User talk:IZAK/archive 16

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Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Contents

oh, you'll love this...

Template:Juddom  :-D Tomertalk 19:59, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Tomer:You're right, it's a crazy idea, for now... Is this the Arak talking? See my initial comments on the Talk page over there. Never a dull moment... IZAK 13:55, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Treaty of Hudaybiyya

That article looks like concentrated whitewash, even with my scanty knowledge of the subject. ←Humus sapiens ну? 10:53, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Humus: Sorry that I haven't been able to give this some attention. IZAK 08:29, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Question about Judaism

Greetings, IZAK. I have a rather odd question, and I don't know if you'll be able to answer it, but I've been curious. I have heard that some Jews can be both atheists and religious, observant Jews at the same time. They believe YHWH is a metaphor, or a collective understanding, but not an actual being that exists outside of people's minds. They take part in the rituals and requirements in order to be true to their heritage and to be a part of the community, but don't actually believe in an external God.

Is this, from your understanding, true? If so, can an atheist gentile convert to Judaism without believing in God? Thanks for your time, – Quadell (talk) (bounties) 15:50, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Quadell: Thanks for the question. It is logically impossible in any way for Jew/s to "be both atheists and religious, observant Jews at the same time" (as you put it). Perhaps the source of the confusion here is that Jewish law (Halakha) -- which is the standard used by Orthodox Jews (who are obviously religious Jews) -- classifies even secular atheistic Jews as Jews (in both a religious and ethnic sense), regardless of what those secular Jews' religious opinions are about themselves or about Judaism. That being said, nevertheless, if a Jew considers himself to be an atheist then obviously he is not religious in the sense that he cannot be considered to be observing Judaism, and certainly not Orthodoxy, and in fact (Orthodox) Judaism itself would probably consider such a person to be some sort of heretic/apostate/ignoramus, see Jews in apostasy. There is one modern group though, followers of Humanistic Judaism that postulates that one can be both an atheist ("Humanist") and follow Judaism (but NOT believe in God -- so that they are being "religious" by following Judaism as a culture, but they factor God OUT of everything) at the same time. And I have heard of surveys that say that over a third of Reform Judaism rabbis do not believe in God and that similarly many Jews who subscribe to Reform Judaism claim to be both "religious" -- in the sense of following Reform Judaism, more as a type of "religious culture" -- and at the same time may also loosely call themselves "atheists" or "agnostics" (mostly these people just bandy these words about out of a need to feel culturally in sync with modern trends and styles in general secular society.) I hope that I have helped you sort this out a little. Feel free to ask me again. IZAK 20:51, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Chabad link in Minyan Article

Hello, IZAK, I would appreciate your comments/opinions in the debate I am having with Eliezer here: Talk:Minyan#External_Links. Thank you. -- Avi 17:01, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Avi: By now it is well-known that Eliezer views his "mission in life" on Wikipedia to plaster Chabad links on as many pages and places he can. Contact User:Jmabel who has complained about this also. IZAK 20:57, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Duplicates of: Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

It seems obvious the articles should be merged; why not just do it? Jayjg (talk) 23:29, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Jay: Since I have never worked on any of those articles in that series, I was thinking that someone who has a better connection with them should do it. But at least I have made people aware that there are too many duplicates of those same article/s. IZAK 08:34, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Jews in Finland

Hi, I accidentally stumbled upon an interesting topic, History of Jews in Finland. Can you recommend to someone to make a wikipedia article? Sources I've found:

mikka (t) 23:57, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Category:Desi Jews

See my comments at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Judaism#Desi Jews?. Tomertalk 06:21, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Tomer: I have added my comments, but I hope that there is hope of resolution following the creation of the Desi Jews article. What do you make of it? I tried to edit it, but I still have my doubts about it. IZAK 08:32, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

reliability of source

Hello IZAK. I asked humus sapiens who could not answer. Do you know if Uzi Benziman can be considered as a reliable source concerning the biography of Ariel Sharon and particularly his childhood and creation of unit 101 ?

nb: the reason of the question is that UB claims that in 52 sharon generated incidents in Cisjordan to force Ben Gourion to let him establish unit 101. I wonder how a 25 years old guy could force Ben Gourion of doing whatever and as far as I know he was student in 52. But who knows ???

