V'dibarta Bam

HodofHod

12:40 AM

isup.me/responsa.co.il

@Argon Or at least, they are responding to ping from me. But no, I can't seem to load their page.

Isaac Moses

2:30 AM

@HodofHod Guess so. 8^D

1

A: Shiv'a - mi yodeya?

Sevens by Ari Lesser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHU-nJq6Gw Passover extends seven days my friends And from the night after the first day ends We count seven times seven days till Shavuot Refining our souls with the seven Spheriot We go through Tiferet, Malchut, Yesod Chesed, Gevurah, Netza...

Anyone interested in collaboratively footnoting in sources?

HodofHod

3:46 AM

@IsaacMoses :D

@IsaacMoses I am, but I shudder to think what would happen to the edit history if we attempted to do it incrementally. (What comes after community wiki?) ;)

Isaac Moses

4:04 AM

@HodofHod Well, a bunch at a time, I hope. (Universe wiki?)

Double AA

4:18 AM

That came from a river with a seven year flow

?

HaSofer

4:33 AM

Chabad.org Omer Counter: Count 44 Days on Wednesday Night, May 8, 2013

posted on May 09, 2013

Today is forty-four days, which is six weeks and two days of the Omer. Today's attribute: Gevurah ShebeMalchus

Ali

4:52 AM

@CharlesKoppelman Hi, I am always present you can always ping me

anybody can ping me for that matter

msh210

@IsaacMoses @HodofHod (all):

May 15 '12 at 4:46, by msh210

@IsaacMoses @HodofHod Yeah. When I was a kid, Pirchei Agudath Israel of America had a contest wherefor whoever sent in the most Jewish sevens would win. I don't remember how many the winner had found, but IIRC it was in the hundreds.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 But did they rhyme?

HodofHod

@DoubleAA Something something rivers that dry up every seven years something something.

msh210

@IsaacMoses Not at the time.

I wonder whether these are the same person:

henryaaron, New York, NY

187 5

Hank Aaron

Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron (born February 5, 1934), nicknamed "Hammer," or "Hammerin' Hank," is a retired American baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 through 1976. Aaron spent 21 seasons with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) before playing for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League (AL) for the final two years of his career. Aaron is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on their "100 Greatest Baseball Players" list. After playing ...

(I kid.)

Isaac Moses

@msh210 Whoa. If you'd asked me if he was still alive, I'd've guessed not. (Not for any good reason.)

msh210

5:01 AM

@IsaacMoses Me, too.

HodofHod

@IsaacMoses Whoa. About to say the same thing.

Isaac Moses

HodofHod

@IsaacMoses m.quickmeme.com/meme/3ubduc

Isaac Moses

@HodofHod @DoubleAA Found it: (Thanks for the hint, Hod!) Para 8:9: "המים המכזבין, פסולין. ואלו הם המכזבין, המכזבין אחד בשבוע"

2

@DoubleAA, Is this the only time that oil is sprinkled, per se? If so, that's interesting.

@HodofHod Here's a room we can use for collecting sources and coordinating footnoting

Double AA

5:21 AM

@IsaacMoses I believe so.

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA Hmm. Gotta see what R' Hirsch has to say about that.

Double AA

@IsaacMoses It's the only time it's brought on its own. Oil is put in Menachot or in the Menorah, but not just brought by itself.

Although as I write this, I feel like there is an opinion in the Mishna that you can bring it Nedava because a Metzora can bring it. I may be making this up.

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA (Trying to anticipate (/recall?) R' Hirsch's comment:) Let's see. While flour represents what we need to sustain us, oil represents what we need to make our lives comfortable. The Metzora' in exile has been subsisting but not comfortable. As part of his process of rejoining society and human comfort, he has to acknowledge that that comes from God and dedicate himself to not abusing it again.

OK. Going to check now. Let's see how close I got.

Double AA

@DoubleAA Ha! Menachot 12:5

Isaac Moses

5:38 AM

@IsaacMoses Nope. Commentary on 14:10 - (paraphrase) Although the oil in conjunction with the flour represents comfort, this oil must mean something different. Various verses in Tanach associate "shemen" with bodily health. "But if it was just a bodily disease which proclaimed God's displeasure at the social behavior of the menuga', the connection is at once clear between this idea of shemen and the thoughts and hopes of future health which are to be brought from his renewal of his bond ...

