Questions tagged [scope]
The scope tag has no usage guidance.
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Karaites - in scope?
Are questions about non-rabbinic forms of Judaism (Karaite, Sadducee, Essene, etc.) in scope here?
I've added a tag (non-rabbinic-judaism) to at least group these questions. It would be great if ...
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Drop the p'sak halacha closure rule
It seems that certain individuals vote to close down questions on this site by claiming that the question is asking for a practical ruling (p'sak halacha).
There is also a message that says to consult ...
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Questions regarding figures associated with Judaism
I had a question a while back about two contemporary Jewish figures that got closed for being about Jews not Judaism (Did R Aaron Feldman and R Lichtenstein ever meet before the latter's death?)
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Non-normative Jewish practices
Recently a user has asked a series of questions about the Beta Israel community and how they understand/practice their religion. From the questions it seems that this community has very significant ...
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MY's stance on questions concerning apocryphal texts?
What's Mi Yodeya's stance on questions concerning Jewish apocryphal texts? There's one that was asked earlier, and I saw that it was flagged by a number of people as "comparative religion", ...
CommunityBot
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Comparing judaism with psychological theories
My question is if we can close questions asking for equivalences between Judaism and psychological theories as cognitive psychologies or other therapies, as questions asking about comparative ...
Isaac MosesMod
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Is there not room for non-orthodox opinions?
Should Mi.Yodeya/J.SE maintain its solely orthodox standing?
I love StackExchange and when I found the Judaism group I thought that it would be interesting to participate. However, I am neither an ...
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Site scope in Tour seems to disagree with scope defined in the Help Center
The site tour says it is on-topic to ask about:
general knowledge ... as it relates directly to Jewish life and learning
While the Help Center article on site scope says it is off-topic to ask
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Can I ask for explanation about a Masoretic note?
There is a Masoretic note in my Hebrew Bible (in the Masorah Parva/Qetana) that I don't understand. I think I know what it means, literally, but I don't see how it applies to the marked word. Can I ...
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Are Scholarly Answers About Judaism On-Topic?
I am trying to ascertain whether, or to what extent, scholarly (1) answers about Judaism (as opposed to faith-based answers written from a believer's perspective) are on-topic on this particular site.
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Can something be on topic merely because similar things are discussed in Rabbinic Literature?
https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/110699/jewish-eyes-anthropology (screenshot for those who can't see deleted posts) was recently closed as off-topic because it is not about Judaism per se. (...
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Are questions about calculating the Metonic Calendar on-topic
This question - How many days are there in each year of the 304th Metonic cycle? - and similar Metonic ones are being asked by the same user.
Can one simply point him to the relevant literature (e.g. ...
msh210Mod
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Petition: On closing or editing COVID-19-related questions as psak-seeking
For the purposes of this thread,
A "COVID-19-specific halachic question" (henceforth "C19 question") is one which, due to the limiting nature of the question, cannot be generalized to other diseases,...
CommunityBot
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Can I consult Mi Yodeya as I would a rabbi?
Does Mi Yodeya offer personal guidance in response to practical questions about Jewish law or attitudes, as a rabbi would?
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Can temple questions be posed as practical advice?
When asking about a law in the Torah which is not in active use do to our current pre-temple status, may one ask it as if it is happening.
Example
Q. My Bechor got mixed in with my Pesach, and I don’t ...
CommunityBot
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Questions about seforim recommendations?
Figured I'd ask here before posting to main. I'm looking for an english translation of the mishna berura. Is that a question ("What's a good english translation...?") that's allowed on here? I know ...
Isaac MosesMod
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On-topic-ness of "how many X are in Y" questions
Forgive me if this was discussed before; I don't frequent meta.
I've been seeing a lot of questions of the form "how many X are in Y?". I personally find them to be pretty pointless questions that ...
CommunityBot
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Should biographies of rabbis be in scope?
Following a discussion in chat, I want to propose that biographies of rabbis should be in scope for Mi Yodeya. This proposal is triggered by recent closures of questions asking for biographies of R ...
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Can questions be asked that might challenge belief?
I was a bit surprised to find a question such as: "Are there any holes in the Kuzari argument for the transmission of Torah from Sinai?" because it seems to be asking for heresy. In actuality, it isn'...
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Using Christian interpretations in answers
This question as inspired by the comments to my answer here. (See also my answer here.)
Is is proper, in the context of this site, to use Christian or other non-Jewish sources (for example, secular ...
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Request clarification on forum policy on Judaism
My post on living a Jewish life in the USA was closed as not being Jewish enough: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/98951/seeking-jewish-version-of-the-mid-20th-century-green-book-travel-...
Isaac MosesMod
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Is fact-checking Judaism on-topic?
Suppose a Jewish text says something. Suppose this something relates to some factual reality. Suppose I wonder whether the something is actually true. Would it be on topic to ask about it on Mi Yodeya?...
CommunityBot
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Can any question be made on-topic by adding "according to Judaism"? [duplicate]
Suppose a question is off-topic because it is not about Judaism; can it simply be made on topic by adding in a Jewish motivation, or by adding the words "according to Judaism"?
Consider this recent ...
CommunityBot
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Answers that don't refer to Judaism or anything Jewish (but still address the question)
If a question can be answered without any reference to Judaism or anything Jewish, is that indicative that the question is not really on-topic?
Example: Good dimensions for a Shulchan (Reading Table)
...
CommunityBot
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Closure of complex-scenario questions
The following is not my own opinion so much as it's my rendering into words the unworded guidelines that I think Mi Yodeya has been following for quite some time. It's posted without my moderator hat ...