Thank you. Christophe Greffe 10:56, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

  • HI Christophe: To be quite honest, I know nothing about Uzi Benzimon. Sincerely, 20:28, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
Ok. Thank you anyway... Christophe Greffe 23:12, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Yeshiva College of South Africa

I was interested to see that you are quite knowledgeable about YC. Do you have anything to do with the school? I'm currently in matric at YC. Ayinyud 13:09, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Ayinyud: Thanks for contacting me. I am not connected with Yeshiva College, but I do know some things about the history of South Africa and a little about the history of Jewish education there. Please keep in touch. Best wishes, IZAK 20:26, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Advice needed :)

Hi IZAK - I need a bit of advice. I've just created a stub type for buildings and structures in the Middle East ({{MEast-struct-stub}}). The icon I've used on it is the Kuwait Tower, but it's not a brilliant picture for an icon. IMO the most distinctive building in the region (and therefore the most obvious choice for a stub icon) is the Dome of the Rock - but I'm worried that it may be too touchy a subject for the template, given its symbolic meaning for both Israelis and Palestinians. Given that you're closer to the pulse on these things, shall we say, do you think it would be too provocative an image to use? Grutness...wha? 07:18, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Grutness: You are correct, the image of the Dome of the Rock could set of riots if you use it, so stay clear of that one. Why not use others that are also universally well-known such as an image of the Great Pyramid of Giza or of Khafre's Pyramid Who could argue with those and they are both very famous and completely neutral. IZAK 08:26, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
    • True, but Egypt's buildings are categorised in Africa (and guess what image {{africa-struct-stub}} uses!). There's a good picture of St. Sofia's in Istanbul which works a lot better than the Kuwait Towers picture, so I've put that one on the template (although Istanbul is only peripherally in the Middle East). That will do until a better idea comes along. Thanks for the input! Grutness...wha? 09:58, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
      • Not fair, Egypt is in the Middle East as well. For Africa they could use something from South Africa which has the most built-up parts of Africa, or perhaps the ruins of Carthage? I must admit I was thinking of Santa Sofia, but then I thought it's in Asia Minor, as you mention. How about a picture of one of Saddam's palaces? IZAK 10:25, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
    • I'll see what I can find, but St. Sofia's will do for now. Cheers, Grutness...wha? 12:24, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
St Sofia is in Europe :). PiCo
PiCo, I dont't think we should get into a tug-of-war over borderline areas. Constantinople/Istanbul is roughly where Europe and Asia Minor intersect. Istanbul is probably not considered part of "Europe" as long as it's under Turkish domination. When it was Constantinople then it may have been "European". Maybe that's why that area is also called Anatolia -- a "neutral" sounding name perhaps. I guess this is where the notion of Eurasia applies. At least one can be certain that Egypt is definitely part of the Middle East. IZAK 03:56, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Thank you!

Hello Izak, im Breslover, you leave me a message, so thank you for the welcome. First i wont to say you that im from Argentina, so i really dont speak english well. Second, im new here, and the wikipedia is hard to edit for mi! Kol tuv. Bresolver 13:47, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Bresolver and welcome to Wikipedia. Feel free to ask any time. Kol Tuv, IZAK 05:28, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Gartel

Hello! Is this the gartel (white belt over the kaftan?)

Image:HasidicRebbe.JPG

And do you know any Hebrew(English)-Japanese bilingual Users? --Sheynhertzגעשׁ״ך 00:21, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Sheynhertz: To answqere your last question first: No, I don't know any "Hebrew(English)-Japanese bilingual Users" on Wikipedia. Sorry. And yes, in this picture the person is wearing a white gartel, SOMETIMES worn on Shabbat, or Jewish holidays or for family celebrations. Otherwise, the gartel that is worn (by those men who wear it) during weekdays is black. IZAK 03:26, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Breslov (Hasidic dynasty) page

