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 Yemenite Chief Rabbi Shalom Iraqi
To the city of Yemen, Sheikh Shalom, on the 4th of Shevat [9th January 1742] from the Constantinople officials, may the Lord protect them.
The son of a valiant man, who had done mighty deeds, of…
Responsum: On Printed Megilot (Scrolls of) Esther
Question: . . . When Rabbi Joseph Ottolenghi was visiting this land, he told me that he printed sixteen megillot on parchment prepared for this purpose [i.e., to be used for the scrolls—Ed.]. When I…
Approbation for a Printing House
“That which is well known needs no proof,” and the root cause is the skilled operating of the printing shop in the holy community of Żółkiew [Zhovkva], may the Rock preserve it, which was established…
Las alabanças de santidad (Praises of Holiness): Spanish Translation of Psalms
Having with fervent desire sought to reflect on the meaning of our sacred scriptures according to their original and true meaning—since, being the word of God, in this lies all of…
Respuesta a un tratado que escrivio un docto predicante de la religion reformada (Response to a Treatise Written by an Erudite Preacher of the Reformed Religion)
The main foundation that you propose for your doctrine consists of the sin of Adam, in which you believe sin was perpetrated by all of the human species, which was contained in Adam, and of the sole…
A Tale of Mainz
I’ve been told that years ago a rich man lived in Mainz as a leader of the Jewish community. He had a beautiful wife, who, however, died, leaving him their son. A short time…
Jonen dalim (He That Has Mercy on the Poor)
Offstage, Edom and Jonen Dalim.Edom:Chase that filthy beggar away from my door!Jonen:God punishes those who despise the poor.Israel:Edom sees my tatters and feels disgust…
History: A Novel
[…] Among such divergent opinions, poor Iduzza didn’t dare formulate any view on her own.
To the many mysteries of Authority which frightened her there had now been added the word Aryans, which she…
Wonderful, Wonderful Times
Café Sport is another scene. A scene, because that is where the artists and intellectuals go to be seen. Taking part is what matters, not winning. It is like sport, which is where the café got its…
The Galician Woman
Do you know what was being discussed today on the radio talk show where everyone can call in and take part in the conversation? We, all of us, are crazy, a certain professor, a psychiatrist, said. So…
The Rabbi of Lud
[…] There I am, a kid in Chicago. Not from a particularly religious family. On top of the world, in the middle of the middle class. Ten years old and an only child. The war over half a decade and the…
The Flight of the Dove
The light passes through the curtain and brightens it, spreading a dull glow over the night-table and drawing a single shining line over the edge of the ashtray. The woman’s one eye follows it until…