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.
Sephardic Women of Tangier: A Portrait
French painter Eugène Delacroix captures two of Tangier’s Sephardic women, Saada and Préciada Benchimol, in this 1832 portrait painted on Préciada’s wedding day.
“To the Modern Girl”: A Rebuke of Modernity
A 19th-century Salonikan writer warns Jewish women about the “modern spirit,” urging virtue over vanity and faith over the empty glitter of modern life.
Letter in al-Hilal: Arguing for Women’s Equality in the Arab World
In this 1890s letter to a leading Arabic literary magazine, Beirut writer Esther Azhari Moyal defends women’s intellect and equality, shaping feminist thought.
“The Escape”: Sephardic Jews in Peril during the Inquisition
Set in 18th-century Lisbon, Grace Aguilar’s 1844 story depicts a Sephardic woman’s daring act to save her husband amid the Inquisition’s dangers.
Portrait of Emma Lazarus: The Sephardic Jewish Poet Who Redefined Freedom
Emma Lazarus was a poet whose activism drew on Jewish history and exile to shape modern ideas of identity, refuge, and renewal.
Redressing Sepharad: Moroccan Jews, Colonial Modernity, and the Afterlives of al-Andalus
In this 1953 photo taken in Spain, members of the Moreno family from Tangier dress in a way that harkens to the Jewish past in Islamic al-Andalus and links them to modern Spain.
The Idea of the Arab Jew in Israel
Yehuda Shenhav reflects on his Iraqi Jewish roots and reclaims “Arab Jewish” identity, challenging Israel’s divide between Jews and Arabs.
The Israeli Black Panthers’ Haggadah: Voices of Mizrahi Protest
A 1971 protest text, the Black Panthers’ Haggadah blends Jewish ritual with political resistance, capturing the rise of Mizrahi activism in Israel.
Moroccan Jews in Their Hour of Decision: Carlos de Nesry’s Reflections
Carlos de Nesry’s “Moroccan Jews in Their Hour of Decision” reveals the dilemmas facing Morocco’s Jews as independence and migration reshaped their expectations for the future.
Baghdad, Yesterday: Sasson Somekh’s Memoir of Jewish Life in Iraq
Sasson Somekh’s memoir reflects on Jewish life in 20th-century Iraq—its culture, turmoil, and the mass migration to Israel.
The Bensaïd Family: Irma Ychou’s Portrait of Algerian Jews under French Rule
Irma Ychou’s 1947 novel explores Algerian Jewish life under French colonial rule, revealing generational change and cultural transformation.
Medal Honoring Moses Montefiore: The 1840 Damascus Affair
This Berlin-struck medal commemorates Moses Montefiore and Adolphe Crémieux’s 1840 mission, which freed Jews falsely accused in the Damascus Affair.