
The New York Yiddish Theater opened its London season that autumn with what the drama critic of our building, a watchmaker named Shmulik, described as a daring translation of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing…
Soul of Wood
Those who had no papers entitling them to live lined up to die. The whole North-west Station was a gigantic waiting-room. It was a long, long wait, but eventually everyone’s turn came. Those who…
To Be a Jew
In memory of my father, Salomón Motje Rozitchner.
What other eternity is there
if not that of knowing
you are eternally dead.
For Jews the choices are not just difficult. The revolution requires the…
Lies My Father Told Me
My grandfather stood six feet three in his worn-out bedroom slippers. He had a long grey beard with streaks of white running through it. When he prayed, his voice boomed like a choir as he turned the…
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Duddy drove to Montreal the next morning, picked up his stuff, and returned to Ste. Agathe by bus the same evening. Yvette met him at the station. “Hey,” he said, “did you see the paper? They raided…