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.
Psalm 137
By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat,
sat and wept,
as we thought of Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung up our lyres,
for our captors asked us there for songs,
our tormentors, for amusement,
“Si…
Head of a Young Jew (Self-Portrait)
Head of a Young Jew, Natan Altman’s most famous sculpture, is an expression of his desire to set a new, modern course for Jewish art. The asymmetrical sculpture, a combination of bronze, copper, and…
Tanakh Class in Jaffa
The Herzliya Gymnasium was the first modern Hebrew and Jewish national high school in Palestine. Founded by Zionist and Hebraist activists in 1905 in Jaffa and relocated to Tel Aviv soon after the new…
The Scholar, the Laborer, and the Toiler of the Soil
Maurice Ascalon, sometimes called the father of modern Israeli decorative arts, was commissioned to create this sculpture for the façade of the Palestine Pavilion of the 1939 New York World’s Fair…
From the series Jewish Soldiers
This series by Helmar Lerski pictured Jewish soldiers fighting with the British Army during World War II—all in all, about a hundred men and women. All the portraits are in Lerski’s distinctive…
The Prayer
Jacques Lipchitz created The Prayer in 1943 to express his horror over the mass murder of Jews, which was then underway in Europe, reportedly crying as he made the statue. The central figure in The…
My Own
My lovely lady is like flights of scent—
the other day she opened like a flower—
She is beautiful as angels in the spring—
the other night her sun warmed my heart—
My lady’s lips are the single…
The Young Lovers, Festival Garden, London, UK
The young couple depicted here are in the act of embracing one another, their cheeks touching. They are one of the best-known examples of Georg Ehrlich’s representational bronze sculptures, which…
Speak to Us in Jewish
And after all the argumentation and consideration
The Jew will arise and speak to us:
“In our blessed country all voices of the Torah are at the doorway
And all lessons will captivate the hearts of…
Hebrew Ballads
The little sons of Abraham took shells
And floated boats made out of mother-pearl;
Then Isaac leaned in fear on Ishmael.
And mournfully sang the two black swans
Quite gloomy notes…
The Sum of Suffering
The sum of suffering is greater
Than the sum of happiness.
That’s what a philosopher said
Long ago, years and years.
The waves of suffering wash away
Happiness’s tiny isle.
The bridge of suffering…