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.
Besamim rosh (Scent of a Bitter Spice)
Now in regard to your inquiry as to my view on the question of the halakhic status of the odor of leavened substances on Passover, as there are some authorities who maintain that odor is…
Responsa binyan tsiyon (Responsa: Building Zion)
The Holy Community of Altona, Friday, 29 Marheshvan 5621[14 November 1860]
To my dear friend, father of my son-in-law, the distinguished rabbi, our Teacher, R. Shemaryahu Zuckerman, may his…
Bene Zion: A Religious-Moralistic Textbook for the Youth of the Israelite Nation
374. No man, in isolation, can gain for himself the means through which to satisfy his physical needs and develop his spiritual strength; he…
L’educatore Israelita: A Newspaper of Readings for Jewish Families. Compiled by the Teachers Giuseppe Levi and Esdra Pontremoli
We have already offered a glimpse, in our program, into the nature of this publication. Yet the desire to open our heart, especially to those benevolent people who have looked favorably upon…
Fishke the Lame
Fishke started to narrate in his lisping, stammering way.
“You seem to know I married the blind orphan girl, and after the wedding we lived well, like a Jewish couple should. I think I kept my part of…
La vocación de Abraham
Terah’s wife is pregnant
day after day she turned pale,
she already knew what she had
but she did not reveal it to her husband.
One day she went out to fields and vineyards,
she found a cavern and…
Song of the Railway
A whole world of railways appeared in our time
They carry their passengers—poor men and rich.
Admire the wonder, but bear this in mind:
It’s really a parable, meant just for you.
It is we who are…
The Synagogue of Gwoździec, Galicia
Wooden synagogues were a distinctive style of vernacular architecture that first developed in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the sixteenth century and then flourished in the…
Tombstone of Sarah, Wife of Joshua Soncino
Sarah Soncino, who died in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) in 1735, was a member of the prominent Soncino family, which established a printing press there in 1530, one in a long line of…
Tomb of Mordechai Meisel
Mordechai Meisel (1528–1601) was a court Jew, merchant, philanthropist and builder in Prague. Meisel became a member of the Prague Jewish Communal Council in 1576 and later served as its head. This is…
Ketubah (Hamburg)
On June 7, 1690, Samuel de Isaac Senior Teixeira married Rachel Teixeira de Mattos Senior in Hamburg. Their beautiful ketubah (marriage contract) depicts the couple under the wedding canopy…
Isfahan Synagogue, Persia
The use of wall niches for Torah scrolls was a feature of some of the earliest synagogues and continues today in Mizrahi communities. This striking faience-tile mosaic structure would have decorated a…