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Welcome to the Judaism community on Codidact!

Will you help us build our community of learners? Drop into our study hall, ask questions, help others with answers to their questions, share a d'var torah if you're so inclined, invite your friends, and join us in building this community together. Not an ask-the-rabbi service, just people at all levels learning together.

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Meta Divrei Torah Category

I think we should reserve this category explicitly for original writing by community members. Some people might be interested in republishing pieces that they've read elsewhere, but I see little va...

posted 4y ago by Isaac Moses‭  ·  edited 4y ago by Isaac Moses‭

Answer
#2: Post edited by user avatar Isaac Moses‭ · 2020-08-17T22:43:43Z (over 4 years ago)
  • I think we should reserve this category explicitly for original writing by community members. Some people might be interested in republishing pieces that they've read elsewhere, but I see little value in our providing a forum for such republication. In addition, of course, such republication without license could constitute a violation of copyright or ethics.
  • Of course, [citation and limited quotation of prior work](https://judaism.codidact.com/a/276554/276591), within reason, is often (nearly always, when it comes to Torah!) a useful foundation for our own writing. I'm not suggesting we not do that.
  • Beyond not republishing others' writing, I think we should go so far as to *emphasize* original work in the writing we do present. That is, while it's certainly worthwhile, in an absolute sense, to simply teach what Rashi has to say about a particular verse, and there's certainly no copyright problem there, I don't think that our forum and community creates a great deal of value with that sort of simple re-transmission. Instead, I think we should try to host divrei Torah that present original work by our community members, such as a community member's own:
  • - Novel analysis of issues or sources.
  • - Novel application of an existing source to a new situation or context.
  • - Novel integration of existing sources.
  • - Translation of a classic source that isn't already available in English [online].
  • I think we should reserve this category explicitly for original writing by community members. Some people might be interested in republishing pieces that they've read elsewhere, but I see little value in our providing a forum for such republication. In addition, of course, such republication without license could constitute a violation of copyright or ethics.
  • Of course, [citation and limited quotation of prior work](https://judaism.codidact.com/a/276554/276591), within reason, is often (perhaps always, when it comes to Torah!) a useful foundation for our own writing. I'm not suggesting we not do that.
  • Beyond not republishing others' writing, I think we should go so far as to *emphasize* original work in the writing we do present. That is, while it's certainly worthwhile, in an absolute sense, to simply teach what Rashi has to say about a particular verse, and there's certainly no copyright problem there, I don't think that our forum and community creates a great deal of value with that sort of simple re-transmission. Instead, I think we should try to host divrei Torah that present original work by our community members, such as a community member's own:
  • - Novel analysis of issues or sources.
  • - Novel application of an existing source to a new situation or context.
  • - Novel integration of existing sources.
  • - Translation of a classic source that isn't already available in English [online].
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Isaac Moses‭ · 2020-08-17T18:29:38Z (over 4 years ago)
I think we should reserve this category explicitly for original writing by community members. Some people might be interested in republishing pieces that they've read elsewhere, but I see little value in our providing a forum for such republication. In addition, of course, such republication without license could constitute a violation of copyright or ethics.

Of course, [citation and limited quotation of prior work](https://judaism.codidact.com/a/276554/276591), within reason, is often (nearly always, when it comes to Torah!) a useful foundation for our own writing. I'm not suggesting we not do that.

Beyond not republishing others' writing, I think we should go so far as to *emphasize* original work in the writing we do present. That is, while it's certainly worthwhile, in an absolute sense, to simply teach what Rashi has to say about a particular verse, and there's certainly no copyright problem there, I don't think that our forum and community creates a great deal of value with that sort of simple re-transmission. Instead, I think we should try to host divrei Torah that present original work by our community members, such as a community member's own:

- Novel analysis of issues or sources.
- Novel application of an existing source to a new situation or context.
- Novel integration of existing sources.
- Translation of a classic source that isn't already available in English [online].