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.
Kedushat Yom Tov (The Sanctity of Yom Tov)
Reuben spoke in the marketplace with two men, inviting them to come to his house for the purpose of giving them the monies accrued from a business partnership, and they entered his house…
The Bible View of Slavery
A Civil War–era Jewish leader defends the institution of slavery in the South based on his reading of the Hebrew Bible.
Kiddush Cup from a Synagogue in Lublin
Kiddush cups are used for the ritual blessing over wine. This one, partially made of gold, was crafted in Nuremberg, Germany, and was used in a synagogue in Lublin, Poland. The engraved plant and…
“Hayya Ga’on’s” Pitron ḥalomot (Dream Interpretation)
This is the title page and the first page of Pitron ḥalomot (Dream Interpretation), a work incorrectly attributed to Hayya ben Sherira Ga’on. The book was published by Gershom ben Eliezer Soncino (d…
She Said to Him, “You Be the Driver and I’ll Be the Madam,” Then They Picked Up the Fender and Posed, Hillbrow, 1975
Photographer David Goldblatt dedicated much of his work to documenting racial injustice in South Africa. The title of the photograph tells its story. Two Black South Africans use a car fender to role…
Who Will Praise Israel’s Bravery
Tartakover is best known as a graphic artist and for his political posters. He considers himself a “local designer” with an obligation to speak out on Israeli political and social issues, especially…
The Peace Rider
Disabled from childhood polio, Mizrachi creates sculptures that relate to the physical form of his subjects. His work, as in the Peace Rider, expresses his political position and vision for the future…
Megilas Vintz (The Scroll of Vintz)
Every day they took from us whatever their hearts desired. They said to us, “We are needed to protect you from the mob.” We had no choice but to believe them. We had to take being cheated. They…
Yosef omets (He Will Be Stronger): On Yom Kippur Eve
985. The ancient custom of kaparot [having a chicken slaughtered after symbolically transferring one’s sins to it] is well known; I will only write that my custom is also to say, based on the Maharal…
Regulation: On Shavuot Observance
During the days of Shavuot, quite a number of householders, accompanied by their sons, their wives and their infant children, would rise early each morning and walk outside the city, and outside the…
The Present State of the Jews: On Circumcision
Circumcision has so peculiar a veneration among the present Jews, that if all other parts of their Religion were to be changed, this like Mount…