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.
Judaism and the Jews
The question I put before you, as well as before myself, is the question of the meaning of Judaism for the Jews.
Why do we call ourselves Jews? Because we are Jews? What does that mean: we are Jews? I…
The Third Party Convention
The Bund has inscribed on its banner the demand for equal civil rights for the Jews. At the Convention the opinion was expressed that Jewish Social Democracy deals with the needs of the Jewish…
Angels of Peace
For many years we have awaited your arrival on our soil. We waited, as we believed that your arrival fulfills our eminent, longing of millennia. To our great pleasure, the joyous day has arrived…
Hebraism and Universalism in Hebrew Literature
Mr. [Israel Ḥayim] Taviov says: “Those who vehemently demand a large and broad literature in the Hebrew language, comprising all branches of wisdom and science—they are the ultranationalists of the…
A Reply to Mr. Sholem Aleichem
Precisely in the case of a new and difficult question like “Jewish folk-music,” [ . . . ] it is necessary to establish as much as possible [its] specific, objective characteristics . . . You make fun…
Self-Criticism
The skeptics and rebels who have just recently appeared in our literature say: What? The Jews have survived? Yes, it’s true they have survived. But, my friends, survival alone is not yet a virtue…
Feminist Manifesto
The feminist movement as at present instituted is InadequateWomen if you want to realize yourselves—you are on the eve of a devastating psychological upheaval—all your pet illusions must be unmasked…
Art-Literature and the Revolutionary Public
We live in a time of Sturm und Drang [storm and stress]. Every day brings new disappointments and new hopes. Old forms lose their value, no new ones are being created. And the synthetic gaze of…
Studies in Judaism
The purpose in view was, as may easily be gathered from the essays themselves, to bring under the notice of the English public a type of men produced by the Synagogue of the…
Responsum: On Prostitutes’ Gifts to the Synagogue
Concerning the matter of prostitutes from the daughters of Israel—far be it from our straight paths—who dedicate a new ark curtain or Torah scroll cover, it is permissible from a legal point of view…
Russia
Russia! If my faith in you were any less great
I might have said something different.
I might have complained: You have led us astray,
And seduced us young wandering gypsies.
Precious to us is each…
Unity
When God’s holy law is read out
Do you think I forget one bold lust?
And enjoying each lust with fearing,
Do you think I know not God’s law?
Translated by David Soeterndorp.