Our Guides
Introducing Guides from Posen Library
Our new Guides to Jewish Civilization and Culture—presented on pages across the Posen Library site—highlight key topics and themes, incorporating relevant background and contextual information, related primary sources, creator biographies, and linked keywords for additional research. They reveal relationships and conversations within a broader theme and provide points of entry into topics that interest you.
How to Find Guides
Find this rich, contextual material through individual primary source pages. If available, you will see relevant guide(s) in the right-side column.
What’s Available Now and Coming Soon
Guides are currently available for sources from ancient Israel (from its beginnings through 332 BCE) and the later part of the early modern period (1750–1880).
We will be adding guides from other time periods and building search features over the coming months in 2025.
Featured Guides
Synagogue Architecture, 1750–1880
Synagogues built in Europe in the age of Emancipation had somewhat contradictory goals. On the one hand, they were to articulate a proud Jewishness, which by definition meant a distinctive style. On the other hand, they wanted to announce that they were deeply embedded in the European cityscape.
Ancient Israel: Jewish Roots in the Biblical Period
Jewish culture and civilization reach back to ancient Israel, represented by texts from the Hebrew Bible and by archaeological artifacts.
Ancient Israelite Stone Pillars, Altars, and Lamps
Stone and clay pillars, altars, and lampstands provide invaluable insights into ancient Israelite religious practices and their descriptions in the Hebrew Bible.