... with the Torah to the cured metzora'.

Commentary on 14:18 (paraphrase) The sprinkling followed by smearing on the metzora' teaches him that "his physical health is dependent on his spiritual and moral health". He needs to dedicate the health he's about to enjoy completely (seven) to following the Torah (which the sprinkling's directed at in the Aron) if he wants to actually have it.

Remind me if I ever need to commission an art piece for a religious doctor: It should be of the kohen putting oil on the metzora

Ali

6:13 AM

0

A: Have there ever been inter-faith debates between Jews and Muslims?

This interesting research paper in the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Muslim world discusses the historical account of the debates and polmeics between muslims and Jews. I could find some debates which were based on Alī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā(d. 818) a prominent Muslim scholar, reportedly engaged in a pub...

Ali

1:01 PM

another one:

0

A: Have there ever been inter-faith debates between Jews and Muslims?

Shimon's answer alludes to a debate which got me interested to research more about the transcripts of the actual debate and after some research I found it in an academic paper as it appears in the translated form , the citation for this Journal paper is : A Shii-Jewish "Debate" (Munazara) in th...

Monica Cellio

1:52 PM

@IsaacMoses, I almost lost track. Was yesterday Mi Yodeya Day (secular calendar)? I couldn't actually find a launch date on meta (only the launch party, which was later), but for some reason May 8 is sticking in my mind. (Anyone else who knows feel free to answer too, of course.)

Double AA

17

Q: New Design Launched

As you can see the new design just went live. Which means this site has been officially launched! Congratulations! Thank you for your valuable design feedback. If you're still seeing the old favicons, please load the follow urls and do a hard browser refresh. Main site favicon Meta site favico...

discussion design

Monica Cellio

@DoubleAA oh thanks! It wasn't tagged "launch" so I missed it. (Retagged now.)

Happy Mi Yodeya Day, everyone! (Actually yesterday.)

5

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio The Hebrew date was 16 Iyyar, FWIW - 2 days before HodofHod day.

@MonicaCellio You, too!

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses yes, I remembered that May was earlier last year than this, though didn't remember exactly when during the omer this was.

"2 days before HodofHod day" should be easier to remember for next year.

Double AA

@IsaacMoses AKA TiferetofHod day

Isaac Moses

2:06 PM

@DoubleAA Can we rename @Community to this?

Monica Cellio

Some day, centuries from now, historians may wonder... why did this small community rename Lag b'Omer to HodofHod day? :-)

msh210

@IsaacMoses I was ust typing the same suggestion when your came through.

@IsaacMoses But, no, I think we have no control over its name.

oh, wrong:

judaism.stackexchange.com/users/-1/tiferetofhod

Isaac Moses

@msh210 :) Not sure if that's actually a good idea.

msh210

Should we really be using the relaunch date and not the Beta or SE 1.0 date?

Isaac Moses

@msh210 But, you've unlocked some fertile ground for fun with nomenclature

msh210

2:08 PM

@IsaacMoses Well, no tunilaterally. I'll change it back. But I don't see anything wrong with doing it.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 Or the date I created m.y? Or the date I opened private beta? Or the date I opened public beta? Too many birthdays

@msh210 That name in particular is a bit too obscure for the purpose, I think.

msh210

@IsaacMoses I thought the day you created m.y is the SE 1.0

Isaac Moses

@msh210 OK

Maybe we should ask @TiferetofHod what birthday it prefers to celebrate.

... but of all of these, I think that Launch date (Tiferet of Hod) really does make the most sense, as it was a day of fruition and not just budding.

msh210

@IsaacMoses Maybe it will answer.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses that's what I was thinking, but you can certainly argue for other dates too. But maybe Mi Yodeya Day doesn't celebrate the birth day but rather something else? (If it were obligated to mitzvot we could say it is its bar-mitzvah date, the date it reached "adulthood" on SE...)

Isaac Moses

2:16 PM

@MonicaCellio Once could see everything leading up to that date as gestation, and that date as birth.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses true.

BTW, does anyone know what's up with the flurry of questions from henryaaron last night? They all ask specifically for SA citations. It almost looks like a set of homework questions -- not complaining, just wondering.

