Post History

I like and support [Isaac Moses's idea of having a content-in-Hebrew Q&A category parallel to the English Q&A one](https://judaism.codidact.com/a/276891/276897). With it as a backdrop, I'd like to address the questions in the question post above, with MHO:

>  1. Should we allow users to write questions in non-English languages?

… is answered.

>  2. Should we allow users to write questions in specifically Hebrew or other Jewish languages like Judeo-Aramaic, Yiddish, and Ladino?

I think only Hebrew. The others are rare enough among Internet users that it will be difficult to find both answerers and community members / moderators who can improve/flag/delete the posts.

>  3. Should we require the question to be written entirely in English where possible?

In the English Q&A category, because of the subject matter, it will sometimes be necessary to write non-English words. When that's necessary, the word should be explained if possible, or a link to an explanation should be included otherwise. This should be done bearing in mind the audience, both immediate and long-term. For example, if someone asks a question on an esoteric concept in kabbalah, its answers should explain[^1] only such words as they think that question's audience may not understand. If someone asks "I know Jews blow shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Why?", the answers should explain[^1] any Hebrew word used, since the asker and others interested in the question may not understand any of them.

One exception to the forgoing is words whose meanings don't matter. I can think of two examples: The first is titles of books, which should probably link to a description no matter hat language they're in, but need no translation. The other is words used for [_g'zera shava_](https://outorah.org/p/6490/) or the like, whose meaning is not relevant to the point that the post is trying to bring out, but whose wording is.

>  4. In instances where a word cannot be fully translated into English (particularly legal or technical terminology), should we require the word to be at least transliterated into English, or should it be left in Hebrew script?

I don't much see the harm in leaving in Hebrew script in small quantities. Having a bunch of Hebrew-script words floating around a question will be very confusing for someone who doesn't know how to read Hebrew: he'll have to compare them to one another to know which are the same and which are different. Having one, repeated, or two to three, none of which are repeated, seems okay.

>  5. In instances where a word cannot be fully translated into English (particularly legal or technical terminology), should we require an in-line translation of the word as well?

See my answer to #3.

>  6. When citing Judaic literature in a non-English language, should we require users to include a translation of the excerpt as well?

A translation or a summary, yes.

[^1]: or link to an explanation of