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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.
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Fragmentary papyrus page of Aramaic writing.
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Words of Ahiqar

Words of Ahiqar, Elephantine, 5th century BCE. This Aramaic manuscript contains the oldest-known version of Ahiqar, a wisdom book that includes proverbs similar to those found in the biblical book of…

To a Young Jew in Soviet Russia

Things have changed since we last met. Some of your friends have already reached their homeland; others are soon to follow. Once opened, the gates will not shut again. Nothing will ever be the same as…

No Exit from This Jewry

I—a Jewess—am by definition not a member of the species, or: why should a Jewess not have problems with public assistance and with her children? The postwar German Jew, to the extent that such a being…

Is There a “Best” Orientation?

I have not, however, addressed what may be the largest question raised by our map. Namely, is one orientation preferable—that is, is there a “best way” to teach the Bible? Of course, by its very…

Leaving the Fold: Intermarriage

The Torah views the defection of one single Jewish soul from Judaism as the ultimate tragedy, for is not “one solitary Jewish life an entire world”? And an intermarriage is nothing…

Modeh Ani

Thank you, Lord, for having me awaken to become a witness to the flaming of the sun. Someone gently shook me from my bed as I was somewhere in a dream of visiting Jerusalem again. And I walked (still…
Stylized drawing of man on knees and head in one hand with the other hand outstretched toward viewer.
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The Prophet

Shortly before World War I, Meidner was active in a circle of Berlin artists called Die Pathetiker (The Sorrowful Ones), who were early practitioners of what later came to be known as expressionism…
Portrait painting of man wearing a suit and gazing toward the right with one hand tucked under his coat lapel.
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Portrait of Saul Tchernichovski

Saul Tchernichovski (1875–1943) is considered one of the great modern Hebrew poets. His poems are part of the canon of Israeli literature, and his portrait appears on Israeli currency. Pasternak…
Lithograph of cityscape with skyscrapers and bridge.
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New York

New York exemplifies the precisionist, futurist style favored by Lozowick in the 1920s. Like works by other precisionist artists, this lithograph reduces the elements of a cityscape into simple…
Painting of man addressing audience holding a sign of Yiddish text.
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East Side Soap Box

Shahn frequently based his paintings on his own photographs. East Side Soap Box is based on a photo of Jewish workers protesting in Madison Square Park in Manhattan. The Yiddish sign reads: “Nature…
Painting of emaciated father with beard gazing to his right while his two nude and emaciated young sons stand next to him. Background is dark.
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Father and Sons

Yosl Bergner was only twenty-one years old and living in Australia when he painted this bleak picture. Many of his paintings were drawn from memories of his childhood in Warsaw but he also portrayed…