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.

Portrait painting of young man looking to his left.

The Wondrous Tale of Alroy

And now for my style. I must frankly confess that I have invented a new one. I am conscious of the hazard of such innovation, but I have not adopted my system without long meditation, and a…

View Source

Dor ve-dorshav (A Generation and Its Seekers)

Now when I was a young lad, sitting amidst the dust of the feet of those bound up with the houses of study, I would never hear them speaking anything sensible about the Hasidim, explaining and…

View Source

Yidishe Mitsves (Jewish Good Deeds)

The synagogues where older and more modest congregants pray are spared to some extent. It is a good thing that they are closed all day and all night and are opened only for early morning prayers and…

View Source

Serkele

Reb Shmelke: Well, I can see that you are a clever man, so I will tell you the whole story in brief. [He takes a drink.] As you see me before you, I’m called Reb Smelke [Shmelke, as pronounced by a…

View Source

Printed page of French text surrounded by columns and three classical figures on top, one seated in center holding a scroll, another holding a harp, and a third holding a mask.

Tales of Hoffmann

Tales of Hoffmann, an opéra fantastique, is the final work of composer Jacques Offenbach, who died four months before its premiere in Paris in 1881. At the time of Offenbach’s death, the opera was…

View Source

Whisky

So let’s drink whisky, brothers— let’s hope we live to drink again. Let’s drink now—enough of eating. How can you forget about whisky for so long! If we didn’t have whisky, how would we live in this…

View Source

Print engraving of two buildings with tile roofs next to each other, one of mostly wood and the other of stone, with several people standing in front of them, and German writing below.

Jewish Wedding at a Synagogue in Fürth

This print depicting a Jewish wedding in Fürth is from the beginning of the eighteenth century, a period of prosperity for the city’s Jewish community. There were between 350 and 400 Jewish families…

View Source

Broadsheet with Dutch text on left and right margins, with large illustrated map in the middle of many squares and lines. Around the map are five images in squares: a man in hat and moustache, layers of priestly garments, a smaller map, rectangular building, and items of worship such as a candelabrum.

Broadsheet Accompanying Model of the Tabernacle

This broadsheet is based on a famous model of the Temple in Jerusalem, owned by Jacob Judah Leon, a rabbi from the Netherlands. Probably produced in Amsterdam, the poster includes illustrations of the…

View Source

Photograph of room with vaulted ceiling, gilded walls, and pews.

Oratorio Israelitico Synagogue, Casale Monferrato, Italy

This Piedmontese synagogue, built in 1595, is typical of many synagogues constructed in times and places where Jews did not want to call attention to themselves because of fear of persecution. From…

View Source

Photograph of rectangular room with arched windows, floor covered in sand, wooden cabinet on far wall, wooden benches on left side and along walls, and wooden lectern on right side.

Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue, Suriname

Built in 1736, the Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue served a Sephardic congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had migrated from Holland to Suriname. Located in Suriname’s capital of Paramaribo, the…

View Source

Painting of woman standing in tall hat with one hand pointing at her mouth.

Jewish Woman at Home

This Jewish woman of the Ottoman Empire wears a blue jacket over a black blouse, with red shoes and a tall hat draped in a veil. The title “Dona Ebrea in casa” translates to "Jewish woman at home."

View Source

Silver pitcher with floral shapes and inscribed designs, and shield on lid with Hebrew inscription.

Burial Society Pitcher and Shield

This pitcher from Nuremberg, Germany, was made around 1650. Cast in silver, the repoussé piece is finely traced and engraved with floral patterns. On its lid sits a shield engraved with a Hebrew…

View Source