@DoubleAA When reviewing LQ posts on SO, my criteria are leave 'wrong' answers - incorrect answers that deserve to be downvoted, but are actually an answer. An 'invalid' answer is one that is simply not an answer - comment, link-only, new question, etc.
There seems to be a standard model of wood sukka with 8x4 panels framed with what look like 1X2s or 1x3s, including horizontal members 1/3 and 2/3 up. You can see an example here. I've seen these in pictures from all over the place. Are these pre-fab or built from plans? Relevant to:
I am looking for full-blown, ready-made plans for a sukkah with wind-blocking wooden walls and frame elements. (I'm OK with metal hardware.) I have searched the Internet and have yet to find any. I have found, the Sukkah Project's kits with plans for sale, but those are intended for use with fabr...
@IsaacMoses I suspect they're built from plans. It'd only be feasible to sell those locally, as shipping costs would be high. That's why the Sukkah Project, for example, sells the brackets and whatnot but tells you to go buy your own 2x4s.
BTW @IsaacMoses on yours, did you use plain plywood sheets for your walls or did you frame them somehow? (I'm guessing the former, given what you just asked here.) If it's plain plywood, be careful to store in a way that they won't warp -- flat is best if you have the space for it.
@MonicaCellio Well, there are large concentrations of Jews in e.g. Yerushalayim and New York where it's practical to sell locally.
@MonicaCellio The plywood is screwed permanently to a rectangular frame of 2x4s. Thanks for the tip about warping. I had plywood and 2x4s leaning against the walls of my basement during construction and experienced unfortunate warping over only a few days. I do plan to store my sections in a flat stack.
@IsaacMoses the 2x4 frame should help a lot to prevent warping. We store the panels for that kitchen I mentioned vertically (they're framed) and haven't had problems with that. A flat stack is best if you have the room; if you decide to test leaning against a wall, test with just one of them in case it's a problem. :-)
What do you guys think about a tag for practical-implementation? Every "how should I build a sukkah" question would go under it, my most recent question would use it.....*and* it would be useful for categorizing questions that don't need as much book knowledge as practical knowledge.........
Thoughts?
[ it feels like we should have a tag for that already, only I've never seen it..... ]
We have a 2 lbs box of medjool dates. Very fancy. But it has been on the shelf for about 2 months. At first, when we split it, no visible bugs. Now we are seeing small white spots near the seed, salt grain sized.
Even with a good magnifying glass, I cannot discern if this is just sugar deposits ...
@Shokhet This is the same kind of issue that led me to this. Something which is clearly by context being asked as a personal question is OK if it avoids some magic words, while questions clearly not being asked as personal are off-limits because they use the taboo word "I" in the question.
@YEZ Hm....in this case, though, I think it's still pretty clear that the OP will act on the info brought here.....it just so happens that the Kof-K already ruled on this case......
@Shokhet True, but I don't think that mitigates the issue AFAWAC (as far as we are concerned) (Yes, I did just make up an acronym, and then spell it out, using more characters than if I had left it out to begin with, followed by this parenthetical statement which is much longer than it would have been otherwise).
@YEZ I support closing outright requests for pesak, especially from new users, and leaving them closed until the user comes back and edits, as a way of sending a strong signal. We have to be as overwhelmingly clear as possible about what we offer and what we don't, but the fact that someone came here asking for a pesak doesn't make the topic of their question off-limits.
@IsaacMoses I agree - I'm just suggesting that even after the actual "punch line" of the question has been de-personalized, the post as a whole (not the history, I mean as it is currently) still conveys the message of a personal case. I think the whole mention of his own personal story should be removed.
@YEZ I disagree. Motivation is important. That's what makes it clear that this is worth addressing, and not just someone randomly dreaming up a cockamamie "what if." ...
In this case, the question was not exactly asking for pesak - the question is "are these spots bugs?" which is a matter of metziut, and which a date farmer could help with as well as a rav hamachshir, so I thought it seemed unnecessary to hit it with the close hammer. However, since it was asking about his dates, which we don't have, we can't answer, and an answer would be relatively useless compared to an answer to "how can one distinguish?" So I edited.
@IsaacMoses OK - just pointing out it's at the expense of maintaining the "this is a personal question" feel of the question. I think it becomes a technicality at this point. It's no longer "officially" a psak question, even though we all know it is (even without the history).
@YEZ It means that we (practically speaking) aren't ruling.....is it a problem if you ask a "crowd of your friends" a halachic question, and they give you a Kof-K article?
@IsaacMoses How do you know that they will when they say "I have a question. What should I do?" Maybe they will take the answer as if they asked a crowd of their friends.
@Shokhet That's helpful, but the existence of such articles isn't known a priori, unless the question is of the form "what literature addresses this?" but then, that's not asking for pesak anyway.
If someone wants to kasher their utensils using a pot of boiling water, what do they need to know to do it correctly?
