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.
Upon Leaving Lisbon
Here is the infamous [city] gate,
the one of the olive branch and the sword,
for those who leave, it is so closed
and for those who enter, so open.
If in you peace is exiled
you cannot offer that…
Uncle Isidore
When I observe a toothless ex-violinist,
with more hair than face, sprawled like Karl Marx
on a park seat or slumped, dead or asleep,
in the central heat of a public library
I think of Uncle Isidore…
Burning Holy Books
Holy books, said my friend, angry,
there’s no such thing. Books,
books: let them talk
to us about books.
It was a hot night.
At noon light rips
through the room, and everything’s clear:
over the…
A Prayer
Blessed art Thou, Lord, our God,
King of the Universe,
Who has kept us and protected us,
and supported us until this day
it would be better we had never seen.
You deprived us of nothing,
neither…
Scribe Writing
Scribe writing, Sakkara, Egypt, ca. 2625–2350 BCE. The ease with which Baruch’s scroll was cut and burned in Jeremiah 36:23 indicates that it was written on papyrus, not leather. In this limestone…
To Jewishness
As you were contained in
Or embodied by
Louise Schlossman
When she was a sophomore
At Walnut Hills
High School
In Cincinnati, Ohio,
I salute you
And thank you
For the fact
That she received
My kisses…
Figurine of Calf and Shrine
Figurine of calf and shrine, Ashkelon, 1600 to 1550 BCE. Some of the non-anthropomorphic figurines found at Israelite sites had religious significance, especially model shrines (such as the Model…
Female Plaque Figurine Holding Disk
There are numerous terra-cotta plaque figurines of females, some naked and others clothed, holding disks, mostly from northern Israel and Transjordan. Many come from border towns and towns whose…
Seal of Elyashib Son of Ashyahu (or Ishyahu)
A double-line border surrounds the inscription on this seal, made of black paste or serpentine (a magnesium silicate), found at Arad. A central boss with flanking lotus buds separates the names…
Seal with Archer
This stamp seal depicts an archer shooting at a fleeing quadruped, possibly an antelope. The action is difficult to make out. From the viewer’s perspective the archer is behind the animal while the…
The Song of the Humble
Music with a light Israeli/jazz groove starts playing. The percussions play along the scene in a question and answer routine as if they were the immigration officer Inquiehush meets…
Magyar Jew or Jewish Magyar?
The belated adoption of the first law of Jewish emancipation has led to the assumption that it had no practical value. True as this statement may be technically, it nevertheless needs further…