Best answer contest: Fourth 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 - ended October 6, 2019

   Post an answer to this Meta post containing a link to the Mi Yodeya answer you want to nominate. Answers created in Tamuz - Elul, 5779 (from July 4 through September 29, 2019) 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 - October 6 - 16, 2019

   On October 6, 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 October 16, 2019. 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 would like to nominate Oliver's answer to Authorship of Mevo Hatalmud. This question had languished for nearly four years without an answer, and Oliver's answer collected various sources in modern scholarship to provide an approach to the topic.

Answer 2

I would like to nominate my answer to Gersonides’ Largest List of Lessons. My answer provided data that had possibly never been collected before, as well as provided additional relevant information beyond what was strictly asked by the question.

Answer 3

I would like to nominate my answer to the question Line break before למען ירבו ימיכם . I suppose most of us had a siddur with this strange feature, yet I couldn't find any explanations for the layout. The question was without any answers for a year, so I tried again to find the reasons. At this point I was directed to R' Hamburger's great book that contained everything that is known about the issue. I suppose it's worth it to read.

Answer 4

Given the dearth of nominations so far, I will nominate my answer to the question Which groups of people read the 10 Commandments using the "lower" trope?

It quotes a range of sources to answer an old, somewhat broad question on a fairly niche topic in (what I hope is) a clear and concise manner.

Answer 5

I would like to nominate my answer to What is a summary of basic Jewish metaphysics or theology?. I supplied a pretty comprehensive list of the main works of Jewish philosophy/theology by the rishonim, along with references to complete English translations of all of them.

Answer 6

I nominate Oliver's answer to Is there any attestation to the name “יעל” spelled with an Aleph?, an answer which takes a question which probably could have been answered with a simple "no" as an opportunity to pull together obscure sources to teach many people something they didn't previously know.

Answer 7

I nominate Monica Cellio's answer to Best way to explain to my boss that I cannot attend a team summit because it is on Rosh Hashana or any other Jewish Holiday. She provides a template that's immediately useful for people in the situation described in the question, and then backs it up with an insightful point-by-point explanation of the values behind it. This answer effectively teaches a mechanism for sensitive and professional communications across cultures around what could be a tricky conflict.

Answer 8

I nominate Danny Schoemann's answer to What does מיללעליכט mean in this Responsa?. R' Danny does goes above and beyond expectations with some impressive historical research into Eastern European chandlery in order to understand an obscure transliteration that most readers would simply gloss over. Thank you for putting the pieces together for us!