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.
Illustrations from Sefer minhagim (Book of Customs)
These woodcuts appeared in Sefer minhagim (Book of Customs), a very popular Yiddish book published by Giovanni di Gara, the leading publisher of Jewish books in Venice from 1564 to 1609. It was the…
Spice Container
This ritual spice container is thought to have been made in Frankfurt am Main. It is decorated to represent a four-story tower with brick walls. At its top, two short spires flank a central, taller…
Silver Cup
This silver-gilt cup is decorated with representations of the biblical patriarch Jacob’s twelve sons, each standing in his own separate archway with his Hebrew name inscribed underneath. This cup was…
Portrait of Court Jew with Ring
The identity of the sitter for Portrait of Court Jew with Ring is unknown. It is possible that the man in the picture is Jost Liebmann (also known as Juda Berlin), a Court Jew and jeweler in Berlin…
Reader’s Desk
This wooden tevah—a stand or reader’s platform used for supporting Torah scrolls—was made and used in Yemen. It was the practice in Yemen for boys to become active participants in synagogue services…
Jewelry Box
This exquisite jewelry box was crafted in Nuremberg, Germany, before 1540 and given to a bride for her wedding. Etched in steel, copper-plated, and partly gilt, the panels, on four sides and the lid…
Circumcision Set
This silver circumcision set was crafted in Salonika in the Ottoman Empire. The cylindrical silver casket holds a circumcision knife; its handle is made from agate. A similarly shaped powder box and…
Portrait of Samson Wertheimer
Samson Wertheimer (1658–1724) occupied a number of prominent roles, including court Jew, Austrian financier, and chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia. This portrait was painted around the time when he…
Shadai’a (Dedicatory Plaque)
This shadai’a (dedicatory plaque) from the Romaniote community in Ioannina, Greece, is made of repoussé silver with an engraved Hebrew inscription. The central inscription is a rhymed text dedicated…
Ardashir-nāmah (Shāhin-i Shirāzi)
This late seventeenth-century manuscript contains a full copy of the text of the Ardashīr-nāmah (The Tale of Esther), an epic poem by the fourteenth-century Jewish Persian writer Shāhīn-i Shīrāzī…
Torah Cover (?)
This intricately decorated textile, possibly used as a Torah cover, was produced in Prague around 1600. Four squares adorn its center, the top two containing vases ringed by flowers and vines and the…
Purim Tray
This Purim tray from the seventeenth century was made in Hamburg, Germany. A fine repoussé piece, its center is adorned with a court scene, complete with a ruler sitting on a raised throne, surrounded…