Talk:Mnachem Risikoff

Request for move
Mnachem Risikoff → Menachem Risikoff — The name מנחם all over wikipedia is transliterated as Menachem or Menahem, but the name of this article omits the first vowel of the name so that it is instead "Mnachem". I suggest moving the article to Menachem or Menahem. Even though there are more Google hits for Mnachem Risikoff than Menachem Risikoff, it seems that Wikipedia and its clones are the cause of that. רח"ק | Talk | Contribs 05:56, 11 April 2010 (UTC) In light of the comments below, I rescind my proposal. I didn't realize that he spelled his name like that on purpose, I thought it was a mere oversight.--רח"ק | Talk | Contribs 22:08, 11 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Support Menachem is the correct way of writing the name in English. See Menachem Begin and other famous people of that name. Oppose based on the comments by NearTheZoo below. Although "Menachem" is the usual spelling, it seems clear that Mnachem Risikoff chose to write his name in English using an alternative spelling. Wikipedia is not perscriptive, and we should respect Risikoff's spelling of his name. 84.92.117.93 (talk) 11:35, 11 April 2010 (UTC)


 * STRONGLY DISAGREE. This is a rabbi who published numerous books (listed in the article) and almost every one of them has a title page in English, listing his name as Mnachem Risikoff. (The external links go to the books, and the title pages are visible.) He is also listed that way in the references. Changing his name would be like saying we should change "Stephen" to "Steven," because most people use that spelling. He used the spelling, Mnachem, with that spelling, for more than 60 years. Does it really make sense for wikipedia to change it? (I can understand choosing a spelling for someone whose name was never written in English, but this is not the case.)  NearTheZoo (talk) 13:09, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * ps to my note (above): typing in "Menachem Risikoff" redirects to the article, "Mnachem Risikoff," so that should be good enough. Also, I know that a professor at American University, who has written about Riskioff, has two unpublished manuscripts in the process of being donated to the Library of Congress, and they have a "stamp" on them that belonged to Risikoff, the author, identifying himself as "Rabbi Mnachem Risikoff." NearTheZoo (talk) 13:14, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * ONE MORE PS. I am sorry for writing so much -- but I think I have to make "full disclosure" in a wikipedia discussion (even though I don't think it affects the decision here) and say that Risikoff was a relative of mine. That means I am not completely neutral, but it also means I know that he spelled his name this way on every English document, with the exception of one (a letter typed in English for him by someone else).NearTheZoo (talk) 13:30, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

My THANKS to Rachack and to the second poster!! When he chose this spelling almost a hundred of years ago, there were probably not too many "Menachems" around. Again--thank you both! NearTheZoo (talk) 22:15, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * NeartheZoo, No problem, but out of interest are there any WP:RS references to the spelling Mnachem Risikoff in English? The only sources I can see are Between Civil and Religious Law: The Plight of the Agunah in ... (Contributions in Legal Studies) (9780313284717): 1993 which has "SHAAREI SHOMAYIM (R. Menachem Risikoff, Russia and United States, 20th Century)." and Encyclopaedia judaica: Volume 17 RISIKOFF, MENAHEM (MENDEL) HAKOHEN (1866- 1960), rabbi and author. Risikoff, the son of Rabbi Zvi Yosef ... plus the Library of Congress catalogue has 4 entries Risikoff, Menachem. In view of that if a variant spelling is to be used, the reason would preferably be documented in the article. The 1942 article in "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" is not available on microfiche, database? In ictu oculi (talk) 17:26, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, In ictu oculi, I'll try to track some down and add a note in the article about the variants (Menachem, Menahem, etc, probably came from authors more familiar with his Hebrew name. I'll also upload a "White House source" (a letter from President Roosevelt to Risikoff, using "Mnachem" as the spelling).  I'm sure some additions will help the article, so thanks! NearTheZoo (talk) 18:20, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
 * NearTheZoo, apologies for not having replied in a timely manner to your nice message on my Talk page. Well done with having tracked down the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, - there's a big difference between Encyclopaedia Judaica vs zero sources, and vs 1 source - which means that in this case the variant spelling has a case. Cheers. In ictu oculi (talk) 08:32, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
 * In Ictu Oculi, just a quick update to say I did add some info in the article regarding variant spellings, but included references to the spelling, "Mnachem," that he preferred - including a link that shows his own printed stationery, and a photo of a letter from FDR to him. I think that scholars who worked with his writings in Hebrew and Yiddish probably came up with transliterated or transcripted spellings most comfortable or familiar to them -- but my hope is that these new refs, especially the stationery, do help clarify the spelling he himself used. Thanks!!NearTheZoo (talk) 16:03, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

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