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.
David’s Thanksgiving Prayer for God’s Promise of a Dynasty
Then King David came and sat before the Lord, and he said, “What am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that You have brought me thus far? Yet even this, O Lord God, has seemed too little to You…
The Ideal Wife
What a rare find is a capable wife!
Her worth is far beyond that of rubies.
Her husband puts his confidence in her,
And lacks no good thing.
She is good to him, never bad,
All the days of her…
Jewish Street in Amsterdam
Max Liebermann frequently traveled to Amsterdam. He was attracted to the city because of its connection to Rembrandt, whom he idolized. But he came back again and again, drawn to Amsterdam’s Jewish…
Epilogue (to Ecclesiastes)
A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he continued to instruct the people. He listened to and tested the soundness of many maxims. Koheleth sought to discover useful sayings and recorded…
Der Schlangenanbeter auf dem Marktplatz in Theben (Snake Charmer in the Thebes Marketplace)
This drawing by Else Lasker-Schüler appeared on the frontispiece of her 1912 novel Mein Herz: Ein Liebes Roman (My Heart: A Novel of Love). Lasker-Schüler created a fantastical world in her poems and…
Symphony Orchestra
The 1910s were a time of experimentation for Man Ray. Inspired by the paintings of European modernists at the Armory Show in New York in 1913, he began painting in an abstract style, one that…
The Israelite Census
On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
Take a…
Contents on Jar from Lachish
Juice of black raisins.
Translated by Anson F. Rainey from Shmuel Aḥituv’s Hebrew edition.
Darwinian
The evolution of the Hanukkah candelabra of the Pinne (Pniewy, Poland, near Posen) goatskin dealer Cohn into the Christmas tree of Conrad the businessman on Tiergartenstrasse (Berlin W.), satirizes…
Narcisse
Program cover of a 1911 performance of the Ballet Russe at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, showing Léon Bakst’s costume design for Narcisse.
Men of Renown
For twenty-two years I have been one of the parnasim [board members] and leaders of this magnificent congregation, the city of Lwów; my heart has moved me to do good work in memory of the generations…
Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History
The task of this book was determined by its being part of the Grundriß [der Gesamtwissenschaft des Judentums; Fundamental Study toward the Comprehensive Knowledge of Judaism] series. Based on…