User talk:Ldjaffe

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[edit] Welcome to Wikipedia!

Hello Ldjaffe, welcome to Wikipedia!

I noticed nobody had said hi yet... Hi!

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If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on my talk page. Thanks and happy editing! -- Alf melmac 17:19, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jewish

Hello, please do not put Jewish in the header of articles as only nationality should go there. It is OK to say that they were from a Jewish family or are practicing Jews further down. Regards Arniep 00:00, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Concerning your note to me about not adding "Jewish" in the heading ...

I'm new to this, so I want to make sure I respect the protocols for entries, but I'd like you to understand what I was doing...

I'm working on a guide to Jewish literature for my library and have been depending on several Wikipedia lists for pointers. There have been quite a number of cases where a list of, say, Jewish authors, includes an individual, but their Wikipedia entry doesn't make any note of their Jewish background. It seems that there needs to be some reciprocal notation, no? I mean, if a Wikipedia list identifies the person as Jewish but their biography doesn't acknowledge it, what's going on?

As to making a note in the header, I'd argue that Jewish is maybe a nationality, maybe an ethnicity, perhaps a cultural identification, and less of a conscious religious affiliation. My family came from Poland (or Russia, since it was Russian territory at the time, but definiely Poland now), but we'd never identify ourselves as Polish or Russian, but Jewish. Either everyone born in the U.S. is simply "American" (no hyphens) or, if you want to identify a cultural heritage that is pertinent to their work or life, then you include the background that is most relevant. Thus, it should be either "American" or "Jewish- American" in the header.

What more concerns me is some of the other labelling. For instance, "(converted)". In Judaism, "Jews by choice" have the same status as those born into Jewish families. It is relevant to mention that someone converted within the context of their biography, but another thing to include it as part of label in a list. If someone is curious to know the Jewish background of such a person they can click on the entry and read it there. Though not quite the same issue, noting "Jewish father" etc. within a list is singling out Jews from Jews. Note it in the biography, but leave it off the list.

I've also seen people labelled "Maranos" withing biographies. That's an insulting term -- it means "pigs" in modern Spanish -- and should be avoided. The better term is "converso". Ldjaffe 18:10, 24 April 2006 (UTC)ldjaffe