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One of my favorite pastimes is writing. The professional skills required for good writing are in building a good vocabulary, or, as some may call it, becoming a "wordsmith." Reading many books, and becoming acquainted with the styles of other authors definitely helps. Hopefully, my modest contribution here, on Wikipedia, will be a worthwhile one and will bring some sense of satisfaction to our readers.
A scholar once wrote: "Literature... depends heavily on credibility. If a text has passed through the professional hands of the author, editor, publisher, and bookseller, the readers will assume with good reason that the editorial frame and, in particular, the alleged authorship is accurate." - D. Trobisch. This does not negate, however, how that we, as editors, ought to be truthful in our reporting. Maimonides, the famous Jewish Rabbi and philosopher, once wrote in his Epistle to Yemen (ch. xiv): “Do not consider a statement true because you find it in a book, for the prevaricator is as little restrained with his pen as with his tongue. For the untutored and uninstructed are convinced of the veracity of a statement by the mere fact that it is written; nevertheless its accuracy must be demonstrated in another manner.”
Another thing to remember here is that "popular opinions are not always the accurate opinion," and, therefore, must sometimes be taken with a grain of salt. These opinions, notwithstanding, still reflect the current views of many in our pluralistic world, and, if I might quote from an Administrator: "Every conflict in the world is a conflict on Wikipedia." This makes our work here all the more difficult, considering the range of diverse opinions and, especially, when different "ideological forces" are at play and neither side is willing to yield.
I will also remind our readers here that the age of a book's publication makes little or no difference, so long as the information provided is accurate. The key here is accuracy. Albert Einstein's Theory of relativity is still applicable today. In 2007, Einstein's theory of relativity was further substantiated by an experiment conducted by Chinese-born Zhang and German physicists, with the discovery of topological insulator. Some of Sir Isaac Newton's laws of gravity and of physics are still applicable today, such as Newton's third law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Many of the works on medicine, written by mediaeval authors, such as by Maimonides or by Avicenna, or by classical writers long before them, such as Galen (Aelius Galenus), or Dioscorides and Theophrastus, are still applicable unto us today. Some of their ancient remedies are still being used today in compounded medicines. So, too, many of the philosophical works, such as those written by Descartes and Cordemoy, are still applicable today. Do not be misled by a book's antiquity and think to say that its account must be outdated and obsolete, since this is not always the case. Friedrich Hayek once described what he called “the fatal conceit,” that somehow we know better than the wisdom of the ages.
In many of my articles published here on Wikipedia, I often make use of Hebrew quotes taken from reliable Hebrew sources not readily available to our English readers, but which I am careful to add thereto an English translation of the Hebrew text, as well as expanded explanatory notes in the references cited. Two articles created by me, Erich Brauer and Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village), appear under the names of different users because of an earlier "Redirect" under those same titles, and which I was unaware of at the time. I have also been privy to work on the improvement of articles started by others, all for the good of this worthy project. A sampling of such articles are as follows:
- Adullam
- Azekah
- City of David (historic)
- Copper Scroll
- Eduard Glaser
- Generations of Noah
- Hebraization of Palestinian place names
- Hurvat Itri
- Kermes (dye)
- Kil'ayim (prohibition)
- Megillat Taanit
- Niddah
- Operation Ha-Har
- Ottoman Land Code of 1858
- Qadad
- Saadia Gaon
- Targum Onkelos
- Usucaption
- Yemenite Hebrew
- Yemenite Jews
- Yemenite silversmithing, among others.
My WP work
My contributions (pages created) here on Wikipedia chiefly involve content related to the following areas, among others:
- Historical geography (of the Land of Israel)
- Yemenite Jewry
- Ancient Jewish history and customs
- Jewish concepts
- Flora of Israel
- Archaeological discoveries
- Explorers of Near Eastern cultures and society
- Classical works
- Food and Material culture
- Rabbinic scholars
- Hebrew Bibles
- (Damascus Pentateuch, Al-Ousta Codex, Damascus Crown, etc.)
- Hebrew-language academic journals
- (Zion (journal); Tarbiz (journal), Sefunot (journal), etc.)
- Miscellaneous
- My contributions to Commons •
"No one is so poor as he who lacks knowledge!" - Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 41a
It is my fervent wish that, someday, Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia) will hold itself to the high standards of the old printed versions of encyclopedias. To my fellow editors, as we work together on the basis of cordial collaborative editing, I say: HAPPY EDITING!
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Miscellaneous
- Templates • Template help
- Article tags: {{abbreviations}} • {{cleanup}} • {{external links}} • {{No footnotes}} • {{Citations missing}} • {{Citation needed}} • {{Cleanup}} • {{copy edit}} • {{copypaste}} • {{Confusing}} • {{Inappropriate tone}} • {{incoherent}} • {{multiple issues}} • {{Notability}} • {{Not verified}} • {{original research}} • {{overlinked}} • {{peacock}} • {{POV}} • {{primary sources}} • {{puffery}} • {{refimprove}} • {{tone}} • {{Unreferenced}} • {{inline citations}} • {{unreferenced}} • {{verify}} • {{weasel}} • {{Wikify}}
- Section tags: {{Disputed-section}} • {{POV-section}} • {{copy edit-section}} • {{expand section}} • {{fictionrefs}} • {{off-topic}} • {{in popular culture}} • {{ref improve section}} • {{unreferenced section}} • {{trivia}}
- Inline tags: Category:Inline citation and verifiability dispute templates • {{citation needed}} • {{clarify}} • {{failed verification}} • {{or}} • {{request quotation}} • {{syn}} • {{verify credibility}} • {{who}} • {{whom?}}
Useful links
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Things that every Wikipedian should know about
- Automatic reference generator for Google Books.
- Wikipedia Reference Search - a Google search that only returns sites vetted by Wikipedians.
- Wikipedia:Citing sources
- Interwiki linking
International Travels
Spent years: | (Israel) (USA) (Germany) (Yemen) |
Months to Days: | (Canada) (France) (Cyprus) (Lebanon) (Syria) (Jordan) |
Hours: | (Italy) (Saudi-Arabia) (Netherlands) (Luxembourg) (Czechoslovakia) |
To go some day: | (China) (Laos) (Vietnam) (United Kingdom) |
Idea and layout borrowed from User:Guettarda who borrowed it from User:Coolcat (who calls himself User:とある白い猫 these days) |
Wiki Tools
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