Dear IZAK, could you check out what someone is doing to the External links section on this page and tell me if it is Wikipedia style? I registered a complaint on the talk page of that article. Thanks, Yoninah 20:17, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Yoninah: I looked at the new external links that were added and so far they look like they are within reason (I also poset some guidleines for the future for the new poster). What was your specific objection? I also edited the article a little to touch up its English usage. Best wishes, IZAK 03:21, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
    • Dear IZAK: Thanks for the good editing work. I didn't write this article, and I also don't have time to fix it up, but your edits were right-on. If you'll look at the page again today, you'll notice that Bresolver is back at it, adding another link for some other Breslov character. I'm not sure what all these personalities add to the page, considering that they're not mentioned anywhere else on Wikipedia. They are also beginning to detract from the established links such as the Breslov Research Institute and Breslov Community of Tsfat. People are going to get the wrong idea from those "Awesome Praises" pages—it just sounds like "crazy Breslovers" are at it again. Yoninah 20:09, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
      • Yoninah: Perhaps, then, that's the point, they are crazy :-} ... IZAK 01:43, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Category:Jewish States

I apologize. I am still new at this, and when I saw the AfD page and then saw the category I assumed that people just "forgot" to do anything about it. I understand the policy now. Shalom and thanks. Yid613 04:52, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Yid: No problem and no need to apologize. Best wishes, IZAK 05:26, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Summary edits

Thanks for your help in explaining summary edits to Bresolver--DieWeibeRose 05:56, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

  • DieWeibeRose you are welcome. I hope it helps Bresolver. IZAK 06:09, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Re: Category:Jewish States

Hi, I'm afraid I'm not an admin, so I won't be deleting it. I just closed the debate, emptied the category and listed it at the ready to delete section, so an administrator will be seeing to it shortly. --Latinus 16:38, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Ok, but I thought that it was the job of an admin to close debates. Thanks anyway. IZAK 01:41, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Roman K. Kovalev

Can you take a look at this AFD, and vote or comment as you see fit? Seems to me like deletionism run amok, esp. in light of my additions to the article. Briangotts (Talk) (Contrib) 22:27, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Done. IZAK 03:55, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Mitnagdim

IZAK- Thanks for your clarifying remarks. Just to be clear, I have no vested interest in declaring people to be Mitnagdim or not; I was simply using the terms I have come across in the literature I've read. I was certainly not aware of its use as a perjorative, even a teasing one. Thank you for educating me. In the interest of trying to inform more people (esp. wikipedia readers and editors) as to the status of the term, and particularly to help educate them as to what terms are both proper and accurate, I hope you will consider putting some of this information into the various articles dealing with Mitnagdim and/or Lithuanian Jews, if they don't already have them. Or, if you're willing, I would be happy to integrate some of your comments into the previously-mentioned pages when I have the time. Regards. ShalomShlomo 08:07, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

