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.
Diving into the Wreck
First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am…
A Union Soldier’s Passover
Passover preparations for a Civil War–era Union soldier included importing seven barrels of matzot and collecting weeds to substitute for the symbolic bitterness of horseradish.
The Tale of a Rabbi and His Only Son
Once there was a rabbi who had no children. Finally, he had an only son. He raised him and married him off. The son used to sit in an attic room and study in the manner of rich men and he always…
The Stolen Son: A Contemporary Tale
The Israelites spent the rest of the day celebrating this festival of thanksgiving in their homes as a second Purim, with tears of sadness and joy, and by the time the sun set, the…
Donna Clara
In the evening through her garden
Wanders the Alcalde’s daughter;
Festal sounds of drum and trumpet
Ring out hither from the castle.
“I am weary of the dances,
Honeyed words of adulation
From the…
Sermon for the Sabbath Preceding Passover
This is therefore followed by a question: since it is so that we are still slaves, why is this night of Egyptian exile different from all the other nights of exile under other kingdoms? Why all this…
Responsa hatam Sofer, Orah hayim 36
Indeed, in the countries where we reside, where the gentile women walk about bareheaded, but our mothers did not go out like that and were most careful on that score, concerned as they were about…
An Essay on Hebrew Eloquence, Exposed in a Practical Lesson by Doctor Anania Coen, First Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Florence
To truly form a sense of good taste, one must be in full command of the metaphysics of the sacred tongue, something which is so necessary (and which…
Courtesy, or Rules of Comportment
As I write these words it occurs to me that, since it is the woman who runs the household, she must have wide knowledge and be a good manager. For many centuries our nation ignored women’s education…
Judaism and Its History
There are facts of such an overwhelming power that even the most stubborn opinion must yield to them. Such a fact is the origin of Judaism in the midst of rude surroundings, like a vigorous…
A Few Words Concerning Literary Criticism
Admittedly, it is true that all our hearts will be filled with feelings of astonishment when we recall the giant steps that the new generation has taken upon the peaks of the sciences and forms of…