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Comments on Are questions purely about Jews and Jewish History in-scope?
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Are questions purely about Jews and Jewish History in-scope?
On Mi Yodeya, questions about Jews or their history that aren't clearly about Judaism are considered out of scope. Should that be the case here, or should questions about Jews and their history be ipso facto on-topic?
Questions to consider, assuming that close reasons unrelated to scope (too broad, opinion-based, etc.) are not applicable:
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What was life like for Jews in [region] during [time period/historical event]?
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How did Jews respond to [major historical event]? Or: What were the major differences in how [Jewish group A] and [Jewish group B] responded to [historical event]?
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History questions about events which impacted Judaism without making direct reference to Jews themselves (ex. "What motivated the Khmelnitzky Massacres?")
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Questions about important figures within Judaism (ex. "Who was the first Chassidishe Rebbe to settle in America?" "Does anyone have a source for the claim that the Satmar Rav, R' Yoel Teitelbaum, said to VP Hubert Humphrey, 'Sell weapons to Israel!'")
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Questions about individuals who happen to be Jewish (Isaac Asimov, Sandy Koufax, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Disraeli).
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Questions about famous individuals (whether Jewish or not) in respect to their views toward Judaism (ex. questions about Einstein's letters on the existence of a Creator, about Koufax not playing on Yom Kippur, or on Roosevelt's policies regarding Jewish immigration during the Holocaust).
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Questions about institutions which incorporate Judaism into their mission (ex. Touro College or Yeshiva University).
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Questions about Jewish music ("Who wrote [song] by [Jewish artist]?" "Why are so many Jewish songs written in harmonic minor?")
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Questions about Jewish food ("What is it with the lox and bagels?" "Why do Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas?" "Does anyone have a way to make p'tcha edible?")
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Questions which may come up as a result of Jewish practices but not directly involved in them ("How can I ease eye strain caused by learning Gemara all day?" "How do you get kiddush stains out of white tablecloths?" "What's the best way to make ashes for Tisha B'av?" "How can I help [person] with [genetic disorder common among Ashkenazim]?"
(Please edit more if you see fit.)
At the very least, > 5. Questions about individuals who happen to be Jewish (Isaac Asimov, Sandy Koufax, Albert …
4y ago
> What was life like for Jews in [region] during [time period/historical event]? These should be on-topic so long as …
4y ago
I'm honestly not sure what I'd prefer in this area, but I'd like to try out specifying an extension of the "Judaism is c …
4y ago
> History questions about events which impacted Judaism without making direct reference to Jews themselves (ex. "What mo …
4y ago
I'm going to separate out some of my thoughts into multiple answers for the sake of clarity in voting. Questions abou …
4y ago
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I'm going to separate out some of my thoughts into multiple answers for the sake of clarity in voting.
Questions about people should be in scope if their Judaism is core to the question:
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"Who was the first Chassidishe Rebbe to settle in America?" -- marginal; "...to establish a Jewish community in America" would be on-topic.
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"Does anyone have a source for the claim that the Satmar Rav, R' Yoel Teitelbaum, said to VP Hubert Humphrey, 'Sell weapons to Israel!'") -- yes, if we assume that his saying it would be significant because of his position (and not because, hypothetically, he was a friend of a friend of the VP and got an introduction that way).
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Questions about individuals who happen to be Jewish (Isaac Asimov, Sandy Koufax, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Disraeli -- no. Being Jewish does not automatically make someone on-topic, whether Isaac Asimov or Isaac Moses.
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Questions about Einstein's letters on the existence of a Creator -- no, unless the question is about points raised in those letters about Jewish texts or theology. (I don't know these letters, so I'm making this up. If Einstein made some claim about God and represented it as Jewish, a question about sourcing it seems fine. If he was arguing for atheism based on secular sources, that's off-topic even from a Jewish author.)
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Questions about Koufax not playing on Yom Kippur -- yes if about the Jewish aspects of that action, no otherwise. Asking what halachic leniencies might have been possible, what our sources say about playing on the Day of Atonement, even asking Jewish questions about the employment or negotiation aspects would all be fine. Asking how not playing affected his career, on the other hand, would be off-topic.
I think we'll need some more examples to flesh this out, but I want to explore the idea of "people as people" (off-topic) vs "people with Judaism being central" (on-topic).
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