2

I'm inclined to trim this answer down substantially, as the question asked "are there transcripts", not for complete transcripts to be included in answers, and it triggered SE's length limits. What do others think? Does anyone want to excerpt some high points? (If I trim I'll trim it all, leaving links and cites, and invite the author to put back a small sample. I'm not going to dig through it all myself to try to do that.)

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio I think @SethJ's right. The reference+link belongs either as an edit to his other answer or as an edit to ShimonBM's answer. The full text certainly does not belong.

... The only reason he posted a second answer was to maximize the amount of full text he could copy in, which is irrelevant if we don't allow the full text, which we oughtn't.

@MonicaCellio Maybe he's trying to get to 755 questions as quickly as he can.

Ali

@IsaacMoses No that was not my intention, My intention was to indeed answer the "transcript" part as a seperate answer

Isaac Moses

2:31 PM

It sets a limit , I cant have more than 30,000... characters hence another answer concentrating on the transcript part — Ali 2 hours ago

Ali

@IsaacMoses Ya when I began writing the other answer I got this limit

Isaac Moses

@Ali Other than that consideration, it makes sense to answer as many parts of the question as you can in one answer.

Monica Cellio

@Ali oh hi. We have guidelines for quoting/excerpting and this seems to run afoul of them. This would work better as a link + summary/highlights.

Ali

If you feel that it's worth reading the entire original piece, it's nice to recommend as much.

@MonicaCellio If you feel that it's worth reading the entire original piece, it's nice to recommend as much.

Isaac Moses

@Ali That's suggested in the guidelines @Monica linked to.

Ali

2:35 PM

I copied from there

Isaac Moses

@Ali OK. So the point is to make a rich reference to the material but not try to republish it here.

2

Ali

But according to the guidelines I can post the entire original piece

Its a valuable nugget that needs to be shared and does better justice to the question

Isaac Moses

@Ali No, the whole point of that guideline is that you cannot.

Monica Cellio

@Ali "If there are parts of the external material that would be best quoted in their original language to enhance your summary, you may quote small excerpts, as long as you make it clear that they're quotations using quotation marks or blockquoting."

Seth J

@IsaacMoses is right, @Ali. I do not believe SE wants us to post entire published works as answers to questions. The asker did not request transcripts; the question asked if they exist (presumably for reference purposes).

Monica Cellio

2:39 PM

@Ali I agree it's valuable. But we try to avoid republishing entire articles that are published elsewhere. Summary/excerpt plus link is the way to go.

Isaac Moses

@SethJ And SE aside, it's a violation (legally and/or morally) of the rights of the owner of the material.

Ali

@IsaacMoses No its not a copyright violation as I have attributed and quoted the same

and in academics it is allowed to quote transcripts in liguistics and human scieneces

Isaac Moses

@Ali So I can photocopy a bestselling novel and sell my copies of it, as long as I acknowledge who wrote it? No, that's not how copyright works

Daniel

@IsaacMoses That's a brilliant idea

Ali

@IsaacMoses No photocopy is different, academics allow you to quote not "photo copy"

Isaac Moses

2:42 PM

@Ali In any case, it's against the rules here. If you think the rules ought to be changed, propose as much on Mi Yodeya Meta.

Monica Cellio

@Ali we don't follow academic standards here. SE is bound by US law -- and possibly other jurisdictions too since it's worldwide -- and we are bound by halacha, and we already have a policy.

Ali

@MonicaCellio Which does allow to quote an entire item

Monica Cellio

And none of the mods are lawyers, and even if we were that wouldn't give us authority to rule, and so even if I'm wrong about some point of US law, it doesn't matter because we have a policy.

Isaac Moses

The fact that there's a technological barrier to posting as much text as you'd like is a hint that the technology is not really meant to support wholesale republishing.

Monica Cellio

So @Ali, it would be better if you would do the trimming, since you know the material better than I do, but to stay compliant with our policies, if you don't trim it I'll have to.

Ali

2:47 PM

@MonicaCellio Can I summarize individual units in the transcript and explain each?

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio There's nothing wrong or aggressive with editing it down to just the reference and then inviting the author to add relevant summary back in.

Ali

@MonicaCellio It would be great if you summarize it

Isaac Moses

@Ali I think even that may be a great deal more than the question is asking for, which, as @SethJ pointed out, is essentially references.