P.S. Just thought you might be interested in this one use of Mitnagdim by a self-identified member of the group (or, at least, he claims affiliation with it- my impression is that he's Modern Orthodox, so the whole thing might be a red herring). Indeed, he is even criticzed for using the term in the first page of reviews. Anyway, here it is. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801861829/103-7783420-5316626?v=glance&n=283155 I'd be happy to continue this discussion if you have any other thoughts on the subject. Best, ShalomShlomo 08:13, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi ShalomShlomo: In the past I did add some of what I wrote to you into some relevant articles. Of course, feel free to add my additions on Talk pages into articles as long as they are suitably utilized (meaning keep out jokes and funny stuff :-} As for the fellow you mention above whose book is being sold on Amazon, from the introduction, one can tell that it draws on "folklore" and the "collective memory" of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, and it seems to be a cross between "literature" (in the sense of a "creative process at work") and an attempt at presenting "history" and, judging by its title, an attempt at a "Dialectic" (Thesis=Hasidism; Anti-Thesis=Mithnagdim; Synthesis=?) because it's talking about "Hasidic Rapture" as a high-falutin value: "The Faith of the Mithnagdim : Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture (Johns Hopkins Jewish Studies) by Allan Nadler 'The vast literature of Mithnagdic polemics against Hasidism contains surprisingly little material of a genuinely theological nature...'." Anyhow, this book has no real relevance to the reality of what has been happening over the past one hundred years as Hasidim and Mitnagdim have drawn closer to each other in many important and significant ways. Basically Hasidism redeemed itself in the eyes of the so-called Mitnagdim by proving that it would not and has not veered from classical Halakha and in fact has strengthened it! And the latter-day Haredi so-called Mitnagdim have won acceptance in the eyes of Hasidim because they veered away from the Vilna Gaon's blanket anti-Hasidic vehemence and have in fact adopted much of the Hasidim's life-style and dress code. For example, non-Hasidic Lithuanian rosh yeshivas (the dominant leaders of non-Hasidic Haredim in modern times -- the highest body of policy making for the Haredi Agudath Israel of America is the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah consisting of ONLY Rosh yeshivas and Rebbes!) have become more like Hasidic Rebbes in how they are venerated by their disciples and in their manner of leadership. Also their shared opposition to Haskalah ("The Englightenment"); being co-equal victims of modern anti-Semitism under both Communism and the their common suffering during the Holocaust; and added to their mutual opposition to secular Zionism; all of which drew the Hasidim and Mitnagdim together, and in the ("case of the disappearing-") Mitnagdim to a parallel and concomitant melting away of the label "mitnagdim" since now they were LESS in "OPPOSITION" (i.e. "mitnagdim") to each other and more "partners" and friends ("chaverim") facing common outside forces. Yet, of course, Hasidim do like the name "Hasidim" and have stuck with it, and hey, why not, it's a great name, it means "Righteous", but who would want to be known as an "opponent"-"mitnaged"? So while the name Hasid/ism has flourished, the name "Mitnaged" has shriveled and become more of a historical term than something that is in active use nowadays. In fact its doubtful how much "mitnagdim" was used as self-description all along. (I doubt if there is any work that was written about or by a "great Mitnaged" using that word in Hebrew! In fact in his Hebrew works the Vilna Gaon is described as HaGaon HaHasid -- "The Genius, The Righteous" ! So no-one uses the word "mitnaged" not even the arch-mitnaged himself!) It seems it was just the Hasidim who loved to pin than label onto anyone who stood in their way... and Hasidim are tough and shrewd operators with a VERY powerful MYSTICAL belief-system... how else did Hasidism spread so far an so effectively? And with that I must sign off and go to sleep (don't put that in any article... :-} IZAK 09:20, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Template:Infobox Halacha

Hi Izak, I left you a few answers on my talk page. Lehitraot, gidonb 20:34, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Thank you. IZAK 10:18, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Yiddish Wikipedia

Please show support and visit the Yiddish wikipedea by voting to put up public statistics, thanks brother-- 71.247.152.36 13:21, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi, I wish I had the time, I am sooo busy here at the English Wikipedia. IZAK 10:16, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Cholent

nice work. Tomertalk 02:46, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Thank you. IZAK 10:15, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
    • Great job. Next shabbat in New York, I will know who to visit around noon! gidonb 11:12, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
      • Sure, no problem, you have my Email -- let me know. I have been preparing Shabbat cholents for a mighty long time now... I have been in love with cholent since the time my Mom used to make them and I would raid the oven early Shabbat mornings... When they serve cholents in shull for a kiddush I get ecstatic... "Commercial" cholents cooked by professional caterers are often better than the home-made kind (who knows what they put into them :-@ , but I don't ask, I just eat...) IZAK 11:28, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Cat for Yeshiva Centre

Jewish schools was there for Yeshiva College. And chabad schools was there for Cheder Chabad Lubavitch. Can I revert your edit? ems 09:56, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

