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.
A Jewish Woman Challenges Marriage Law in Nineteenth-Century America
A 19th-century Jewish woman exposed how marriage laws denied women property and liberty—and called for full legal and political equality.
Who Could Be a Citizen? Jews and Rights in 1784 Georgia
A 1784 Georgia pamphlet by “A Citizen” explores who qualified for legal rights, comparing Jews and other marginalized groups in the new American republic.
The Split Human in Greek Thought
Plato’s Symposium imagines the first humans split by Zeus; love is the longing for reunification.
Title VI, Jewish Identity, and the Politics of Civil Rights
In 2004, Kenneth Marcus redefined Title VI to protect Jews and other faith groups from discrimination—reshaping civil rights law in U.S. education.
Touro Synagogue: America’s Oldest Jewish House of Worship
Built in 1763, Newport’s Touro Synagogue reflects colonial Palladian design and stands as a symbol of early Jewish life and liberty in America.
How a Jewish Appeal Shaped America’s Religious Freedom
In 1787, a Jewish Revolutionary War veteran urged the Constitutional Convention to ban religious tests—helping define America’s ideal of liberty.
ADL Responds to Trump’s Antisemitism Order and Title VI Debate
In 2019, the ADL defended Trump’s Executive Order expanding Title VI protections to Jews, arguing that it was vital to address rising campus antisemitism.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
In this children's book, the legendary Jewish hero Hershel of Ostropol outwits goblins.
Hannukah Gelt
Can you guess, children, which is the best of all holidays? Hannukah, of course.
You don’t go to cheder for eight days in a row, you eat pancakes every day, spin your dreidel to your heart’s content…
Dreyfus in Kasrilevke
I doubt if the Dreyfus case made such a stir anywhere as it did in Kasrilevka.
Paris, they say, seethed like a boiling vat. The papers carried streamers, generals shot themselves, and small boys ran…
Rededication of the Temple
The first-century historian Josephus gives an account of the origin of Hanukkah and suggests an etiology for one of its names, the Festival of Lights.
Antiochus IV on Seleucid Coin
This silver coin features a bust of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175–164 BCE), who outlawed Jewish practices and introduced the cult of Zeus Olympios at the site of the Temple.