Best answer contest: First quarter of 5779

Question

Have you seen (or written) a recent answer on Mi Yodeya that you thought was really great? Let's have a contest to help you tell everyone about it!

This contest has two phases: Nomination and Voting. It is currently in the Voting phase.

1. Nomination - ending December 16, 2018

   Post an answer to this Meta post containing a link to the Mi Yodeya answer you want to nominate. Answers created in Tishrei - Kislev, 5779 (from September 10, 2018 through December 8, 2018) are eligible.

   Please link to one answer in each entry. Nominate as many answers as you like in separate answers to this post.

   When you see a great answer, don't wait; post a link to it here before you forget!

   Please do not vote on any answers to this post during the Nomination phase.

2. Voting - December 16 - 23, 2018

   On December 16, this post was edited to indicate that the Voting phase has begun, and the featured tag was added.

   During this phase, everyone is invited to vote on the answers to this post however you see fit. Upvote (or downvote, I guess) as many as you like.

The answer linked in the highest voted answer to this meta post will receive a bounty of 300 points after completion of the event on December 23, 2018. In case of a tie, the distinction will be shared, and the prize will be split.

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^{Concept and words borrowed from Movies.SE.}

Answer 1

I nominate robev's answer to Differences between RaMbaM and RaMbaN's mitzvah count which was asked on my first day as a moderator. At the time I had considered closing the question as Too Broad (or whatever that was called back then) since I could imagine the "question could be answered by an entire book".

robev's post nearly proves me right, being so dense with information and references he had to use a URL shortener to stay within SE's 30,000 (!) character limit. Well done on being thorough, robev!

Answer 2

I nominate Josh's and Alex's answers to Number of Se'ifim in Shulchan Aruch to split the prize. Those answers combined much original research with much fact checking to provide a documented new piece of information for the internet. They required much time, research, coding skills, and collaboration to achieve their results. By checking results against each other and against different editions they were able to get more done together than alone.

Nice work guys!

Answer 3

I'll nominate Alex's answer to When enumerating the Ketuvim, why does Ramba"m omit Ezra / Nechemia?. While the answer to the question is simple enough, Alex put in a mind boggling amount of documentation to firmly proving himself right, citing 28 different manuscripts and providing names, links, and screenshots of each. That is impressive dedication to quality.

Answer 4

רבות מחשבות's answer to Why are the Kenites translated as Shalmites? addresses a fairly in-the-weeds question in the overlap of parshanut and history about as comprehensively as can be reasonably expected on Mi Yodeya, citing quite a few on-point sources.

Answer 5

I'll allow myself to self-nominate my answer to Which etrog is closest to the gemara's description of “the taste of the tree trunk and its fruit are alike”?. It provides original content not seen elsewhere and, at least for me, came to a surprising answer.

Answer 6

In my answer to Esav "kissed" (vayishakheihu) have dots over this word, is there an explanation? Or is it a scribal error?, I gave a clear explanation of the various approaches, and provided good sourcing to answer a question that many people were likely wondering.