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 Great Vehicle
The Great Vehicle is one of dozens of wheeled sculptures Rantzer created for “The Zionists,” his 2001 solo exhibition at the Gordon Gallery in Tel Aviv. The overall themes of the show were migration…
Seder mitsvot ha-nashim (The Order of Women’s Commandments): On the Sabbath Eve
Every woman is obligated to kindle lights on the eve of each Sabbath and Festival and this is a great mitzvah. And she makes the blessing, “Blessed are You God, our Lord, King of the universe. Who has…
Ḥemdat yamim (Choicest of Days): On the 15th of Shevat
Even though the fifteenth of the month of Shevat is during the period of shovevim, one does not fast, for it is the New Year’s Day for fruit trees. And with the tikkun [mystical repair] performed on…
‘Ir giborim (City of Heroes)
It is known that in the case of any proper work to be accomplished or any project to be achieved, the essential point is the end goal [תכלית] of the project…
Colophon: Tikune ha-Zohar (Mantua Edition)
The peaceable and faithful in Israel (2 Samuel 20:19), the heads of the exile of Ariel, the same are the mighty men of old, the men of renown (Genesis 6:4), wise men of understanding [see Deuteronomy…
I was sleeping, but my heart was awake
Hark! My beloved! Here he comes,
Thousands, myriads at his side,
And over me, his banner of love!
I was sleeping, but my heart
was awake within me.
I could hear but…
Protector of Women
Please listen to my words,
Wise, honest, and beautiful women
For my riddle is complete:
Against your faithful crew [of women]
Old men
Raise your shame to the stars
While I protect you,
Defend you…
The Plea
O living and terrible God, replace my prison, this round pit, by a full moon and a goblet. Pray, turn the darkness of my hell into a shining light, and this dwelling-place of dusk into an orchard, a…
All Those Who Love You
I left his house
Of my own volition.
In order to build him a house
Of my own volition.
But it seems my father
Remained solitary
And neglected
Not of his own volition.
I was moving towards my…
The Dancing
In all these rotten shops, in all this broken furniture
and wrinkled ties and baseball trophies and coffee pots
I have never seen a post-war Philco
with the automatic eye
nor heard Ravel’s “Bolero”…
Russia, Russia Fragments
Oh, Father of great mercy
In sunset’s flame there fades
My cradle land
That was once nearer to me than my salt-crusted shirt
Where with my brother Russian
I shared more than once
A measly bite of…