... a one-sentence or one-paragraph description of what's in the entire piece would certainly be appropriate and helpful to readers, to help them determine whether to follow the reference.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses that's what I was going to do before Ali joined the conversation.

@Ali I'm not prepared to spend the time digesting it enough to assemble a proper summary. If I edit, it will be to edit down to the citation and link.

@IsaacMoses I agree with this @Ali.

Seth J

@IsaacMoses I personally stand by my comments there.

Isaac Moses

3:00 PM

@MonicaCellio Done. I still think it'd be even better as an addition to @Ali's other answer, like Seth vvv , but that's up to Ali.

Seth J

Adding this link to your other answer (with a short introduction but without the verbatim quote) would enhance an already solid answer. Pasting the entire thing as a second answer is kind of weak, imho. — Seth J 2 hours ago

It's great content, to be sure, but now I'm concerned that it might violate copyright law or SE terms of service. Maybe just a link and a short, one-line explanation. It will still enhance the other answer, even if it is not widely accessible. I still think the other answer is primary and this is supportive of that. If the asker really wants to invest in obtaining a transcript, it might be possible to go through a library that has rights to share reference material; since you've linked to the source it shouldn't be too hard for a librarian to pull it up. — Seth J 1 hour ago

(oops, meant to ping @ali, sorry @IsaacMoses)

Adding the link with a one-line explanation (not a full summary) to the other answer makes the other answer terrific.

Daniel

I feel like if the text is only accessible with a paid subscription, it is quite likely that copying it here is a violation of copyright

Double AA

@Daniel I agree

Isaac Moses

I love that this exists:

judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/arriving-late

Daniel

@IsaacMoses We're Jewish. It has to exist

:)

Seth J

3:04 PM

@IsaacMoses It could be applied here as well. ( :-P @Daniel)

Isaac Moses

@Daniel As I was typing, It should probably have a synonym: jewish-time

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses thanks.

Daniel

@IsaacMoses haha it actually has the same number tagged questions as judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/tosfot

and other relevant tags

msh210

@MonicaCellio Eh... I'm not sure to what extent the site is bound by halacha. Probably none. If Ali, who is not so bound, posts something, I doubt halacha will force the community or her moderators to do anything. I certainly agree with the stuff youre saying about MY & SE policy though. (Ive only gotten, in backread, up to where I'm replying to at the moment.)

Isaac Moses

@msh210 meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/a/1451/2

msh210

3:16 PM

@IsaacMoses Done.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 You keep taking my jestfull naming suggestions seriously :)

msh210

@IsaacMoses The first comment there says that the site policy is informed by halacha but that users are expected to follow the former and not the latter. Which I agree with.

Monica Cellio

@msh210 I was thinking more along the lines of not letting a problem stand if we can avert it. We aren't required to be copyright enforcers, for example, but if we see a copyright violation it seems like we would be expected to deal with it. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "halacha" as this is more of a derech-eretz thing.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 Sounds about right to me.

Monica Cellio

@msh210 yeah, sorry for my choice of poor words. We can't enforce halacha even if we wnat to (whose understanding of it?), but we should all aspire to behave in accord with torah values.

msh210

3:19 PM

@IsaacMoses Actually, I should remove that synonym. People may type in 'time' and choose it when the question is about time (not about 'Jewish time') thinking that that's what the tag means.

I'll leave it as a proposed synonym but not pass it through as active.

Done.

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio To be fair, in arguing about what site policy ought to be, which is essentially what we were doing above, it's fine to quote Halacha as precedent, given the makeup of this community.

msh210

@MonicaCellio Kinda. Actually, no. I mean, I think everyone should behave in accord with Torah values. But I'm not sure the site can think so. The site has only policies and customs. Of course, those will be informed by (and hopefully in accordance with) Torah values, but that's not the same thing.

@IsaacMoses In arguing about what policy ought to be, I agree. Not in arguing over what it is.

Though any individual user on the site should of course feel free to let whatever he wants dictate how he acts -- and hopefully that will usually be the Torah.

Note: My above comments on site policy and halacha, starting with this one, are half-baked, not well-thought-out ideas. Don't quote me on them without quoting this line also, please.

Monica Cellio

My comments are kind of half-baked too, just to be clear. And I was undoubtedly conflating "what the site should do", "what we should expect users to do", and "what moderators should do", just for extra confusion.

