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.
Organic Thinking: A Study in Rabbinic Thought
Chapter I. IntroductoryI. The Problem of Coherence“There is (thus) a zone of insecurity in human affairs,” remarks William James in his essay on The Importance of Individuals, “in which all the…
The Opinion of the Torah: Illuminating the Present Jewish Condition According to the Light of the Torah
Written on the Occasion of the Ritual Slaughter Decree in Poland, 1936 [Parliament considered a bill to have animals killed by electricity, rather than by a knife, as required by Jewish law. The bill…
The Ban Pronounced against Greek Wisdom
Maimonides, the greatest Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages, was of the opinion that the principles and methods of metaphysics formed part of the traditional lore of the sages of the Mishnah and…
On the Election of Women
I was honored to receive your request to express my opinion on the current question of electing women to the Jewish representative assembly…
The Shtetls of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period of Reconstruction
The Age Composition of the Population in the Researched ShtetlekhThe problem of organizing the work resources correctly and rationally is closely connected to the age composition of the population…
Changed His Name
Johannes pushed his cart laden with fruit and vegetables. He pushed with difficulty for his route lay uphill. Automobiles rushed past him, hooting insolently, demanding the road. Awkwardly he turned…
Cobblers’ Street
The heder was in the basement. It was a dark, damp room with a low ceiling. There were two windows on the ground level. In the middle of the room, there was a long wooden table covered with books, two…
Shklover Jews
I know a town in White Russia [Belarus] on the River Dnieper. Its name is Shklov. I was born there, went to heder there, which is why I know it so well.The flame of life burns calmly there. Nobody…
At Heaven’s Gate
When “Papa” Gonta bore down on Tetayev at the head of his Cossack army in the summer of 1768, the little town had a strange look about it: the houses large and small stood desolate, their shutters…
The Columbus Platform
In view of the changes that have taken place in the modern world and the consequent need of stating anew the teachings of Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis makes the following…
Toward an Explanation of Our Ideology
Jewry, and religious Jewry in particular, has always attached prime importance to the rebuilding of Eretz Israel. The Hovevei Zion regarded it as a national duty; for the religious it was a divine…