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.
Ku-bukh (Book of Cows)
A Lion on his deathbed lay.
There’s truth in every word I say.
He was gravely ill indeed.
Then came to him a goodly host
Of all the forest-dwelling beasts.
They came most eagerly…
With Gentle Fingers
With gentle fingersThe rain is softlyPlaying sad melodiesOn the black instrument of night.We are sitting in the darkness,Each in his own house(The children have fallen asleep)Listening quietly to the…
I Saw My Father Drowning
I saw my father drowning
In surging days.
His weak hand gave a last white flutter
In the distance—
And he was gone.
I kept on alone
Along the shore,
A boy still,
With small, thin legs,
And have…
When Night Draws Near
When night draws near your window, come to him naked.
Softly will he ripple and darken round your still beauty, touching the tips of your breasts.
I shall stand with him there, a stray wanderer…
Ethical Will
Grieve not at all on my departure for the Land of Israel (may it be built and established!). You gave me indeed a firm promise to that effect. And why should you be anxious? Many men travel years long…
Ma’agal tov ha-shalem (The Good Journey)
And in the City of London we went to the Fort which is called the Tower, and there I saw lions and an eagle one hundred years old and a great snake from India and another snake and other wild beasts…
Mapah (Tablecloth) to Shulḥan ‘arukh
Says Moses, son to my Master, my father, R. Israel—may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing for the world to come—seeing that the illustrious author [Joseph Karo] of the Bet Yosef [The…
Self Portrait in His Map of Eretz Israel
When Jacob ben Abraham Tsaddik created the first printed map of the Holy Land in Hebrew, he included this portrait of himself. The Hebrew under the image of the sun intertwined with a Star of David…
Letter to Netanel Trabotto: On Prayer
A copy of the letter from the perfect sage R. Samuel Norzi, of blessed memory, in which he seeks to permit, as per his opinion, the singers [in the synagogue] to…