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.
Zabłudów Synagogue, Poland
There were once hundreds of wooden synagogues in Poland and Lithuania, but only a very few examples of this particularly Jewish form of architecture have survived. The Zabłudów synagogue, built around…
A Memento Mori
A Memento Mori is one of three vanitas pictures in a series commissioned by Isaac de Matatia Aboab, a wealthy East India merchant, emphasizing the impermanence of material pleasures and the transitory…
Beaker of the Polin Burial Society
This enameled glass beaker, belonging to the Polin Burial Society in Bohemia, is a fine example of the melding of Jewish and Bohemian art forms. It features painted figures carrying a body toward a…
The Bible from Alef to Tav
The Bible from Alef to Tav is a children's Hebrew alphabet book. Each letter is described and illustrated with a relevant biblical selection.
The Voyage I, Departure and The Voyage II, Diaspora (diptych)
Years ago, Sujo wrote that the artist is “history’s caretaker,” and that he wished to show “the diversity of drawing as a record of lived experience.” Much of his artistic career has been devoted to…
Passages, Homage to Walter Benjamin
Passages is a memorial in Portbou, Spain, created by Karavan to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of cultural critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin. Benjamin committed suicide in Portbou…
Garden of Stones, Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, New York
Garden of Stones, a garden of trees growing from stone, was planted in 2003 by Goldsworthy, Holocaust survivors, and their families at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on a second-story rooftop. The…
Exemplar humanae vitae (A Specimen of Human Life)
But take heed, blind Pharisees, what you say! For though your hearts be full of malice and cunning yet, being without light, your tongues betray you. Suppose I was a Christian, what then would you say…
Toledot ha-ari (Life of the Ari)
When [Isaac Luria] was sick, he blessed each companion with a suitable blessing for him, in accordance with the spark of his soul. R. Ḥayim Vital was not there with them at the time of the blessing…
Testament (New York)
The Twentieth day of may in the yeare one Thousand and Seven hundred & Eight I Esther Browne of New York widdow Being Sick in Body, Butt of good and Perfect Memory, Thancks be to almighty god and…
Travelogue
After having arranged for fresh provisions and all kinds of refreshments, we set sail again, sailing away from land. Due to the wind’s silence, we proceeded into the sea without sailing, drifting for…
Confirmation of the Old Regulations and Decisions
- The mahamad [congregation board] shall have supreme authority over everything. And no one shall be able to contravene the decisions taken and promulgated by the said mahamad, nor shall they sign any…