Categories - Divrei Torah, Purim Torah

I think Purim Torah should be open all time. As I previously wrote when we planned the build of the site: It's a method of developing Jewish thought and creativity while learning. As a more light-hearted feature, I think it would also make the site feel more welcoming. In the end, the goal is to further Jewish learning and understanding and this, in my opinion, is a great way (among many other great ways) to do that.

posted over 4 years ago

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Harel13‭

793 reputation 29 19 93 29

Defer Purim Torah

This community is just getting started, its scope boundaries are not entirely set, and people are still gathering. Opinions on Purim Torah are mixed, but I don't think we need to decide now. If we have Purim Torah, we should kick it off in season, even if we decide to allow it out of season later (in its own category).

I propose that we defer discussion of Purim Torah until 15 Tevet. That will give us time to find our footing here and still allow time to set up PT for 5781 if we want to have it, including time to discuss rules.

I brought it up originally, so I accept the blame for distracting us with it now. Let's focus on other things and come back to this. PT done well, which requires effort, is a lot of fun. It will still be fun in six months.

posted over 4 years ago

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4y ago

Monica Cellio‭ staff

2631 reputation 103 53 377 98

Divrei Torah

One of the things I've picked up in my time with various online communities is that giving people multiple modes of engagement strengthens community connections. It's why SE chat helps communities connect even though SE treats chat as "other space" that isn't well-integrated. It's why Mi Yodeya's Purim Torah brings in different people and different types of contributions. It's why people who want to share knowledge will look for ways to do that, even if they have to fabricate a self-answered question to fit the platform.

Q&A is central to learning and especially, in my opinion, to Jewish learning. We're all about questions. But we're also about sharing things we've learned, including sharing our own torah insights (clearly labeled as ours so we don't give them more weight than they deserve). I think we should welcome that kind of sharing here on the Judaism Codidact site.

Another new community here is doing something similar: Cooking has a Recipes category. The site doesn't want questions asking for recipes (those don't tend to work out well), so approaching recipes through self-answered questions would be a poor approach. But people can share their recipes in the category set up for that purpose, alongside but not interfering with Q&A.

We have some insightful and knowledgable people here, and we're part of a culture that shares divrei torah in shul, at the Shabbat table, on our blogs, even on Twitter sometimes... why not here? Let's create a category for it, and agree informally to create room for each other there.

I think divrei torah can add another dimension to our community. I'd love to see what y'all have to share without having to twist a teaching into the Q&A format. I want to learn from others here in this other mode, alongside asking and answering questions.

N.B.: I mean divrei torah in the broadest sense of the phrase -- parsha commentary, lessons from chassidut, insights from daf yomi or talmud more generally, examination of points of halacha, insights in t'filah... if it's torah, Jewish teaching, it should be welcome.

posted over 4 years ago

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Monica Cellio‭ staff

2631 reputation 103 53 377 98

I propose a category called Hebrew Language.

This could be for anyone studying the language, whether Biblical or Modern or anything in between. No Judaism connection would be needed for questions in that category. Perhaps פוסטס קוד בי ריטין אין הברו אז וול.

There is much overlap between Judaism experts and Hebrew experts even if there are mutually exclusive parts as well. This is a good way to share resources and keep the experts together.

posted over 4 years ago

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AA ‭

475 reputation 0 15 41 1

I propose a category called "Sandbox".

People can post questions and answers here to practice using mixed Hebrew and English, get used to the bilingual tags, make and check Sefaria links, and engage experimentally with any future cool Codidact or Judaism-specific features.

It could also be used to collaboratively edit drafts of complex posts that are not ready for a general audience.

Sandbox posts are:

• auto-deleted after 14 days of inactivity
• excluded from site search results (internal and external)
• excluded from reputation
• lightly moderated only to prevent obvious abuse

When posting to the sandbox, a huge disclaimer comes up so people understand that they are not posting to the "real" site.

(Yes, this would be a useful general feature, but the challenges of Hebrew/ English make it seem most useful here.)

posted over 4 years ago

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Aliza‭

180 reputation 4 9 11 7