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Wikipedia:WikiProject Judaism

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RK (talk | contribs) at 14:39, 20 March 2005 (→Pages up for review: Jewish mythology, Aggdah (some overlap, but not the same, AFAIK)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


This is a WikiProject on Judaism.

Scope

This WikiProject aims to standardize Wikipedia articles on Judaism, halakha (Jewish law and tradition) and other subjects phenomena that are directly related to Judaism as a religion. It is not aimed at Jewish history (unless this intersects with religious issues), anti-semitism, Jewish culture, Zionism, Jewish art or literature, or social issues, except as when such social issues directly influence the development of religious aspects of Judaism.

NPOV policy

  • Wikipedia's NPOV policy often means multiple points of view. This means providing not only the points of view of different groups today, but different groups in the past.
  • Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. One important task for articles is to explain things. In the case of human beliefs and practices, explanation encompasses not only what motivates individuals who hold these beliefs and practices, but an account of how such beliefs and practices came to be and took shape.
  • Wikipedia articles on history and religion draw from a religion's sacred texts, in this case including the Torah, Tanakh, Tosefta, Mishnah, the two Talmuds, the midrash literature and the responsa literature. But Wikipedia articles on history and religion also draw from modern archaeological, historical and scientific sources.
  • Adherents of a religion may object to a critical historical treatment of their own faith. They would prefer that the articles describe their faith according to their tradition and understanding, which often differs substantially from the view commonly held by critical historians. Non adherents of a religion may feel the exact opposite, and prefer that the views of critical historians be given primacy; many articles on Wikipedia currently reflect the latter point of view. NPOV policy demands both points of view be presented without prejudice. Thus sentences currently saying something like "adherents of this faith believe X, but this has been disproved by historians" should instead say something like "adherents of this faith believe X; most critical historians believe Y". As well, back and forth debate in every sentence of a paragraph is tiresome; it is stylistically preferred to present the two points of view in separate sections, or at least separate paragraphs, each one advancing the opposing thesis.
  • A note on using the term "fundamentalism": Please see the article on fundamentalism for the technical definition of this term; its technical definition differs considerably from the common understanding, and is often seen as pejorative. The mere use of the term is often enough to attract strife and create edit-wars. Thus, its use should be avoided whenever possible, as its meaning often can just as clearly be stated in some other way.
  • Articles should present rational and mystical perspectives and distinguish between them.
  • Disputes should be taken to the talk page as soon as possible; questions that span several different articles can be discussed on this WikiProject's talk page.
  • Issues relating to Category:Biblical criticism. Often pages on the Torah will discuss the Documentary hypothesis (DH). Our articles need to correctly show the classical Jewish views on the authorship of the Torah, which reject this view. At the same time, many modern denominations of Judaism do accept some form of the DH as correct, and even as useful, and this point of view needs to be stated as well, in accord with NPOV.

Jewish vs. Christian perspectives

Many articles on Jewish topics exist side-by-side with articles on Christian views on the same topics. Here are some issues to consider, in responding to and standardizing articles relating to Torah, Tanakh and "Scripture" etc:

  • Many articles on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) are drawn from the Christian dominated Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 and from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica (there is even a templates for them). There is a need for good Jewish sources as alternatives to "Eastons" and the 1911 Britannica alone.
  • Usage of words such "Old Testament" and "New Testament" in articles. Need to standardize introductions and usages of Torah and Tanakh / Hebrew Bible etc and to explain why and how Judaism views and uses these terms (differently).
  • Within articles there is a need to create standardized method for presenting a Jewish view separately from the Christian views. At the moment many paragraphs and sentences in Tanakh articles often jump from "New Testament" views to "Old Testament" views. Articles need to be clear about each religion's view and not become a hodge-podge shoddy attempt at ersatz ecumenism that represents nothing in reality.
  • Usages of words relating to the Tetragrammaton and the names of and for God. Much work has already been done via "redirects" when words like "Jeho-va" or "Yah=we" etc are used, but this subject needs further attention and standardization.
  • Responding to those who would classify Judaism and its texts as Mythology, as some do with Christianity.
  • Many articles refer to to Jesus Christ; the word "Christ" is a formal title, used by those people who believe that Jesus is the son of God and the messiah. Jews do not share this belief, and many find its useage offensive, as it implies the reader also worships Jesus as god and messiah. Therefore it is preferable and in accord with NPOV policy to refer to "Jesus of Nazareth" or simply "Jesus."
  • Standardize a method of citation for books, chapters, and verses. Also, some Christians include different Jewish books in their canon such as the Book of Baruch and the way they classify and use Category:Old Testament Apocrypha in general runs counter to Jewish scholarship. Need to respond in a standardized manner.
  • Being on the lookout when certain "Biblical" articles are written with clear subtle and not-so-subtle anti-Semitic intent, such as Verses criticizing Jews in the Old Testament. Need to respond, dispute, correct, and establish a true NPOV.

Categories

Many pages exist under Category:Jews and Judaism:

Including Jewish Terms

The following is an example sentence which includes Jewish Terms:

  • During the holiday of tabernacles (Succos, Succot) Jews are commanded (have a mitzvah) to shake a palm branch (lulav) and lemon like citrus fruit (Esrog, Etrog).

Whenever a Jewish term is first used in an article, it should be rendered in English followed by parenthesis containing two transliterations of the Hebrew word. One in an Israeli Sefardi transliteration and one in the Artscroll transliteration. The order of the transliterations is left to the writer. Subsequently either transliteration may be used in the article. The first two transliterations should be links. All transliterations should be italicized.

Article Introduction

The following is a sample article introduction:

'Sukkot' (Succos) is one of the most important Jewish holidays in Judaism. During this holiday, Jews traditionally enjoy their meals in a Sukkah, and shake a Lulav and Etrog during morning prayers.

The word being defined should be the first word in the article and should be bold. If it is a Hebrew word, it should also be italicized. The first sentence should be a summary of the word and should contain a link to Judaism. Article titles may be in either Israeli transliteration or Ashkenazi transliteration. Whichever transliteration was used to start the article remains the title of the article, and the other transliteration should be redirected to the article.

Directory of Participants

Pages up for review

Please remove any on this list that already meet WikiProject Judaism's standards. Ignore wiki formatting

Jewish holy days articles needed

The Jewish holiday article needs help with fuller and richer materials. The following potential articles (collected from other pages) need articles of their own:

Requested articles and templates

  • Do we have an article covering Jewish burial and funeral practices? RK

Wikipedia:Forum for Encyclopedic Standards

I have drafted a proposal for a new voluntary association on Wikipedia (joining groups like the Wikipedia:The Business and Economics Forum and the Wikipedia:Harmonious editing club) to promote discussion of a sort of system of expert review on Wiki. Please take a look and add your ideas. 172 02:33, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)


New stubs

Please use the following new stubs which I have developed:

[4])

Hope it helps! IZAK 03:58, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

New attention stub

I think this will be helpful. Masterhomer 06:12, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

See Template:Judaism-Attention

Usage: {{Judaism-Attention}}

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