Daniel

My next question will be my 100th question. I want to make it count. Any suggestions?

:)

Double AA

3:40 PM

@Daniel Your 100th not as yet deleted question.

That count doesn't list deleted questions I think.

Daniel

@DoubleAA fair enough

Double AA

Jun 14 '12 at 14:21, by HodofHod

My 100th answer!

Jun 14 '12 at 16:03, by Double AA

@HodofHod I'm only seeing 99. Are you counting a deleted one (which you can see as a mod?) http://judaism.stackexchange.com/users/883/hodofhod?tab=answers

Isaac Moses

Jun 3 '12 at 19:25, by Alex

@IsaacMoses: odd, it says there 981 for me

Jun 3 '12 at 19:25, by Isaac Moses

@Alex Hmm. Maybe my view includes deleteds

Monica Cellio

@Daniel darn, I missed that opportunity for both questions and answers. Hmm, a question involving 100 of something, maybe? Some use of that number in text that prompts a question? Do we have a question yet about the practice (halacha?) of saying 100 b'rachot a day?

Isaac Moses

10

Q: Meya - mi yodeya?

Who knows one hundred? Please cite/link your sources, if possible. At some point in the future, subject to holiday and user activity delay, I will: Upvote all interesting answers. Accept the best answer. Go on to the next number.

mi-yodeya-series number

Monica Cellio

3:51 PM

@IsaacMoses but it probably wasn't your 100th question. :-)

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio By construction, not, assuming I'd asked anything outside mi-yodeya-series before that

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses exactly. It was possible that it was your 100th, but probably you asked other questions. But since I didn't check, I had to say "probably not" rather than "not".

Daniel

@IsaacMoses Ooh we have lots of proofs using different methods here, but it's not every day that we get to have a proof by induction on MY

HodofHod

@IsaacMoses We gotta get Ari Lesser on this!

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses but now somebody else is going to have to ask a question in that series just to mess up your logic for the next interesting number. :-)

Isaac Moses

4:02 PM

More information leakage :)

Double AA

@IsaacMoses Indeed

For those who didn't notice:

Aarthi, New York, United States

101 3

HodofHod

@DoubleAA Awww :(

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA Oh, That's a loss. What's she up to now?

Daniel

@IsaacMoses I don't get it

Double AA

@IsaacMoses Don't know, but probably making whatever it is a happier place :)

2

@Daniel The most recent badge awardee did not speak and get starred in Bam at all.

Isaac Moses

4:05 PM

@DoubleAA At least, not recently

@DoubleAA truth

HodofHod

Anyone know a source for Tishrei being the beginning of the year?

Daniel

So how did she get that badge?

msh210

@HodofHod Lemme check my calendar....

...yep.

3

HodofHod

@msh210 Laughing out loud!

msh210

@MonicaCellio He did, Purim-time, twice.

HodofHod

4:07 PM

....and now coughing out loud. Oy.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 Thrice

@HodofHod Midrashim on Noach? R' Hirsch on Hachodesh (and his sources there)?

msh210

@IsaacMoses Thrice, then. Yet the series only has one more question in it than the latest number...?

Monica Cellio

@Daniel probably in another room associated with the site.

msh210

@HodofHod First mishna in RH?

Isaac Moses

@Daniel ... that you and I have no other information about, by design. Hence "leakage"

HodofHod

4:08 PM

@msh210 Bingo. Thanks!

@IsaacMoses Thanks!

Isaac Moses

@msh210 One was not silly enough to require ptij (and, I think, preceded its invention by a year) the other two were (and didn't)

msh210

@IsaacMoses Ah, I see. Do you have a link to the former, please? I don't know how to look for it. (Or if you remember what number it was, I can find it easily.)

(The latter are at judaism.stackexchange.com/…, if anyone wants to see them.)

Isaac Moses

@msh210 You answered it!

msh210

@IsaacMoses Ah, so I did. Thanks for the link.

@IsaacMoses I still don't get the Y'hoshua reference btw.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 That pasuk may have the same gematria as this one, IIRC.

@msh210, this year, I came in and started typing out this one again, but the headline dupe detector let me know that I was on trodden ground.

msh210

4:17 PM

@IsaacMoses Ah.

Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese and Japanese 銀杏, pinyin romanization: yín xìng, Hepburn romanization: ichō or ginnan), also spelled gingko and known as the maidenhair tree, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives. The ginkgo is a living fossil, recognisably similar to fossils dating back 270 million years. Native to China, the tree is widely cultivated and was introduced early to human history. It has various uses in traditional medicine and as a food. Description Ginkgos are large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with some...

:-)

HodofHod

Source for forgiving debts on yovel? (I thought it was shmita?)

Isaac Moses

@HodofHod Shemitat kesafim is in shevi'it. Devarim 15

msh210

@IsaacMoses I have a vague recollection it's in yovel also.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 I wouldn't be surprised, though we may use a derasha to derive that

msh210

@IsaacMoses Oh, I thought you were correcting, limiting it to sh'viis.

Isaac Moses

4:27 PM

@msh210 More like confirming the parenthetical

Isaac Moses

4:40 PM

Incidentally, the way the Kibutz Galuyot is B"H proceeding, this could become lema'aseh in not too many years.

msh210

5:07 PM

Happy Yom Chevron to y'all, incidentally.

msh210

5:19 PM

Interesting question, which would be more so if you could cite your claim that some say to avoid such works because emuna p'shuta is better than logical inquiry. (This is important here, because you're not asking what the words emuna p'shuta mean: you're asking specifically what the authors of the works that say to avoid studying philosophy mean by it. So without reference to those works it's impossible to answer this.) — msh210 31 secs ago

^ Close the question pending clarification? @IsaacMoses @HodofHod @MonicaCellio @DoubleAA anyone else? (Pinging those who are listed as present.)

Isaac Moses

@msh210 Yes, on precisely the grounds you describe in your parentheses.

msh210

@IsaacMoses See the replies there.

Isaac Moses

@msh210 For that reply to justify the question, the question would have to stand on its own without the first paragraph. I believe that it does not. Don't ask me why. I just do.

OK, fine. I believe it does not because absent a context in which they're used in Judaism, those words are just words. He wants a precise definition of them as a term of art, and that requires context.

msh210

5:39 PM

@IsaacMoses I'm glad we were able to pin him down. Now maybe someone can answer, explaining what Rabbi Becher meant. Indeed, maybe Rabbi Becher can.

Monica Cellio

@msh210 just got back and saw this. I see edits, comments newer than the last edit, and no close/reopen in the history. Do you want to close it now, or did any of that make it enough better that you no longer want to?

msh210

@MonicaCellio The latter, though I'm still not happy with it.

Isaac Moses

7:13 PM

@SethJ This looks like more of a description of practice than an event that happened, or am I missing something?

Ariel

7:38 PM

@MonicaCellio Thanks (although I think it was just DoubleAA that assumed US law).

Monica Cellio

@Ariel you're welcome.

Isaac Moses

8:05 PM

New topic: should we try to do this?:

2

A: How can we plan a "Shabbaton - Mi Yodeya?"

Here's one way we could do it: 1. Choosing a date A meta post goes up, soliciting suggested dates. Anyone can suggest a date (or the person posting the meta post could just do this) by posting two answers: One for people who could travel on that date, and one for people who could participate i...

Daniel

@IsaacMoses I would theoretically be interested

Double AA

8:20 PM

@IsaacMoses Maybe a lot of answers with an arbitrary date and various locations, and instructions to upvote if that works, downvote if the location is good but just the date is bad, and no-vote if the location is bad.

HodofHod

5

Q: Is there some way to make it easier to quote and find relevant texts?

There are many sites that contain hebrew texts for free, such as http://he.wikisource.org, http://mechon-mamre.org and http://hebrewbooks.org. Yet it is often inconvenient to go to the sites to access the texts. Would there be some way that one could just refer to the texts, and they would autom...

feature-request text

We really should to make this happen, at least as a userscript. I started researching to throw together a proof of concept, but I'm already in over my head. (I am sorely lacking in web programming experience.)

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses I wonder if aiming for a Sunday gathering rather than a Shabbaton, to allow easier travel, would be a better first attempt?

