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 A. Neubauer at Oxford University
To his excellency, the great sage, the learned and famous rabbiAdolf H. Neubauer, the Head LibrarianOf the Government Library in Oxford, England! My dear Sir and Rabbi!Although I have not hitherto…
Hear, O Israel!
I want to profess straight off that I am a Jew. Does it require justification if I write in a spirit other than that of defending the Jews? Many of my fellow tribesmen know themselves only as Germans…
The Voice of Yeshurun to the Hebrews
Brothers, the great necessity and the significant need for the publication of newspapers in [any] state are well known in all countries. It is common knowledge. And you will not find one opposing…
Editorial: On Creating Barnard College
At the present moment there are from New York City and suburbs two women students at Cornell, four at Bryn Mawr, thirteen at Smith, seventeen at Vassar (besides fifteen in preparation for it) and…
Memories of the Meldar: An Ottoman Jew’s Early Education
Did you go to a meldar as a child? Have any of you been so lucky and blessed? I am sure that, seeing these two questions, you will all object that you had no idea what a meldar was and that you went…
Jaffa Changes Its Face
We must emphasize the impact Jews are having on the town of Jaffa. Those who knew Jaffa in the past can testify that the town owes a lot to the Jews; its appearance has changed dramatically over the…
Social Hygiene of the Jews
For Jews, social hygiene embraces the entire domain of religious laws and customs of Judaism on maintaining the purity and health of the body. These traditions partially, and certainly at their core…
The Angola Plan for Jewish Colonization
The idea of reopening the doors of Portugal and its colonies to Jews is not new. It is born out of a spirit of non-Jews and Jews, who know firsthand the nobility and high-mindedness of Portuguese…
The Shtetls of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period of Reconstruction
The Age Composition of the Population in the Researched ShtetlekhThe problem of organizing the work resources correctly and rationally is closely connected to the age composition of the population…
Letter to Ha-Shaḥar on Reviving the Hebrew Language
It is plain for all to see, sir, that our youth is abandoning our language—but why? Because in their eyes it is a dead and useless tongue. All our efforts to make them appreciate the importance of the…
An Attempt to Open a School for Jewish Girls in Ottoman Istanbul
Today in every district of Istanbul and neighboring areas we can see Muslim, community, and foreign schools that disseminate instruction and enlighten the people. [For my part] I work as a teacher at…