Among other issues, consider:
Are there issues with how long items need to be in the water?
How much water does there need to be?
Can some items not be kashered this way?
@Shokhet I know for a fact that that asker is not looking to do it himself. That asker has sufficient knowledge to do it himself if he wants to. In fact, that asker did so just last night! That asker, while doing so, had the thought that it would be a nice resource to have a basic guide available, and as a service to a certain online community asked the question, without any mention of himself (except in the title).
@YEZ If someone (especially a new user) asks "What should I do?" and gets an answer saying "This source says to do X," then there's good reason to fear that that person will do X on that answer's say-so. However, if someone asks "What should I do?" and gets prodded in various ways with the MY non-pesak rule, then gets an answer "This source says to do X," we know that they are at least aware that the answer was not given in the spirit of pesak. What they (or other readers) do with that ...
@YEZ Well, I'd like to have our red disclaimer back on the side at all times, but we've got disclaimers in the tour and in the FAQ, as well as in the summary for halacha.
@Shokhet Only if the record is obvious to people who read without digging.
I propose that there ought to be a way for the mods of a site to put up a prominent disclaimer that shows up on every page and makes it clear that the site does not offer professional services.
For example, on mi.yodeya, the SE 1.0 site that was the starting point for Judaism.SE, the header of e...
We don't spend too much time talking about our code of conduct; the rules are few and fairly straightforward, and most people abide by them, most of the time. But some of these guidelines, while obvious to our core community, are often unknown to or misinterpreted by newcomers.
One of the oldes...
What is the step by step method of Kashering for the method of 'Iruy?
Assume I've never done it before, and I am taking a recently used, non-Kosher metal sink for Passover. (Maybe I'm in a hotel.) It needs to be made Kosher, Parve, and Pesachdik.
What is the step by step process of Kashering for the method of Libbun?
Assume I've never done it before, and I am taking a recently used, non-Kosher oven and stove, as well as a frying pan, for Passover. (Maybe I'm in a hotel.) It needs to be made Kosher, Parve, and Pesachdik.
I'm Sara Gittel from the Shtetl and I just got back to my home with my freshly shechted chicken that I had brought to our local Shochet. I seem to have forgotten though how to salt it. Can please you explain to me what I should do? Thanks!
In all seriousness, though, salting meat was something...
I'm Sara Gittel from the Shtetl and I just got back to my home with my freshly shechted chicken that I had brought to our local Shochet. I seem to have forgotten though how to salt it. Can please you explain to me what I should do? Thanks!
In all seriousness, though, salting meat was something...
I've seen many people shy away when asked to do Hagbaha (הגבהה), thinking themselves too weak. I know for a fact that it doesn't take that much strength to do it correctly, so I'd love to see a writeup of proper technique.
See also the Sefaradi version of this question.
The custom is to unroll the m'gila and fold it over, 'page' over 'page', before reading it in public on Purim, then to roll it up again before reciting the b'racha after the reading. Suppose there's no one at hand to help you hold it in place on a lectern or table while you read it. You will want...
Could I suggest that for the religion sites (Biblical Hermeneutics.SE, Buddhism.SE, Christianity.SE, Islam.SE, Judaism.SE, and the like), this language is going to cause confusion or consternation:
Be civil. Attacking or harassing individuals based on gender, sexual orientation, disability, g...
@IsaacMoses thanks for pointing that out. I think here on Mi Yodeya we are already careful to do that, but not all of the religion sites manage to reach that level and it doesn't hurt to remind everybody.
Is there anything about talmud-bavli that cannot be covered by talmud-gemara and/or the pertinent masechet tags?
There are under 60 questions, many of which are already tagged under other Gemara tags.
Note: I'm not asking about talmud-yerushalmi, as it is a different format than the Bavli, and ...
If someone wants to kasher their utensils using a pot of boiling water, what do they need to know to do it correctly?
Among other issues, consider:
Are there issues with how long items need to be in the water?
How much water does there need to be?
Can some items not be kashered this way?
I'm Sara Gittel from the Shtetl and I just got back to my home with my freshly shechted chicken that I had brought to our local Shochet. I seem to have forgotten though how to salt it. Can please you explain to me what I should do? Thanks!
In all seriousness, though, salting meat was something...
Could I suggest that for the religion sites (Biblical Hermeneutics.SE, Buddhism.SE, Christianity.SE, Islam.SE, Judaism.SE, and the like), this language is going to cause confusion or consternation:
Be civil. Attacking or harassing individuals based on gender, sexual orientation, disability, g...
Is there anything about talmud-bavli that cannot be covered by talmud-gemara and/or the pertinent masechet tags?
There are under 60 questions, many of which are already tagged under other Gemara tags.
Note: I'm not asking about talmud-yerushalmi, as it is a different format than the Bavli, and ...
What is the Only Parsha not Lained ever on Thursday?
