V'dibarta Bam

I know there is no official transliteration scheme for questions and answers, but I noticed we are inconsistent in our tags. Consider the tags shabbat and tzitzis. Now it's true that shabbos and tzitzit both map to those as tag synonyms, but shouldn't we be consistent in choosing the default view...

@ShmuelBrin If you have a specific synonym to add but can't just give us a ping with clear instructions.

Shmuel Brin

4:10 AM

@DoubleAA For example, all Masechet/Maseches/Masecheth tags should be synonimized with each other (so Maseches-avoda-zara hould be synonimized with masecheth-avoda-zara with masechet-avoda-zara)

Double AA

@ShmuelBrin That seems like a waste of effort. If you want a masechet in a tag start typing the name of the masechet; don't bother with the opening 9 characters

Variants on the names of the masechet are valuable though

Shmuel Brin

4:39 AM

@DoubleAA I just found it annoying typing masechet-... thinking I invented a new tag

Isaac Moses

@ShmuelBrin At this point, you can probably just start typing the name of the masechet. We've probably got tags for almost all of them.

Seth J

1:23 PM

Point of parliamentary inquiry:

Is this on topic?

1

Q: Masheches Yuma or Yoma?

I remember hearing Rabbeim call the mashechta "Yuma", but shouldn't it be called "Yoma", which I have also heard? I know mashechta Beitzah is sometimes called "Beiah" based off the Magen Avraham or because of a halachic mistake; is there something similar by Yoma too?

names pronunciation masechet-yoma

Stack Exchange

2:10 PM

Blog - Stack Exchange: Podcast #54 – The One With All The Anachronisms

Alex Miller on November 14, 2013

Welcome to Stack Exchange Podcast #54, with special guest Sara J. Chipps! Joining us today also is CFO Michael Pryor. Your hosts as usual are Jay Hanlon, David Fullerton, and Joel Spolsky. Today’s episode is brought to you by /r/husky!

We’ll start out with Site Milestones. We have one: Ham Radio will be in public beta by the time this podcast goes live. Turns out there are tons of ham radio enthusiasts even today. Ham!

New Features The big thing we’re currently working on is the new topbar. It hasn’t changed in years… until now! David walks us through the new featu …

Seth J

2:21 PM

I just selfied(?) with this guy!

Isaac Moses

2:56 PM

@SethJ IMO, yes. It's something you would reasonably expect experts on Judaism to be the best people to answer

Double AA

@IsaacMoses That is not the case, though. An Aramaic soeaker would be the best person.

Isaac Moses

4:33 PM

@DoubleAA Sorry "to be particularly well-equipped to answer". And anyway, it's quite possible that a correct answer to this question would take elements into account other than pure Aramaic language.

Seth J

5:54 PM

@Double AA, that needed to be done. Y"K. — Seth J 26 secs ago

Double AA

@IsaacMoses Until he cites a reason why one should care for Jewish reasons how to pronounce it, I don't think it is on-topic. Asking how to pronounce a word in Davening or in Laining has a clear Jewish reasoning. I know of nowhere that halacha would require or even encourage saying the common name for a tractate aloud, certainly not in any context where pronunciation matters.

msh210

6:41 PM

@DoubleAA This maseches name is not just a colloquialism: it's name used in the writings of the rishonim to refer to the maseches. [Citation needed.] We also use the word in a hadran. Asking how to read it is on-topic imo. And, as @IsaacMoses said, the answer may take stuff into account other than knowledge of Aramaic.

Isaac Moses

7:19 PM

@DoubleAA Relevance to Halacha is not the only criterion for on-topicness. In this instance, that there is relevance to the practice of Torah learning is self-evident. More explicit motivation would be an improvement, though.

Seth J

7:43 PM

@IsaacMoses This is basically why I asked. It seems to me marginally on-topic, at best, and narrowly missing the line of on-topicness, at worst.

Isaac Moses

@SethJ It is an objective question about Torah learning. I am having trouble seeing what the problem is.

2

Double AA

8:08 PM

@IsaacMoses It's about as on topic as a question asking how to pronounce the word ריפרדזערטאור found in an important responsom by Rabbi Moses Feinstein (20th Century, North America).

Isaac Moses

8:25 PM

@DoubleAA That may be on-topic, too, especially since you'll understand the meaning readily if you're given the pronunciation and speak English. However, the "Yoma" question is more so, since the word is not just incidentally mentioned somewhere in the literature but is the title of a central work that, not incidentally, is something one would end up saying many times in Torah conversation.

Of related relevance, e.g.: "In contemporary American yeshivot, what is the standard etiquette regarding sitting in someone else's 'makom'?"

11

Q: Where did the sing-song chant that Jews often use while contrasting points come from?

I am having a very hard time coming up with a good way to describe the phenomenon that I am thinking of, but many people will recognize it. I am talking about the kind of singing rhythm that people use when contrasting two different points. Usually it starts on a high note and continues monotoni...

torah-study pronunciation music provenance

11

Q: Non-Ashkenazic Talmud-learning tune

I am very familiar with a particular Ashkenazi yeshivish tune for Talmud learning. This is well-described in the linked question as: [T]he kind of singing rhythm that people use when contrasting two different points. Usually it starts on a high note and continues monotonically until the end ...

torah-study sephardi-mizrachi-eastern ashkenazi music yemenite-temani

Double AA

8:42 PM

-1

Q: How to write "Isaiah 41,10" in Hebrew?

I've already seen that someone wanted to know how to write Isaiah in Hebrew, but my question is mainly about the numbers, because I found just a few numbers, which can be written in Hebrew. I've already found the number 10, but how do you write the number 41?

number hebrew targum-translation

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA With proper motivation, I think that could have been on-topic. As it was, saying that the goal is to write a Tanach citation in Hebrew, it was close, I think.

... "How are numbers represented in Hebrew in rabbinic texts?" (the general case of an on-topic interpretation of this question) would certainly be on-topic.

Isaac Moses

9:00 PM

@DoubleAA Do you know, off the top of your head, how to spell ריפרדזערטאור, or did you have to look it up? (Or, were you able to derive it from first principles?)

Double AA

@IsaacMoses ~~Completely made it up~~ I have extensive training in the Old Feinsteinian dialect of Hebrew.

Isaac Moses

Q: Where can I take classes / gain shimush in Old Feinsteinian Hebrew?

0

Q: Is it still adultery if the other spouse consents?

Suppose you have two married couples who are extremely close friends with each other. They all four agree to swap wives for the night due to the tight emotional bond the foursome have. Nobody has any regrets the morning after, and both marriages and all friendships remain intact. The reason I ...

halacha marriage arayot

^^^ I think it's a shame that this was down-voted. It does seem in poor taste, but it's an honest, basic question about the fundamentals of a mitzva

... and the only egregiously incorrect assumption in it (that adultery is solely a matter of spousal trust) is exactly what it's asking for verification/denial of

Monica Cellio

9:28 PM

@IsaacMoses I agree. I upvoted it earlier today. This seems like a real, contemporary question and I think it should be welcome here.

Isaac Moses

10:36 PM

If the Ninth (of the Ninth)^n falls on Shabbat, are we doomed for the next 50 years, or are we allowed to bend the rules and make bakashot? /p-t-i-j

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