How super categories and sub categories are aligned

Ems Hi: No, you do not understand how Wikipedia categories work. Obviously, from the perspective of Judaism everything relating to the Yeshiva Centre will connect back to the categories of Judaism, Chabad-Lubavitch, and Jewish schools, but there are ways of getting there and you can't put all the categories down on the article. I will try to explain to you how the process works:
Because they were erroneously placed in the article Yeshiva Centre the three categories I removed Category:Judaism, Category:Chabad Lubavitch and Category:Jewish schools which are known as "super-categories" should NOT have been placed together with their "sub-categories" in the article. The two categories that I left in the article: Category:Chabad schools and Category:Orthodox yeshivas are accurate sub-categories of other greater/larger "super categories" that they fall under, as follows:
(Note: PLEASE look at the bottom of each category's page and click on the new category names at the bottom of each page that I mention to see the new categories appear and to see how they are sub-categories of the greater super categories.)
A) Yeshiva Centre is in Category:Chabad schools which is in turn a sub category of BOTH (1) Category:Chabad Lubavitch which is a sub category Category:Hasidic dynasties which is a sub category of Category:Hasidic Judaism which is a sub category of Category:Judaism AND of (2) Category:Jewish schools which in turn is a sub category of Category:Judaism also. So the Yeshiva Centre arives at Category:Judaism TWICE and and Category:Jewish schools once.
B) Similarly, Yeshiva Centre is in the category of Category:Orthodox yeshivas (since not all Jewish schools are always yeshivas) which in turn is a sub-category of BOTH (1) Category:Orthodox Judaism which is a sub category of Category:Judaism AND of (2) Category:Jewish seminaries which is a sub category of Category:Jewish schools and of Category:Judaism. So you arrive at Category:Judaism two more times and at Category:Jewish schools one more time.
But you can't "cut short" the categoriztion process by placing all the sub-categories and the super-categories on the same article. Thus as you can see you cannot and do not place the super-super category of Judaism when their is heirarchy to follow, please acquaint yourself with this system first, many initail users of Wikipedia make your kind of errors when starting to use the category system.
For more information about the system of categories please see the following detailed Wikipedia policy guidelines that will instruct you about the system of categorization.
  1. Wikipedia:Category
  2. Wikipedia:Categorization
  3. Wikipedia:Categorization/Categories and subcategories
  4. Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and series boxes
I have worked in this area of categorization for some time so I am aware of the pitfalls. Feel free to call on me at any time. Thanks for asking. Best wishes, IZAK 11:09, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy

The page, Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy has recently come under what I can only describe as an "attack" of page-renaming. I was directed by folks on the #wikipedia IRC channel to you, and I hope that you can help. All I'm asking is for the page name to be restored. I've listed it here: Wikipedia:Requested_moves#February_27.2C_2006. Thank you for your attention to this matter. -Harmil 16:50, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Harmil: I am not an admin, so I cannot do anything that would require access to features which admins normally use to administer articles. Keep me posted though. Best wishes, IZAK 11:12, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Motzei Shabbos article alerts

Dear IZAK: You seem to be quite busy every Motzei Shabbos posting these article alerts! :). I appreciate your keeping me in mind, but I feel I really put my foot in my mouth on that Template talk:Infobox Halacha, and am a little gun-shy about getting involved in anything more than "Delete per nom." Regarding the "e-mail this user," I thought you told me I could decide whether I wanted to keep things on the talk page or on my e-mail, and I decided the former. Are you worried that other users will see you asking me to contribute to AFD votes? Yoninah 21:44, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Yoninah: Actually, lately I have been busy with Wikipedia almost every night (except on Shabbes or Yom Tov or when I am at Simchas of course), it's just that on Motzei Shabbes I like to wish some people a Gut Voch and it just so happens that you have been one of those lucky people getting a Gut Voch greeting from me a few times (or would you prefer that I not say Gut Voch?) As for your comments at Template talk:Infobox Halacha they were actually very important because you expressed an important position which then received some good replies -- which you should regard as a compliment (talk pages are for TALK and discussion). As for saying ""Delete per nom" -- that is quite ok, no need to feel defensive at all. Whether or not to insert one's Email so that others can contact a user by clicking "E-mail this user" in the "toolbox" -- each person is obvioulsy free to decide what is best for them, and they are not required to explain themselves to anyone as it's entirely a personal choice. Finally, I am not worried about contacting you about votes -- if I was, I wouldn't do it because 99.99% of the time I am ready to defend any of my edits, comments, and correspondence on Wikipedia. After all, what's done in the open, subject to potential public glare (befarhesiah), is not something a person who is writing on Wikipedia (an open international encyclpodia on the Internet) should worry about, and if they do, they should stay away from open forums like Wikipedia. But thank you for your concern, it is greatly appreciated. Kol Tuv ! {:-] IZAK 11:09, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
    • Kol hakavod to you for spending so much time on your well-thought-out, often impassioned arguments and efforts on behalf of Judaism. It's okay, you can keep sending those Gut Voch's. Yoninah 22:24, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Category:Midian et. al

