Talk:Yosef Qafih

Untitled
The translation kapach is a lot more common amoungst ashkenazim. 203.214.151.141 23:55, 12 August 2007 (UTC) Qafih is much closer to how he pronounced his own name. Same goes with his family and the majority of his students. Accuracy in Hebrew pronunciation was important to him, and continues to be something unique among Yemenite Jews. He would've loved for Ashkenazim to have learned from this. Indeed, there are great Ashkenazi posqim who themselves called for Ashkenazim to improve their pronunciation of Hebrew.

R. Avraham Yishaq Hakohen Kook, (the leading Ashkenazi Rabbi in this country 70 years ago), states that "the essential aspect of any pronunciation is the distinction it provides between letters and vowels, and in this respect the Sepharadi pronunciation cannot equal the Ashkenazi, and even more so the Yemenite pronunciation which is superior to both, in that it differentiates more than the other two..." (Orah Mishpat p. 20).

The words of R. Ya'aqov Kaminetzky (in a letter of approbation to the book Safa Berura on the subject of the pronunciation of Hebrew, reprinted in the excellent book Qosht Imre Emeth, on the same subject, p.14): "It is very important to clarify the truth...I know that many will say 'Who is this person who wishes to introduce new things [pronunciations] such as these? As a certain person once said to me after I pointed out to him that our pronounciation of the undotted daleth is plainly incorrect [as explained above]: 'Do you imagine that the Hidushe HaRim [a great Tora sage of the last century] did not read Shema properly?' I replied that he certainly performed his obligation b'diavad. It is also possible that he himself read it entirely correctly, but could not influence the conduct of the entire community...But if only a few will pay heed [to what you have written], it will have been worthwhile".

See more: http://machonshilo.org/content/view/12/69/

72.150.251.248 (talk) 03:27, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Kapah
Sorry, but nobody looking for information about this rabbi will ever think to type in Qafih. The article should be Yosef Kapah, as he is referred to in the sources and he is known to the public in Israel. If someone objects to that, there should at least be a redirect. His wife was also known as Rabbanit Kapah. --Gilabrand (talk) 13:58, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Sloppiness of Article
User:Contributor613, I'm very sorry if this comes to you as disappointing, but making a very long list of published works in a main article is very sloppy. It is far better to put such long lists in a collapsible window, as it keeps the center of attention on the individual and his background. To by-pass the "Published works" in table of contents, we can re-word the sub-section in table of contents.Davidbena (talk) 20:20, 19 July 2015 (UTC)
 * While I can see where you're coming from, this template is not used in any of the Wikipedia entries for works of Acharonim (or even Rishonim like Joseph Caspi or Eleazar of Worms for that matter). Hiding Rabbi Qafih's published works can be seen as application of unequal treatment. Moreover, the apparent consensus, as reflected in the entries of every Acharon on Wikipedia, is to include their published works in full view. Examples include articles with the works of Rabbis Israel Meir Kagan, Abraham Isaac Kook, Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Jacob Emden, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik. As to keeping the center of attention on the individual and his background, placement of these lists toward the end of the articles prevents a long list from causing biographical information to be lost in the shuffle. (On a separate but related note, this being an article rated as Start-Class and "quite incomplete" or sloppy content-wise, I think the best way to put attention on Rabbi Qafih and his background is with more biographical information, quantitatively and qualitatively -- something you're certainly familiar with considering your impressive work in starting articles on Yemenite rabbis from scratch.)
 * I tried to put the 25-volume list of Mishneh Torah books in the hidden template and meet you halfway (although doing so seems to have made a "double bullet point" appear by the first entry [Sefer Hamitzvot] after the hidden list [can anyone figure this out and fix?]). If you're open to meeting me halfway considering the concerns I have raised, are you okay with putting the list of his "Collected Papers" in a collapsible and hidden-by-default list as well? While we're at it how about putting his discography in a collapsible list as well? And if you have any ideas for this article in general I'm all ears :) Contributor613 (talk) 00:15, 20 July 2015 (UTC)
 * If the list of published works in the Yosef Qafih article was as long (or short) as the lists of published works in the two articles that you mentioned, I'd say leave it. But as it is, your adding an almost endless list (with some exaggeration) takes away from the professionalism of what is supposed to be an encyclopedic article. My suggestion therefore would be to group the individual volumes under one name and publication, with mention only of its number of volumes.Davidbena (talk) 01:42, 20 July 2015 (UTC)
 * I referred to more than two articles with lists of published works but as it is, hiding Rabbi Qafih's published works can be seen as application of really unequal treatment (even if unintended). Although I am not of the same opinion regarding deleting lists of multi-volume books (which would include their accompanying bibliographical links), since I want to meet you halfway I'll go ahead now and try hiding these listings to result in a much-condensed version; if you don't find my changes to be satisfactory you can go ahead and revert it so we can continue the discussion. Contributor613 (talk) 17:39, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Okay, Mishneh Torah volumes are hidden and I've also hidden all Collected Papers volumes, relegated individual volumes of the early prophets--as well as responsa literature--to the footnotes, and combined multiple volumes of Saadiah Gaon's works into the main bullet point while moving some more to the footnotes. And even more edits that, after everything, reduced the "Published works" section length by almost half. I didn't envision it as possible but I think I've went far beyond halfway and that you'll be pleased with the non-sloppy results. Contributor613 (talk) 18:42, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The article looks much better! Great job! I think that we should also find a photo of the Rabbi to put up there.Davidbena (talk) 23:52, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * There is a photo on Hebrew wiki that could be transferred.Geewhiz (talk) 06:44, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

