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.
On Jewish Law and Loyalty under Napoleon
In 1807, the French Grand Sanhedrin affirmed that Jewish law and French citizenship could coexist, redefining Jewish loyalty in modern France.
Ben-Gurion, the Law of Return, and the Question of Jewish Status in 1958
Read David Ben-Gurion’s 1958 letter to fifty “sages of Israel,” seeking guidance on defining Jewish identity in law, faith, and citizenship.
“We Refugees”: Life Without Rights
Read Hannah Arendt’s “We Refugees,” which she wrote in exile after fleeing Nazi Europe, reflecting on statelessness and the fragility of human rights.
Jewish Refugees in Shanghai Woodcut
View David Ludwig Bloch’s woodcut of life in Shanghai’s Jewish ghetto, where thousands of stateless refugees endured wartime hardship and survival.
Forged Identities in Nazi-Occupied France
View forged identity cards used by Olga Kagan-Katunal, a Jewish Resistance member in Nazi-occupied France who helped others evade arrest.
Petition from an Ottoman Jew in Shanghai for British Protection
See how Ben-Sion Aaron Somekh, a Baghdadi Jewish merchant in Shanghai, sought British protection after World War I amid shifting empires.
Menahem Begin’s Speech and the Mizrahi Turn to Likud
In his 1977 speech “Ashkenazi, Iraqi, Jews! Brothers! Fighters!,” Menahem Begin denounced anti-Mizrahi bias and called for unity, helping shift support to Likud.
“This Isn’t Europe”: Mizrahi Music Challenges Israel’s Western Image
The Mizrahi hit “This Isn’t Europe” uses humor and bold performance to question whether Israel is truly Western or Middle Eastern at heart.
“Iraq ’n’ Roll”: Rediscovering Iraqi Jewish Roots
Playwright Samantha Ellis reflects on Iraqi Jewish culture, memory, and the music of Dudu Tassa.
The Split Human in Greek Thought
Plato’s Symposium imagines the first humans split by Zeus; love is the longing for reunification.
Rededication of the Temple
The first-century historian Josephus gives an account of the origin of Hanukkah and suggests an etiology for one of its names, the Festival of Lights.
The King of Mizrahi Music in 1970s Israel
Zohar Argov’s 1970s cassette revolutionized Mizrahi music in Israel, blending Arabic melodies with Hebrew lyrics and transforming Israeli popular culture.