I guess that depends on where people are and what their travel ranges are. I'm kind of assuming that the NYC-Boston area and the Baltimore-DC area would benefit from that, and I think St. Louis would get some benefit IIRC. Out here in Pittsburgh I don't know if it helps me. :-)

Isaac Moses

8:40 PM

@MonicaCellio The distance between NYC and Boston is very different than the one between Baltimore and DC :)

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses true, but they have fast trains up in the northeast, I've heard. :-) But I'm not from there and, well, reality-distortion fields can be tricky. :-)

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio A great deal of the benefit I'm hoping for is to have people who only know each other as Yodeyans thusfar meet each other. I suspect that a Sunday event in St. Louis would likely do nothing toward this. However, a Sunday event in NYC or in Maryland might indeed further this goal.

@MonicaCellio I don't think anyone's taking a fast train from Boston to NY for dinner :) For Shabbat, maybe.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses I'm in favor of anything that helps Yodeyans meet each other, even if it's only a few at a time.

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio Me, too.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses ah, ok.

Isaac Moses

8:45 PM

It's conceivable that a Shabbat event could draw in people from a more sparse region more effectively than a Sunday event.

Daniel

@IsaacMoses I agree. It would be difficult for me to drive from Chicago to, say, St. Louis and then back again in the same day.

Isaac Moses

But maybe focusing on the sparse region case is counterproductive given the population and symptomatic of negia' badavar on my part.

@Daniel Maybe, to my own selfish end, I should just cut out the communal overhead and invite you and @Monica to come to St. Louis some time.

Monica Cellio

Should we (somehow) attempt a location survey to inform these discussions? Do we have clusters in certain cities already (which ones?), and how sparse are the sparse areas?

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio That's sort-of what my meta proposal would get us, although perhaps it'd be worth starting with just a general, fully-anonymous "Where are you" survey. The trick is getting people to respond

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses :-) Google says 600 miles.

Isaac Moses

8:51 PM

@MonicaCellio Yeah, but they're low-congestion miles :)

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses true. Anyway, we aren't limited to just one thing; try the meta post and see what happens, and if we find we want to gather data some other way, we'll figure it out. I'm an incrementalist. :-)

@IsaacMoses would want to find someone to share the driving, though. (My personal range seems to be about 300 miles before I start getting into "wait, what am I doing?" territory.)

Isaac Moses

9:05 PM

I can only add one every 60 seconds, so if someone else wants to help with @DoubleAA's list, I'd appreciate it. — Isaac Moses 11 secs ago

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses to avoid collisions, I'll work on his second list (starting with Manchester).

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio Thanks

@MonicaCellio Also StL, please! :)

Double AA

@IsaacMoses I was hoping @Daniel would do it so as to avoid a revision history

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA Oh, well

Daniel

@DoubleAA You were hoping I would do what?

HodofHod

9:20 PM

Anyone know a source for "The seven species of the holy land, Growing as abundant as the beach has sand"? Poetic license?

Monica Cellio

Would somebody add Pittsburgh PA, please?

Double AA

@Daniel Edits within five minutes of each other by the same author collapse in the revision history

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio coming soon

Double AA

so if you post, and then fix a typo 2 minutes later, it doesn't rebump or show up as a revision

Isaac Moses

@MonicaCellio done

Monica Cellio

9:23 PM

@IsaacMoses thanks.

Daniel

@DoubleAA What specific edit are you referring to?

Double AA

@Daniel You posted gush dan, and deleted because isaac beat you to it. if you had edited to chaifa within 5 minutes, no one would ever have seen the original mistake

Isaac Moses

St. Louis is winning!

HodofHod

I am sorry for interrupting your conversation twice (and the extra pings) :( I was working on other pages, and didn't really pay attention to what was going on in here before posting (I know, I know).
I'd love to have some kind of meet-up, but given my current lifestyle, I think I'll probably be sitting this one out. (I'm in the LA area only for another couple of weeks)

Isaac Moses

@HodofHod I don't know if any particular event is about to get planned, but please do upvote whatever you think appropriate in our poll

HodofHod

9:29 PM

@IsaacMoses That's just it. I don't think any of the locations listed apply to me :(

Seth J

@msh210, re:

@SethJ, that'd be asking answerers to delve into the mind of the person the asker had heard from to determine what he had meant. How is that answerable? But the question's been changed by now, anyway, so I think chat might be a better place to continue this conversation. — msh210 6 mins ago

I don't understand. We're not trying to read anyone's mind. We're trying to get to the concept as generally understood.