CommunityBot
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Hiding Dangerous Information
Although obviously regardless of Mi Yodeya policy, each user needs to apply his / her own discretion, what is the policy regarding posting information, in a question or answer, that if publicized ...
msh210Mod
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Is Hellenistic Judaism on-topic?
Consensus on meta seems to be that Karaite Judaism, questions asked from a Karaite perspective, and other non-Orthodox branches of Judaism are on-topic.
Is Hellenistic Judaism also on-topic?
Is such ...
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non-orthodox opinions?
What are the mods final judment on the non-orthodox versus orthodox viewpoint question are we here to answer question which should likely be adressed to the JTS? (migrate to the original orthdoxy ...
CommunityBot
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Dealing with users who reject the answers of traditional Judaism
Recently we've had various questions and answers from the reletively new user Jdoe. The user in question rejects the traditional Jewish thought that the Torah Sheba'al Peh was received alongside the ...
CommunityBot
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Questions about Tanach/Talmud personalities
As per the site rules, questions relating to Jewish individuals, when not exclusively related to Judaism, are off-topic.
I would assume this would extend to even discussing personalities in the ...
msh210Mod
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Are questions about Samaritanism on-topic?
Are questions about Samaritanism, especially questions about Samaritan teachings or practices that differ from Rabbinic Judaism, on-topic?
I was thinking about asking a question about why the ...
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Should we have a close reason for immodest posts?
The current FAQ includes the line:
Please respect that in the Jewish tradition certain questions, especially certain questions relating to sexuality, are discussed only in private. Such questions ...
Double AAMod
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Tweaking Mi Yodeya's scope to build a broader community
I was reading this post about one person's issues with Stack Overflow, and something it said struck me (as I noticed the same thing, but didn't attempt to articulate it):
The "flavour" of ...
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Is an anthropological question on Black Hebrew Israelites on topic?
I have a question on the topic of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which in a way seems to me to be more along the lines of an anthropological question, and I am wondering if that is included in ...
msh210Mod
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Are questions about or based on academic Jewish studies appropriate for this site?
The catch-all of "Academic Jewish Studies" covers a wide range of topics. However as a general rule those studies do not necessarily subscribe to postulates which conform to normative orthodox Judaism....
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type of question to ask on MY
I appreciate the forum to be able to ask questions. However, I want mine to be in sync with what the guidelines for the site are. Are questions on the weekly Parsha encouraged to be asked on the MY ...
msh210Mod
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Questions about the meaning, source of Yiddish names
A user has recently asked two questions (1, 2) about Yiddish names that have been closed as off-topic, with the specific close reason "Questions about the Hebrew language or about history or news of ...
CommunityBot
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Should Q&A rules be lifted when a question implies that the asker is facing high Halachic or health stakes?
Sometimes we get questions that either indicate or suggest that the author is seeking advice regarding a matter of high Halachic or medical states, for example:
Determining whether a particular ...
CommunityBot
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Fiction as a mashal for a halachic question
Some time ago, I asked this question. As someone who consumes significant amounts of fictional material (namely reading on Shabbat and anime/film-TV/reading during the week) these questions pop up in ...
CommunityBot
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Is a question that asks "What does Judaism think of x" possibly off-topic?
At the time of this posting, this question has 4 close votes. Several comments have leveled accusations of being off-topic as not about Jewish Life and Learning.
However, the question asks "...
CommunityBot
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Why doesn't Mi Yodeya allow you to post a question in a foreign language? [duplicate]
I can barely read and write English, I only know Gujarati, so could Mi Yodeya allow me to post a question in Gujarati
અગાઉથી આભાર
Double AAMod
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Are questions regarding something impossible allowed? [duplicate]
Of course, it is impossible to create something ex nihilo. [Citation needed.] But, for a moment, let's pretend it's possible. Would there be a halachos issue with doing so on Shabbos? (I'm assuming ...
msh210Mod
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The Parameters of "Jewish Life" Scope
Guess this touches a little on our old discussion of Hebrew Language Questions...
Recently, someone asked for Exercises to prevent eyes tiring, which has brought up an interesting question, which I ...
CommunityBot
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Questions about Hebrew names
Are questions of the form "What is the origin of name X" considered on-topic, since many of those names originated from Tanach and Shas?
msh210Mod
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FAQ says History is off-topic and on-topic
The FAQ seems to be contradictory. It says that "If you have a question about...history of Jewish law or of Jewish life...then you've come to the right place." But it also says, "On the other hand, ...
CommunityBot
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Is Mi Yodeya a Judaism Stack Exchange, or a Rabbinic Judaism Stack Exchange?
Before I really began to understand the profound nature of Orthodoxy, I was thinking to leave the forum because I tend to approach Scripture from a different perspective than Orthodox Jews do. I do ...
CommunityBot
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Riddle questions on SE?
After the migration from mi.yodeya to StackExchange, are riddle-type questions considered appropriate? According to the answer from @RebeccaChernoff to the question "Appropriateness of survey ...
CommunityBot
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Are questions about the Hebrew language on-topic?
There's been a proposal on Area51 for a Hebrew Language SE for a while now, but as it isn't open yet, is it appropriate to ask a question about the Hebrew language here?
CommunityBot
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Is Jewish culture really off-topic?
Earlier today I asked a question about the background and history of a well-known Jewish folksong (What is the source of the words of the Hebrew folksong "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem"?). The ...
CommunityBot
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Answers based on the Samaritan Pentateuch
Are answers based on the Samaritan Pentateuch considered as being answers?
I don't think we'd allow answers based on the New T.
Case in point: This answer. Fascinating answer, but not based on ...
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