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.
Am Kurfürstendamm
This rainy streetscape exemplifies the style and subject matter for which Lesser Ury is best known. The Kurfürstendamm is one of Berlin’s most storied boulevards, known for its very wide walking paths…
David’s Heroic Warriors
This is the list of David’s warriors: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni, the chief officer; he wielded his spear against three hundred and slew them all on one occasion. Next to him was Eleazar son of…
Men’s Names and Titles from the City of David
Amo]s son of Ahiel, the rag shredder
. . . ya]hu son of Hasadyahu, the sil[ver] collector
. . . ]yahu [son of Ye]dayahu the [silver] collector
Translated by Anson F. Rainey from Shmuel Aḥituv’s…
Mizraḥ Tablet Lithograph
This mizraḥ (an ornamental wall plaque used to indicate the direction of Jerusalem) includes a map of the land of Israel surrounded by sacred sites and vistas. These elaborate mizraḥ sheets were often…
Leah Goldberg, Dira le-Haskir, cover
Dira le-haskir (Apartment for Rent), by the Hebrew-language poet and writer Leah Goldberg, became a bestselling children’s book in Israel soon after its publication in 1959. It tells the story of an…
Diary Entry: On Circumcision
24 December. Sunday. [ . . . ]
This morning my nephew’s circumcision. A short, bow-legged man, Austerlitz, who already has 2,800 circumcisions behind him, deftly executed the affair. The oper is…
Todah w’simrah (Music of Thanksgiving)
For decades, my efforts have been directed at purifying the old modes [die alten Weisen]. Through [general] use and arbitrary treatment they have suffered tactless changes and distortions. I…
Jews in China
We shall now sum up the different opinions as regards the arrival of the Jews on Chinese soil.The missionaries reported that the Jews believe, according to a tradition, that their ancestors came to…
Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious
The occurrence of self-criticism as a determinant may explain how it is that a number of the most apt jokes . . . have grown up on the soil of Jewish popular life. They are stories created by Jews and…
Autobiography
Seven versts from Kaunas stood the oldest fortress in Lithuania. After the war, it was all battered and shot up. Bricks and scraps of iron lay strewn about the place, which had once stored weapons and…
Toward Peace in Palestine
The purpose of this article is to warn of the danger of war between Jews and Arabs, and to offer an alternative based upon a reasonable compromise. The uncompromising who believe that this collision…
World Dictionary of Hebrew Slang
Before the custodians of the purity of the Hebrew language begin to tear their hair out in protest of the so-called indecent acts committed herein, in full view, upon the…