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.
Yingl-tsingl-khvat
I have a story here to tell
To all my children—you as well.
Hush, dear friends, be very still—
Hear my story, if you will.
There’s a land that’s quite remote,
Beyond the reach of train or boat;
Even…
Two Kuni Lemels
The cover of this Yiddish-language program is for a performance of Di tsvey Kuni Lemels (Two Kuni Lemels) at Goldfaden’s Yiddish Theater. The image features two dancing men in Hasidic attire. The play…
Photograph of Theda Bara
Theda Bara (1885–1955) was born Theodosia Burr Goodman in Cincinnati. After completing public high school, Goodman moved to New York to become an actress. In advertisements for the Fox Film Company’s…
Houdini’s Death-Defying Mystery
Poster of illusionist Harry Houdini’s escape act from a galvanized-iron milk can filled with water and secured by massive locks. Harry Houdini (1874–1926) was born Erik Weisz in Budapest and…
Komishe nakht (Comical Night)
Advertisement for an October 20, 1918, Yiddish production of Komishe nakht, a French comedy by José Sanz Pérez, adapted into Yiddish by M. Oyerbakh. It was performed by Salon Casa Suiza in Buenos…
Der arbayter fraynd (cover)
The Yiddish-language socialist weekly Der arbayter fraynd (The Worker’s Friend) was founded in London in 1885 by Morris Winchevsky (1856–1932), a political activist and poet originally from Russian…
Advertisement for Vienna Men’s Chorus and Comedy Quartet
This advertisement for a performance at the Villa Colona in Berlin of the Vienna Men’s Chorus and Comedy Quartet, under the direction of Nathan Schwarz, depicts four men in traditional Hasidic costume…
Mah Tovu
Mah Tovu notes our coming into the house of God, symbolized by the words “tents” and “tabernacles.” Mah Tovu begins with a passage from the Torah (Num. 24), in which the pagan prophet Balaam blesses…
If I Am Not for Myself...The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews
Jews are associated with liberalism the way the French are with wine: it is considered native to their region. […] As I use it, liberalism is a belief in…
Daniel’s Story
“We are alive. We are human, with good and bad in us. That’s all we know for sure. We can’t create a new species or a new world. That’s been done. Now we have to live within those boundaries. What are…