Are questions purely about Jews and Jewish History in-scope?

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:

• "Who was the first Chassidishe Rebbe to settle in America?" -- marginal; "...to establish a Jewish community in America" would be on-topic.

• "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).

• 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.

• 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.)

• 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).

posted over 4 years ago

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Monica Cellio‭ staff

2631 reputation 103 53 377 98

At the very least,

 5. Questions about individuals who happen to be Jewish (Isaac Asimov, Sandy Koufax, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Disraeli).

without more going for them should be off-topic. They have nothing to do with Judaism and can lead to questions like "What did Jesus mean when he said…?".

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4y ago

msh210‭

1269 reputation 39 27 178 100

What was life like for Jews in [region] during [time period/historical event]?

These should be on-topic so long as Judaism is a core part of the question. Some examples:

• Were Jews living in al-Andalus able to pray publicly and safely? (Was it legal and was it reckless?)

• How did (some change in plow technology | some change in land allotments) (in some time and place) affect leaving the corners of one's fields for the poor?

• Did Jews in Europe during the Black Death have access to wine? If not, what did they use for kiddush / four cups?

• During the flu epidemic of 1918-19, what changes were made to (public prayer | burial practices | ...)?

• In (time and place) did torah scholars also have jobs? What kinds? How prevalent?

• What formal Jewish education did Jewish girls in (time and place) have access to?

• In (place and time before R' Gershon's polygamy ban), how often was levirate marriage performed versus chalitzah?

And here are some negative examples:

• What did Jews living in al-Andalus eat? (Unless the question goes on to describe some kashrut problem people in that time and place might have faced.)

• Did (some change in plow technology) (in some time and place) increase Jews' prosperity? (No indication of Judaism-specific concerns.)

• At what age did girls in (time and place) typically get married? (Doesn't bring a Judaism concern or ask about differences between Jews and others.)

• What were the most common occupations for Jewish immigrants to the US in (time period)? (Unless the question supports the possibility that it'd be different for Jews than for other immigrants.)

• (Crossover with "people":) What kinds of wine did Rashi produce? (Doesn't give reasons to believe it's different from what was generally done in the region.)

posted over 4 years ago

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4y ago

Monica Cellio‭ staff

2631 reputation 103 53 377 98

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 core" standard proposed by Monica Cellio to a yet broader scope, and see what people think.

Questions about people should be in scope if their Judaism, their status as a notable Jewish figure, or their membership in the Jewish people is core to the question:

• "Who was the first Chassidishe Rebbe to settle in America?" would be on-topic, since it's singling out a class of people who are notable Jewish figures.

• "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).

• Questions about individuals who happen to be Jewish (Isaac Asimov, Sandy Koufax, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Disraeli -- no, unless the question is about their experiences as Jews, such as "Did Isaac Asimov ever write about the Jewish community he grew up in?"

• 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.

• Questions about Koufax not playing on Yom Kippur, including how that decision affected his career. -- yes

posted over 4 years ago

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4y ago

Isaac Moses‭

975 reputation 11 17 107 39

History questions about events which impacted Judaism without making direct reference to Jews themselves (ex. "What motivated the Khmelnitzky Massacres?")

I think these types of historical questions are too much of a stretch. This is something that should go in a purely historical Codidact site (which I hope we'll have one day).

Asking, for example, "Which Jewish communities were the most heavily impacted by the Khmelnitzky Massacres?" is still in scope, in my opinion.

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4y ago

Harel13‭

793 reputation 29 19 93 29