16
votes
Is this a suitable platform for non-Jews to ask questions about Judaism?
Provided you stay within our scope (see our FAQ post) anyone can ask questions here. If you are not familiar with Judaism, you may want to consider the points raised here in framing your question. We ...
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Should Q&A rules be lifted when a question implies that the asker is facing high Halachic or health stakes?
No, we should not break our Q&A model in these cases.
At least as likely as it is that someone may offer advice that makes the difference in a good way, someone may offer advice that (God forbid) ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
12
votes
Accepted
Is Mi Yodeya a Judaism Stack Exchange, or a Rabbinic Judaism Stack Exchange?
IsaacMoses wrote an answer to a question about non-orthodox positions which has more-or-less become Mi Yodeya canon. I would like to extrapolate his answer to what I believe to be its correct ...
- 24.3k
10
votes
Accepted
On-topic-ness of "how many X are in Y" questions
TLDR
If questions pass the test described here, namely that A) they're motivated by a desire to understand and/or practice Judaism, and B) it's reasonable to expect specifically those who base their ...
- 33.4k
9
votes
Is Mi Yodeya a Judaism Stack Exchange, or a Rabbinic Judaism Stack Exchange?
This answer post is here solely so people can up- or downvote the statement below. It's not clear to me that that statement is already site policy (though it may be); if not, votes on it may cause it ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Should we have a close reason for immodest posts?
status-completed This has now been implemented: 12/6/17
Yes, we should. Without a designated close reason users don't know how to express their opinion on the matter in an effective way. The text I ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
9
votes
Is fact-checking Judaism on-topic?
I would advocate for applying the guidelines I suggested in my answer here, which you appear to have done already in mulling over this question:
Is this question expressly or implicitly motivated by ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
9
votes
Is fact-checking Judaism on-topic?
I think this is on topic. The Help Center allows asking about "general knowledge (science, etc.) as it relates directly to Judaism". The pursuit of information needed to understand a Gemara properly ...
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Is Sefer Yetsira (The Book of Formation) on-topic?
From the help center:
Mi Yodeya is for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more.
If you have a question about...
Jewish law or ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
7
votes
Hiding Dangerous Information
As an impartial observer, to whatever degree impartiality is possible, I would say that anti-Semites and extremists will find information that they can distort and manipulate, no matter where it might ...
- 2,012
7
votes
What should I do about Hebrew Language questions?
There is currently an Area51 proposal in Commitment Phase specifically for that express reason:
Because it's in the Commitment Phase now, you can't ask questions at this moment. However, if you ...
- 278
7
votes
Answers based on the Samaritan Pentateuch
I think that we should not accept answers that draw religious authority from sources not known to be Jewish (which includes those known not to be Jewish). Who is (or isn't) Jewish can be a thorny ...
- 55.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Dealing with users who reject the answers of traditional Judaism
This is just a miscommunication.
Questions that don't agree with traditional Judaism aren't the problem. The problem is objectivity and clarity.
The hypothetical question
I love Rabbeinu Tam. Why ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Dealing with users who reject the answers of traditional Judaism
You seem to be assuming we should tailor the accuracy of our responses to the asker (and are therefore asking how we can possibly do so for an asker for whom such tailoring would result in false ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
7
votes
Questions about Tanach/Talmud personalities
In my opinion, the content of Tanach and Talmud and the interpretation thereof is part of Judaism, regardless of the specific subject matter of that content. Most questions about personalities found ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
7
votes
Answers that don't refer to Judaism or anything Jewish (but still address the question)
Questions must be judged for fitness to Mi Yodeya on their own merits, not on those of answers that have been posted to them. My standing proposal for how to evaluate the topicality of questions of ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Are local service recommendations on topic?
Yes, they should be.
These aren't too different from other product-recommendations, which are allowed.
Also, someone else may be searching for this information on the internet, which is clearly ...
- 22.8k
6
votes
Tweaking Mi Yodeya's scope to build a broader community
As @IsaacMoses pointed out MY.se has institutionalized "mandatory fun" activities centered around Purim. There are the publications which allow MY users to work collaboratively to produce something ...
- 473
6
votes
Tweaking Mi Yodeya's scope to build a broader community
The problem that you raise is that Mi Yodeya has become or is becoming
a dry academic exercise, not a community that invites participation by people who want to be part of a community, not just who ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Accepted
What is Mi Yodeya's position on cross-posting?
I think that it's fine to post the same question (or very similar questions) to Mi Yodeya and another SE site, as long as:
The two posts are on-topic on the two target sites.
They are phrased ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Edit off-topic question with valuable answer?
In my opinion, no, it doesn't still hold true in such a case. A closed question is one that should have no answers. (In an ideal world, it would be closed before it got answered.) It should indeed be ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
6
votes
Request for d'var Torah questions
I think such questions are likely to be Too Broad unless they include very well-defined criteria for filtering or sorting answers. Without those, there are literally infinite distinct, equally-valid ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Is it appropriate to ask what the signs near the tomb of Abraham have written upon them, and some of the history behind those signs?
This is a Jewish shrine, and you want to know about the meaning and history of the Judaism-oriented hangings there. This is 100% about Judaism, and 100% on-topic.
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
General Knowledge Relating to Judaism: How Related
All of the questions you list, and many other in the how-to tag, are not asking for Judaism's take on something but asking for best practices in the implementation of Judaism.
In each case, it is ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Are questions about the Hebrew language on-topic?
Hebrew has the same status here as any other language. Questions related to Judaism are on topic, while questions not related to Judaism are not. If your Hebrew/English/Spanish/Russian/Latin/Arabic/...
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
6
votes
type of question to ask on MY
Absolutely! In fact, we have a tag for each parsha. Remember that questions stick around forever, so instead of asking about "this week's parsha" be sure to say what text you're asking about. You ...
- 55.7k
6
votes
Should we have a close reason for immodest posts?
Yes, we should. Without a designated close reason users don't know how to express their opinion on the matter in an effective way. The text I propose is:
In the Jewish tradition certain questions, ...
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
6
votes
Dealing with users who reject the answers of traditional Judaism
To add to msh210 answer, I believe the right approach is to answer the question, rather than attempt to answer the questioner.
MY is a public, open forum. Many more people are reading questions and ...
- 5,181
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible