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.
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…
Impaled Corpses at Lachish
Impaled corpses at Lachish, detail from Assyrian relief in the Nineveh palace of Sennacherib (reigned 705–681 BCE), depicting the conquest of Lachish in 701 BCE. For the full relief see Conquest of…
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.…
Model Shrine from Khirbet Keiyafa
This limestone model of a shrine, around 8 inches wide, 10 inches long, and 14 inches high (20 cm × 25 cm × 35 cm), was painted red. The façade features a triple-recessed door frame, above which is a…
Budapest Diary: In Search of the Motherbook
Few children know the stories of their parents. During my childhood, I knew only that mine were an impossible match—which did not prevent my mother from spending day and night at my father’s bedside…
A Tale of Love and Darkness
Even after the mourning period was over, when the flat was finally empty and my father and I locked the door and were alone together, we hardly talked to one another. Except about the most essential…
The Island on Bird Street
Freddy laid the soldier on the floor and said, “Now that I have a rifle and bullets, I’ll join the uprising tonight. But Henryk will stay with you. His wound isn’t serious. The bullet can be gotten…
Ivory-openwork Panel with a Battle between a Wild Bull and a Lion
The battle between a wild bull and a lion, which are among the most powerful animals, is a common theme in ancient Near Eastern art. In this panel from Samaria, the lion’s claws are embedded in the…
Kriza
The Woman:I married him and he never gave me any trouble. His mother, she lives with us here. This house is his mother’s house. When we are there, together, in the other room, she lights candles here…
Coin with Gorgon/Lion and Bovine
This is the earliest known Jewish coin. It may have been minted in Philistia for the province of Yehud, before Yehud began to mint its own coins. The front depicts the head of a gorgon, a Greek…
A Man from Lachish with His Sons
This detail appears in a relief from the palace of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (r. 705–681 BCE), in Nineveh depicting the Assyrian conquest of Lachish in 701 BCE. (For the full relief, see "Conquest…