Monica Cellio

@IsaacMoses I didn't know it was a race. :-)

Isaac Moses

@HodofHod We could add one.

@MonicaCellio I know; it's very early in the season

Monica Cellio

@HodofHod please don't apologize for interrupting us with, y'know, actual torah questions!

HodofHod

@IsaacMoses We could, only for it to languish in disuse :)

Isaac Moses

9:31 PM

@HodofHod Um, yeah, sounds like just using a simile that fits the rhyme

@SethJ 8^P Like I said, it's early yet

Seth J

@IsaacMoses Deleted, but ;-)

Double AA

@HodofHod You might be surprised who else lives in your area

Isaac Moses

@DoubleAA Or at least, how many

Daniel

Now the real question is, how do we get people beyond the 6 or 7 who regularly are on chat and meta to respond to this

HodofHod

@IsaacMoses I assumed so. Moving on to the next part. When the options for sourcing are a Talmudic discussion or a SA/Rambam/MB/Whatever, what's preferable, do you think?

Seth J

9:32 PM

@Daniel srsly

Double AA

@Daniel featured

It'll show in the bulletin on the main page for a few weeks now.

Isaac Moses

@HodofHod I'd say "earliest clear source"

HodofHod

@DoubleAA I might. Are you stam saying that, or....

;)

@IsaacMoses Sounds good.

Isaac Moses

@Daniel We're already up to a population of 4, and it's only been a few minutes

msh210

@msh210, pardon me for arriving late, but if the original question were, "Regarding the study of philosophical works such as the Rambam's guide for the perplexed of the Shaar Yichud I've heard that there is a view that it is better to stay away based on the idea that Emunah Peshuta is better than chakira (logical investigation). What is emuna peshuta? Does this mean blind faith or simple faith based on something? if the latter, what is this something?" would that satisfy? — Seth J 3 hours ago

Hm.

Isaac Moses

9:36 PM

I suspect that some people are waiting to vote until it's harder to guess who's voting based on time

Daniel

@IsaacMoses Well we're actively discussing this on chat

msh210

@SethJ I suppose if someone said "I heard people in shul discussing 'keli shem'lachto l'isur' in the context of hilchos shabas. What is that?" I'd be fine with it.

And that seems the same as this.

Seth J

@msh210 That's all I'm saying.

@msh210 Actually, to me, it looks like the asker is doing his best to provide additional information as best he can.

Oops.

msh210

@SethJ I agree completely.

Meta-Man

3

Q: Where do you live?

With an eye toward designing in-person community events (e.g. this), it would be useful to have some idea of how many Yodeyans live where. So, let's try to collect some basic data about this while preserving the privacy of people who want it preserved. If you see the metropolitan area you live ...

discussion featured community

Double AA

9:48 PM

@Meta-Man Where do you live, is really the question.

Monica Cellio

@DoubleAA New York, no? (Unless he's the server in Oregon today.)

Double AA

@HodofHod I'm just saying, it isn't something you can Google to find out.

HodofHod

@DoubleAA I suppose.... But suppose I lived in Atka. I think it's a safe bet that I'd be the only Yodeyan there....

Double AA

@HodofHod Well, do you live in Atka, or somewhere worth taking the chance?

Seth J

@MonicaCellio Isn't there an office in Denver?

Isaac Moses

9:53 PM

@SethJ The server farms are in NY and OR

Monica Cellio

@SethJ SE has office in several cities, but AFAIK the servers are only in two places right now.

Fred

@HodofHod There's got to be at least one Chabad in Atka. :)

2

Isaac Moses

@Fred I know there's one in Sitka

Fred

@IsaacMoses That's cool, but it does have over 100 times the population of Atka.

HodofHod

@DoubleAA I suppose it's worth taking the chance. (Truth is, I know one Yodeyan from my hometown (very inactive) and another who joined but never pariticpated.)

Isaac Moses

9:56 PM

@Fred oh, I see :)

HodofHod

@Fred But what if I'm him??

;)

Seth J

@MonicaCellio (and @IsaacMoses) got it.

Fred

@HodofHod That was actually my immediate reaction when I read your comment.

Double AA

@HodofHod If you do flag in a locale, I'll post at least one other location just stam.