User talk:BentzyCo

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Welcome, and thank you for correcting spelling on the Achromatic lens page on Wikipedia! However, both spellings of the word you "corrected" are acceptable.

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More information is available at Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Enjoy your time on the encyclopedia. Thank you. --Srleffler (talk) 22:54, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm aware of the difference, but didn't notice it in the mentioned particular case. I take advantage of the opportunity to thank you for your further enlighting comments regarding relevant aspects of editing with the two 'English's. BentzyCo (talk) 21:45, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Kohen

You added content to Kohen saying there existed a community called kohaney djerzy in Tunisia who could trace their lineage to Ezra. Could you please provide a source for this information? Wikipedia's verification policy requires reliable sources for content added to the encyclopedia. Best, --Shirahadasha (talk) 01:22, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

  1. Thank you for your response. First, it's Kohaney Djerba and not as you wrote. I think we should change the spelling to 'Cohen', since that's the way most jews who are 'cohen' write their last name, including myself. There is no reason to hold two versions for that.
  2. The policy is well known and justified. I'll be glad to have other's opinions (including yours) over substantiating the evidence I have, as a 'reliable' source. In the time being, I've just followed what was said regarding European and Yemenite jews. These lack sources too.
  3. I'm working on finding out about this issue, not just as a theoretical issue but as a personal one, as well. I'm directly related to that community, and my ancestors are concerned here. I know, personally, by oral evidence from my both grandfathers (who are late already), and from many others from their generation, that there existed a scroll with a detailed lineage that goes back to Ezra HaSopher, and that they saw it by their own eyes, as youngsters. It was held by my grand-grandfather, Harav Moshe Khalfon Cohen, who served as the chief Rabbi for Djerba island and county, and lost in unknown circumstances, during the period that preceded their emigration to Israel in the 1950's.
  4. I think that I need consulting the issue of translating oral evidence and tradition that goes throughout the whole of the community, who are scatterd mostly in Israel and France. To start with, I'll be happy to have some guidelines as to how to extract these sources in order to make an acceptable evidence. I'm a physicist, but I lack the knowledge of establishing evidence whose nature is historical, familial or traditional. I'm trying to trace literal references, but I don't think I'll be able to find non-Hebrew ones.
  5. Looking forward, BentzyCo (talk) 16:36, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi! I would suggest that you attempt to start an article on Kohaney Djerba and provide whatever sources you have on it. This will help the Wikipedia community determine if the subject meets article inclusion requirements. Once it passes, there should then be no problem mentioning it in other articles. I should caution that Wikipedia's No original research policy does prohibit using Wikipedia as the first place to publish information that was previously oral or otherwise unpublished in nature. I'll add a {{fact}} tag to the claim that Yemenite communities can trace their lineage to Ezra and agree this claim should be removed if unsourced. Best, --Shirahadasha (talk) 18:14, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

  1. Hi. I prefer completing the search for literal references first, at least with regard to some of what I've argued, within the context of the current article. I suppose that Hebrew writings qualify here. Is it ?
  2. Your suggestion sounds logical, but maybe it's a better idea to make it a section within 'Kohanin' or rather 'Cohanim'. Does it justify an article of its own ?
  3. Regarding the quoted tradition and tagging: this goes for the European jews as well, not just for the Yemenite. This issue should be consistent. Best wishes, BentzyCo (talk) 20:02, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi! For points 1 and 2, the difficulty with including the information in the Kohen article is that in addition to having to show that the statements are true on their own merit, if you intend to write anything more than the briefest mention you need to show that the topic is a signficant subject relative to the subject of Kohanim in general. See our Undue weight policy. It seems to me that you would be more likely to be able to cover the topic in a stand-alone article, which would not have these issues. By way of example, I may feel that my family and hometown were important in the history of America, but that doesn't mean I get to add a section about them to the United States history article. In addition to needing sources showing my family is notable in its own right, there would have to be sources showing my family is important enough to be worth mentioning in that article. For point 3, as the Verifiability policy explains, references don't need to be supplied for statements like "the sky is blue", only for possibly disputable statements. Hands on tombs is a common custom that's general knowledge among religious Jews, so it's been given somewhat lenient treatment. The claims that you are making about Kohaney Djerba, however, are not similarly widely known, so the policy involved is somewhat stricter. I'm sorry if you perceive this as unfair, but the policy on the subject is fairly clear. If you don't believe the statements about hands on tombs etc. are either true or well-known, you are welcome to request a source by placing a {{fact}}tag next to them. However, please don't dispute others' claims unless you actually aren't sure if they are true, see our WP:POINT policy. Best, --Shirahadasha (talk) 20:53, 6 March 2008 (UTC)