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.
A Memorial Synagogue
The Painter had a different personality. A tiny Polish Jew, he was famous as a creator of wonderful whimsical animals. He said:
“For my part I wanted to use stained glass. But the architect says we…
Eli, the Fanatic
Inside the house they took their seats. Though it was lighter than a few evenings before, a bulb or two would have helped. Eli had to hold his briefcase towards the window for the last gleamings. He…
Sefer kise Shelomoh (Solomon’s Throne)
When our teacher Rabbi Solomon, who was a rabbi here in Aleppo, passed away without any male children, the rabbis [of the city] consulted among themselves, and with the elders of the people and the…
The Education of the Heart
Warrenton, North Carolina
U.S. of America
August 7th, 1815
A young American lady who has long felt towards Miss Edgeworth those sentiments of respect and admiration which superior talents exerted in…
Letters and Diary
The negro movement is still a most vexatious and mischievous one, and its effects are painfully felt in every Southern household. This morning Cy came to high words with George and…
Sihah be-erets ha-hayim (A Conversation in the Afterlife)
A dialogue in the land of the living between our teacher, R. Moses Maimonides, the Spaniard, and our Teacher Moses, son of Menaḥem [Mendelssohn] of Dessau, and an anonymous third person.On the day of…
Emek refa’im (Valley of Giants)
When I was still young, nineteen years of age, it entered my mind to fool the world (as was the practice of the “holy ones” in those days), and this was the scheme I adopted: I used to travel on…
Letter to George Washington
Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free citizens, we now (with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty disposer of all events) behold a government erected by the Majesty…
The Brazilian’s Song from the Opera La vie parisienne
Brazilian, I’m rich, I’ve got dough
There’s plenty of gold in my sack
Paree, here I am, I’ve come back
And richer than ever before!
Two times was I here in the past
My suitcases bulging with gold
A…
Seu Shearim (Lift Up Your Heads, O Gates)
The music for “Se’u She‘arim (Lift Up Your Heads, O Gates)” resembles the choral marches found in grand opera. The words are from Psalm 24: O gates, lift up your heads! Up high, you everlasting doors…
Synagogue (Bechhofen, Germany)
The Bechhofen Synagogue (built in 1685) is believed to have been the largest wooden synagogue in Germany. The interior of the synagogue was painted with lavish decorations in 1732 and 1733, in typical…
Jewish Betrothal Ceremony
This illustration depicting a Jewish betrothal ceremony appeared in the book Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), by Paul Christian Kirchner, a Jewish convert to Christianity. The first…