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.
Ma‘ase ha-shem (Deeds of the Lord)
The first lesson addresses the question which every enlightened reader will raise concerning creation: It is told in our Torah that it indeed took place in seven days…
Mikhtav Aḥuz (Letter of Aḥuz)
In sum, many rabbis in these times understand nothing about the spheres and their workings, just as oxen and donkeys lack understanding [see Isaiah 1:3]. They have violated laws, broken statutes…
Crouching Ivory Lion Figurines
In the ancient Near East, images of paired lions served as guardians at building entrances and on furniture, where these two figurines from Samaria were presumably placed. According to 1 Kings 10:19…
Seashell with Geometric Patterns
This shell from Mizpah is incised with concentric circles with dots in the center. The circles on the outer ring are combined into a guilloche. There are two perforations at one end and three (not…
A Difficult Passage in the Talmud
A Difficult Passage in the Talmud is one of the many scenes of Jewish life in Hungary, Moravia, Slovakia, Galicia, Ukraine, and Russian Poland that Isidor Kaufmann was best known for. His idyllic…
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…
Military Roster from Tel Ira
Roster: Berekyahu
Gibbeah
Roster:
Shelemyahu
Translated by Anson F. Rainey from Shmuel Aḥituv’s Hebrew edition.
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…
Elijah’s Chair
Traditionally, the prophet Elijah is believed to be present at all Jewish circumcision ceremonies, and a chair is reserved for him. It serves as the seat of the godfather, who holds the baby boy…
David Ben-Gurion Standing on His Head (Sharon Hotel Beach, Herzliya)
Paul Goldman was notable for keeping his distance from his subjects, perhaps as a show of respect. He photographed many of Israel’s early leaders. Here, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister…
Carob Tree Boulevard
Ori Reisman painted with a spatula, reducing his subjects to large blocks of vibrant color with little or no detail, which could be experienced as both figurative and abstract. During his lifetime he…
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…