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.
The Debate of the Flowers
I wish to praise God
who is great in praises,
who created for man
all kinds of flowers,
and they all are singular
in their colors and scents
and of all the best ones
was the musk flower.
Above all…
Manna
Open your mouth
To feed that flesh
Your teeth have bled
Tongue us out
Bone by bone
Do not allow
Man to be fed
By bread alone
“And He afflicted thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with…
They Say ...
inasmuch as men and women / in their infinite goodness /
believe in God / is it possible that God /
in his infinite goodness / believes in men and women
believes in me / right now / when my heart is…
Sderot
It took me twenty years to love
this hole in the middle of nowhere.
The cotton balls spread a white flame
and there was an ill wind in the cypresses
until for the first time I saw,
with a just eye,
t…
Psalm
I am not lyric any more
I will not play the harp
for your pleasure
I will not make a joyful
noise to you, neither
will I lament
for I know you drink
lamentation, too,
like wine
so I dully…
Horse and Rider Figurine
This terra-cotta figurine from Lachish is very schematic, and the rider’s legs are not shown. The rider cannot represent an average person because people—even kings—more often rode on donkeys and…
Seal of Yaazanyahu (Jaazaniah), Servant of the King, with Rooster
This agate seal with an image of a rooster was found in a Roman-period tomb at Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah), but its script dates it to the late seventh or early sixth century BCE. The bottom register…
Berlin, Jerusalem and the Moon
Edie:You got it. I can’t be a woman and I can’t be a Jew. And I can’t be either, because I can’t be both. So, you know what I’m gonna be? I am gonna be nothing.Else:Oh, I see, you call all of that…
Ceramic Offering Stands and Other Objects from Lachish
This group of ritual containers from Lachish, for incense or other types of offerings, includes ceramic stands, offering bowls, chalices, and a small stone altar found near them. The ceramic stand on…
Herod
Miriam, Aristobolus and Dina.
Miriam:Mother!
Enter Alexandra, Miriam’s mother.
Alex:Your shouting will wake the dead. A little refinement, Miriam, you’re no longer a little girl.
Miriam:It…
Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number
The cell is narrow. When I stand at its center, facing the steel door, I can’t extend my arms. But it is long, and when I lie down, I can stretch out my entire body. A stroke of luck, for in the cell…
Split at the Root
In a long poem written in 1960, when I was thirty-one years old, I described myself as “Split at the root, neither Gentile nor Jew, / Yankee nor Rebel.” I was still trying to have it both ways: to be…