Unsupported claim: Notice of forthcoming deletion
Toward the end of the biography section, the article reads that he "presided over the Yemenite community in Jerusalem, as well as spreading Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook's teachings among the Israeli Sephardi populace." The portion regarding "spreading Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook's teachings among the Israeli Sephardi populace" has been marked as requiring citation to reliable sources since July 2011. This has gone unsupported for a very long time now, so unless someone can cite a source for this it'll be deleted. I'll wait until July 2016 (which will mark 5 years--more than enough time--since the citation request) though if someone wants to delete it sooner I'm not opposed. Truth to be told, I'm just giving this notice as a courtesy as this seems to be far from the reality of his emphasis on spreading Yemenite/Maimonidean teachings. Contributor613 (talk) 02:54, 3 January 2016 (UTC) Deleted. I found that the addition was by an IP user long since inactive, so no reason to wait any more. Contributor613 (talk) 00:52, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Yosef Qafih. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20071217143811/http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/Hebrew/_MultimediaServer/Documents/12516738.pdf to http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/Hebrew/_MultimediaServer/Documents/12516738.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 02:07, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Yosef Qafih. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20120603173422/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2007/03/08/100452/kapachhelpspoor to http://jta.org/news/article/2007/03/08/100452/kapachhelpspoor

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 23:17, 20 July 2016 (UTC)

Moving the "Legacy" section up.
Seeing as the "Legacy" section at the end of the article seems like it may be overlooked among the preceding material, I will move the section to precede the list of Published works. Though I'm not happy to do so, considering that Rabbi Qafih's published works preceded his legacy, I think that having the sections a bit chronologically out of order makes more sense than having an important section possibly missed by readers. I see this convention was also implemented in the Abraham Isaac Kook article (and probably other such entries as well). Contributor613 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:26, 1 January 2018 (UTC)

Further development
While this article can use more biographical details, what's more important is beginning a section highlighting halakhic rulings of his (see for example here and here on the Hebrew Wiki). This would probably be a uniquely difficult endeavor considering that much of his halakhic focus was on explaining Maimonides, such that much of "his" rulings are in turn explanations of the Rambam. While these explanations are worthy of noting, in any case there is nothing now and not many people are gifted enough to even give this a good start. ? Contributor613 (talk)
 * Very good suggestion. I have some information collected on Rabbi Yosef Qafih's halakhic rulings, but it will take time and effort to organize and put down into some encyclopedic style.Davidbena (talk) 16:41, 1 January 2018 (UTC)