Hello, IZAK. I would like your opinion and feedback regarding a discussion I am having with Briangotts here about various categories including Cat:Midian and Cat:Edom. This issue is whether the categories themselves should be subcategories of Cat:Torah people and Cat:Torah places, or whether just the articles which actually are about Cat:Torah people, such as the parent article Edom and Esau, should be tagged. Further explanation and a place to both voice your opinion and vote may be found on the talk page of Category:Midian. Thank you for your time and input. -- Avi 19:31, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Kuzari

I'll write Japanese article of kuzari. but can you point nquddah and daghesh? Is this OK → 「כּוּזָרִי」? --Sheynhertzגעשׁ״ך 11:42, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Terrorism against Israel 2006

Hello Izak, terrorist attacks against Israel are, unfortunately, still happening. No one has created the 2006 page. Emmanuelm 18:16, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Please go ahead and create the page. IZAK 07:55, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Talk:List of British Jews

Alright, will do so. Just noticed clearing of archives by IP (assuming you not logged in?), which is more than usually a no-no, so restored. Tell me if you need help, even though you probably don't. -- Jjjsixsix (talk)/(contribs) @ 16:46, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Thanks for your help. IZAK 08:39, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Negia and Yichud

Nice job on adding the "see also" sections. Why is Bais Yaakov included in the links, it seems a bit of a strech? (please respond on my talk page) Jon513 18:30, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Passover

Dear IZAK, I looked over the Passover article and found it really lacking in basic information, so I did an expansion on it. I removed the {{factual}} tag at the same time as Eliezer did. Since I wrote mostly off the top of my head, you or someone else (or maybe me, when I have more time) should go over it and add some sources. Thanks, Yoninah 23:19, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Dear Yoninah: Thank you, you did all the right things. IZAK 22:11, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Passover article

Hi IZAK. It appears to me that that attempt to turn the Passover article into an article about some Christian holiday was a while ago; has it started up again? Jayjg (talk) 19:16, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Seems Yoninah took care of it. I was concerned that the there was an attempt to sabotage the regular Passover article by filling it with "funny information". IZAK 22:13, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Jewish mythology

IZAK, would you mind taking a look at the recent edits to Jewish mythology? An IP editor has inserted a rather incoherent version of a story from the Talmud, but I don't see the relevance. His justification is here: User_talk:Jayjg#Jewish_Mythology, and my response is here: User_talk:88.154.157.63. Jayjg (talk) 19:17, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Jesus

A new editor is making rather bold claims about Judaism's view of Jesus, and also insisting he knows Jesus' Hebrew name. Could you possibly take a look at Talk:Jesus#Hebrew_name_of_Yehoshua_or_Yeshua and Talk:Judaism's view of Jesus? I'd appreciate it. Jayjg (talk) 17:52, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Kofeir

Please excuse me for posting this message. I am attempting to combat a very inappropriate google bomb that I recently unearthed. Hopefully Google searches for kofeir will soon turn up the WP page on heresy as the #1 result as opposed to the bio page of Yeshiva University's president. --DLand 21:32, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi DLand: Thank you for your concern. I would say that the person who is doing what you are saying here must be be both crazy and evil. Please keep me informed and feel free to call on me. I have a very high regard for Richard Joel, YU's President. IZAK 22:19, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Kabbalah Centre

I noticed you had made some edits to the Centre article. It really needs sourcing. I'm going to try and track some down, but in the meantime, any sections you can find sources on would be helpful. JoshuaZ 02:27, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi JoshuaZ, I did not add new info, I merely Wikified the article from a technical angle and took out information related to Philip Berg and placed it into his article. IZAK 22:16, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Messianic Prophecy

"Messianic prophecies" has been completely reorganized and set up as multiple articles (mainly because a guy in a Baha'i cult with max 1000 members worldwide was sticking loads of extremely POV material and material on BUPC theology in the main article on the theory, "As long as the source is verifiable it's not POV.").

There is now an article on the concept of Messianic prophecy and a Messianic prophecies (disambiguation) page set up for articles on various religions.

