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.
Tin Soldiers on Jerusalem Beach
On a very hot summer’s day, at noon, I am in the kibbutz in which both my father, who died in 1972, and my brother-in-law, who was killed in the…
Genealogies of Two Wandering Hebrew Melodies
It is well known that tunes of songs, no less than their texts, often provide an historical mirror of an exceedingly sharp focus. A special category of such songs are the so- called “migrating” or…
Declaration of Yom Kippur War
Citizens of Israel, today, at around 2 p.m., the armies of Egypt and Syria launched an attack against Israel. They carried out a series of attacks from the air, with armor and artillery, in Sinai and…
Taste of Life
Scholars say the cultivated olive originated in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean lands, including the Land of Israel.
In the Bible, the olive is first…
Souls, Inc.
This poster was created for Komar and Melamid’s We Buy and Sell Souls, a conceptual art project the Soviet artists launched soon after their emigration to the United States. They formed a corporation…
Temple Beth El (Detroit)
Alfred Kahn’s grand classical revival synagogue on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue attracted many new members to Temple Beth El, the oldest congregation in Michigan, where Kahn was a member. The…
Fathers and Brothers: A Memoir
The parting was not long in coming. My father died two months before I turned six.
To this day, I go to him at difficult times. Mostly to complain that he abandoned me. The handful of memories that he…
The Cossacks
For Jews, the Cossacks are always coming.
Therefore I think the sun spot on my arm
is melanoma. Therefore I celebrate
New Year’s Eve by counting
my annual dead.
My mother, when she was dying…
A New Exegesis with God’s Help
I am now writing, with God’s help, a new commentary on your breasts.
It is a precious, blessed composition, in my poverty I have gathered various commentaries,
From what came to hand. It is a…
Kiddush Cup (Sadigura)
In some Hasidic communities, it became a common practice for the Hasidic leader or rebbe to give specially sanctified coins as amulets that could confer blessings on the holder. These coins-turned…
Torah Ark Curtain (Istanbul)
The embroidered structure in the center of this silk Torah ark curtain is thought to be a loose representation of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, with its six minarets and entryway stairs. A somewhat…
Torah Ark Curtain (Venice)
This Torah ark curtain from Venice was made by Simḥah, the wife of Menachem Levi Meshuallami, a member of a prominent family in the Venice ghetto. It is embroidered in silk and silk-metallic thread…