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.
Sadie Salome, Go Home!
Verse 1Sadie Cohen left her happy homeTo become an actress lady,On the stage she soon became the rage,As the only real Salomy baby.When she came to town, her sweetheart MoseBrought for her around a…
Algemeyne yidishe tsaytung Classified Ad for a Missing Suitcase
My travel bag was lost somewhere between Szerencs and Nyíregyháza. It contained: a tallis, two pairs of tefillin, together with a Yeshuas Yisroel prayer book. There were also two High…
Dance as a Solemn Ritual
The ballet season has begun with Swan Lake, in which the young ballerina Tamara Karsavina performed twice. The public is clearly interested in ballet, and among various segments of the Petersburg…
Warsaw, Aryan Side
Where shall I start? My thoughts are in turmoil. There is an overpowering desire burning in me to put in writing as speedily as possible all that has happened to us in these years of war, especially…
Still, Still
Still, still, let us be still.
Graves grow here.
Planted by the enemy,
they blossom to the sky.
All the roads lead to Ponar,
and none returns.
Somewhere father disappeared,
disappeared with all our…
The Name
About two weeks before the birth was due, Grandfather Zisskind appeared in Raya and Yehuda’s home for the second time. His face was yellow, angry, and the light had faded from his eyes. He greeted…
The Glass Bell
Opposite the windowsill is a shuttered curtain and a wasteland of chimneys. The street is being drained of life. A double-decker bus with gleaming windows of light passes by the corner. A woman pushes…
Behold, Our Bodies Are Laid Out
To Dani and his friends Behold, our bodies are laid out—a long, long row. Our faces are altered. Death looks out of our eyes. We do not breathe. Twilight dwindles and evening falls over the mountain.L…
Evening of Roses
Evening of roses
Let us go out to the orchard
Myrrh, perfumes, and frankincense
A threshold at your foot.
Night falls slowly
And the rose-wind blows
Let me sing to you in a soft whisper
A song of…
Lu Yehi
Beyond the cloud upon the ocean
There’s a white and lonely sail
Let us pray and hope
lu yehi
I light a candle at my window
And its flame is shy and frail
Let us pray and hope
lu yehi
Let us…
Destination Palestine: The Story of the Haganah Ship Exodus 1947
The voices of thousands of people floated to us on the quay. They were singing “Hatikvah,” the Hebrew hymn of hope. It was the song the Jews sang at every emergency and in every crisis. It was their…
Journey through a Small Planet
The New York Yiddish Theater opened its London season that autumn with what the drama critic of our building, a watchmaker named Shmulik, described as a daring translation of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing…