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.
A Tale of Rebbe Yisroel of Ruzhin
Our master, the holy rabbi, told a tale of the Ba‘al Shem Tov (may his memory be for a blessing to the life of the world to come!). There was once a matter involving great danger to the human life of…
Jewboy
He sings in the courtyard, clad in rags
A small, poor chap, a crazed Jew.
People drive him away, God has muddled his wits
Ages and exile have confused his tongue
He wails and he dances, weeps and…
Holy Grandmothers in Jerusalem
Holy grandmothers in Jerusalem,
May your virtue protect me.
The smell of blossoms and blooming orchards
I suckled with my mother’s milk.
Feet soft as hands, fumbling
In the torrid sand,
And tousled…
Dirge for a Bar That Has Closed Down
The slow and green river that winds throughthe blanched street of the Jewish Quarterkept watch over your agony.From my old tableI used to see himapproach your windows withrestless eyes. And as he…
An Encounter
For two minutes we gazed at each other
In curious silence.
When politeness nudged me in the shoulder,
I introduced myself:
A man, the crown of creation.
The grasshopper
Was not overwhelmed.
He kept…
The Third Cry in Anguish in Salonika
My feet walk the streets of this blessed city,
Only yesterday full of faithful adherents of Sinai.
My eyes do not have the courage to look up.
The bitterness of my soul is great, O Holy God!
I…
Notes to an Old–New Debate
Many people believe that the question of “the mingling of the diasporas” will be resolved in the workplace, in the mixed neighborhood, in school, etc. oriental [Mizrahi] Jews, they say, who acquire…
The Sun and I
We wore each other out today
the sun and I
working in the vineyard.
The sun dropped behind the mountain
exhausted, red,
and burning hot
I was left alone.
We were both
a little overheated
today,
the…
Lot’s Feud
At the time for words, father, my adonai, leave it in my hands, the
shame that I don’t feel, and assign to me the job of justification,
what they call history.
The fact is that every land has its…
Song of Exile
Foreign to me are trees in bloom
And grass and air and sky
What storms have banished me
From Eden
What blazing fire from the sun
Your wind won’t dry these tears
Land of exile
Your rain won’t…