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.
Sermon on the Melting Pot
There is no denying that under the influence of this enthusiasm for America, the disintegrating process of the Melting Pot is taking place in large measure. That it is not, fortunately, taking place…
An Exchange on the Jewish Question
Is there a Jewish people? Thousands of Jews, whose language at school and in daily discourse is Hebrew, are again living in Palestine. Neo-Hebrew literature has essayists like Ahad Ha-Am, poets like B…
The Stutterer’s Suicide and the Psychiatrist’s Dream
“. . . Are you Jewish?”
“Of course, I am. I went to South America to escape persecution, not to enjoy the pleasant climate.”
“Well, I’m neither a practicing Jew nor a Zionist. In fact, I dislike any…
The Jewish Revival in America, II: Its Religious Side
But any honest observer of the contemporary scene must admit that the fading of traditional Jewish piety has not meant its replacement by more “Christian” forms of religious life, even though some of…
The Penal Recruit
“One morning—it was the fourth day of Hanukkah (the holiday of the Maccabees), when we were readying ourselves to celebrate the victory of our heroic ancestors, which was the capture of Antioch—the…
Lev ha-Ivri (The Heart of a Jew)
What would our ancestors have done if they had seen a Jewish community appointing a prayer-reader and a rabbi for themselves dressed in the vestments of a Christian priest, and setting up an idol in…
Kantorzysta: Polka na fortepiano, op. 68
This sheet music is for a humorous song in the style of a polka, an example of the popular music that Warsaw composer Adolf Gustaw Sonnenfeld was famous for.
Ketubah (Bordeaux)
This is the marriage contract (ketubah) that Isaac, the son of Aaron Sasportas, gave to Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham Pinto. A floral decoration stemming from a vase at the bottom of the contract…
Wedding Procession
This engraving depicting a Jewish wedding procession was an illustration in a four-volume book by Johann Jakob Schudt (1664–1722), Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten (Jewish Curiosities), published in Germany…
Compilation of Folk Remedies and Amulets
Traditionally, until increased access to doctors and hospitals was available after World War I, many East European Jews relied on folk medicine, which included amulets and magical cures. Books, like…
Portrait of Tzvi Ashkenazi
Tzvi Hirsch ben Jacob Ashkenazi was a talmudist and community leader from Moravia. He was also known as the Ḥakham Tzvi, a Sephardic scholarly title he is thought to have received from the rabbinic…
Me‘on ha-sho’alim (Abode of the Supplicants)
This is the title page of Me‘on ha-sho’alim (L’abitacolo degli oranti; Abode of the Supplicants), by the poet and translator Devorà Ascarelli, a member of the Catalan community in Rome. Me‘on ha-sho…