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.
History of the Jews in Russia: Studies and Documents
Osher Margolis was one of a handful of Soviet professional historians of Jewry. Like the others, he brought a Marxist perspective to his work. The work below, though focused on the nineteenth…
Odysseus’ Scar
[ . . . ] The oft-repeated reproach that Homer is a liar takes nothing from his effectiveness, he does not need to base his story on historical reality, his reality is powerful enough in itself; it…
4580
A round number. At first glance it looks silly and seems to have no specific meaning. A detached number such as this can be likened to those gray people who go through life alone and die without…
Principles of the Jewish Faith: An Analytical Study
[ . . . W]hile there are undoubtedly articles of faith in Judaism there are, nonetheless, fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity in the matter of dogma. The first of these is due to…
Sweets from Sixpence
As a new arrival I wasn’t any good at shopkeeping, and not much of an expert with a horse and cart either. So I drifted round the streets, a sort of washout. I can never forget one day wandering about…
The Jewish Revival in America, II: Its Religious Side
But any honest observer of the contemporary scene must admit that the fading of traditional Jewish piety has not meant its replacement by more “Christian” forms of religious life, even though some of…
The Biblical Grounding of Human Value
Out of a world in which man was viewed fundamentally as an instrument, one among other means of attaining desired ends—be they economic or political—emerged a view so totally different as to amount to…
Memories of Mexico
All this heavy misfortune persuaded Maximilian to think earnestly and independently about the problem of Mexico and his throne. I say independently and lay particular emphasis on the word because I…
A Public Speech on Temptation, Composed by Mordechai de Abraham de Soria, and Which Was Delivered by a Student of His on His Bar Mitzvah, on the First Day of Sukkot
Do not judge me so vain (O Reader) that, to make myself wise, I would publish my efforts for the world to see, especially when they open your eyes to their pathetic titles. For this is a…
Tiku emunah
Indeed, what is necessary is precisely to “cast away the mind,” because it is necessary to cast aside all rational processes and serve God simply. This is because a person’s deeds should outweigh his…
Shalom Yerushalayim (Peace of Jerusalem)
For our great sins, a few days later we received the news of the terrible fire, which God caused to happen on the night of Rosh…
Yiddish Translation of the Bible
This manuscript page of Deuteronomy 1:1–7 is from a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Yiddish, from Italy. It is decorated with two storks and an ornate chapter heading with the opening word of the…