Please seriously consider contributing to the Jewish "by" and "views" "Messianic prophecies" pages. Here are three links you will find helpful for source material:

Also, I am continuing to add to the non-Christian sections of References in the Messianic Prophecy article, so you can expect to find additional sources, there on a fairly regular basis for awhile, especially on-line sources. (Frankly, I will be looking primarily for Jewish references.)

RickReinckens 04:07, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Main page

There is an aurgument taking place here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Main_Page#Intentional_secular_bias_violates_WP:NPOV You might want to join in. ems 14:07, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Ten Plagues of Egypt

Dear IZAK, thanks for alerting me to this article. It does need a lot of work; I'm not sure I have the time right now. I would like to know if I can dump wholesale all the "critical scholarship" which makes up at least half of this article. Like the Kohen article, this documentary hypothesis stuff is poorly written and focused. Even if I wanted to summarize it, I couldn't. Yoninah 10:01, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Yoninah: I understand very well that you are busy at this time of year...all good balebustas are getting ready for Pesach... To answer your question: The sanest and most honest approach is to ISOLATE the "critical scholarship" stuff so that it not mix with the standrad traditional Torah approaches to the subject (so do not "dump wholesale" because those discussions are also part of the subject in an encyclpedia like Wikipedia which aims to be all-inclusive.) By the way, many key articles relating to Bible topics suffer from this problem, and perhaps we can work on it after Pesach time permitting, im yirtseh H-shem. But at this point the sections within the article that deal with the subject from a Torah perspective need strengthening and that's where you can help. Best wishes and Good Shabbes. IZAK 18:50, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Seudah article

Hey IZAK, you might want to take a look at a new article by MPerel, Seudah. It looks pretty good to me, but I'm sure it could be touched up a bit. Jayjg (talk) 18:06, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Jay: I looked at it and it's done very well with all the rerences built in. It should perhaps be combined with or re-directed to Seudat mitzvah because all that the word "seudah" really means in Hebrew is "meal" and that would stop anyone from including "seudat boker" (breakfast) and "seudat laiyla" (supper/dinner) into the article. The editors are assuming that everyone would be approaching this topic from a religious perspective, which is not true. On the other hand, Seudat mitzvah includes any kind of religious meal, it's broader than the article on "Seudahh" alone implies, not as the article describes and limits it. (In fact I am going to insert this into the article/s now.) Thanks for bringing my attention to this. IZAK 19:03, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Bais Yakov school

It was a hoax article; I've deleted it. Amazingly, it lasted for 14 months, and the information propogated into the Barbra Steisand article as well. Jayjg (talk) 18:07, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Thanks Jay. Be well and Shabbat Shalom. IZAK 18:52, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Halakha

Looks like someone is trying to add some anti-Semitic Original Research to the Halakha article;[1] you might want to keep an eye on it. Jayjg (talk) 20:57, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Seudah/Seudat mitzvah

Ok, as the consensus seemed to be to merge, I went ahead and did so, making quite a few changes along the way. Please comment, or make corrections, additions, improvements. : ) --MPerel ( talk | contrib) 07:17, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi MPerel: Looks fine to me. Best wishes, IZAK 07:19, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Anti-Judaism

I've explained to Zadil (talk • contribs) that his links are vanity links, and that the section is a vanity section. He already has 3 reverts on Anti-Judaism. If you revert him, make sure to warn him that re-entry of his material will violate 3RR. HKT 11:29, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

  • HKT: Your efforts are appreciated. IZAK 22:39, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Category:Kabbalah practitioners

Hi Joe: Please see Wikipedia:Categories for deletion/Log/2006 March 20#Category:Kabbalah practitioners. Thank you. IZAK 09:14, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Seems to me that you hardly need me to add to a unanimous set of votes to delete. - Jmabel | Talk 16:49, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Joe:When I contacted you I had no idea how the vote was proceeding. Thanks for responding. Best wishes, IZAK 22:41, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Please help merge articles

In relation to the following arbitration case, which is nearing completion:

And in relation to the following completed centralised discussions:

Some assistance is requested, once the arbitration case is closed, in merging together the following articles

And any other such articles that may currently exist

I have already prepared example merges of some of these articles

For titles check out List of New Testament stories (many are currently redlinks)

--Victim of signature fascism | There is no cabal 20:14, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi: This job is outside of my domain. IZAK 22:40, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
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