I’ve been asking a lot of questions and people have been pretty helpful around here. So I consider myself a moderately intelligent fellow (expert specifically in certain areas of Jewish history & sociology) and I’ve wanted to help out with my insights about things, but I’m not going to get myself embroiled in a Great Debate. So I’ve been hanging around IMHO and General Questions, but people seem to be generally asking questions that I don’t have any good insights on…
You’ll find a niche-don’t worry. You can participate in any of our “lighthearted” threads in MPSIMS, or play one of those silly games in the Gameroom.
Well, you can always share whatever you want here in MPSIMS. Go on, enlighten us about whatever in Jewish history and sociology you’d like to talk about; I’m sure some people will find it interesting, even if they hadn’t thought to ask first.
Awesome, I can give you a question! Does that help? My dad wanted to know today if there is a book in the Talmud called Yoma. I thought it would be more likely that there would be one called Yomer, because that’s actually a word - well, sort of - but I know nothing about the Talmud. Could you enlighten me? Is there a book named anything like that? Does the word mean “he said”? And if it exists, what are the most important points contained therein?
Hi Bpelta. I’m pretty new here also.
I sometimes wish the threads with the interesting discussion material weren’t in, or moved to, Great Debates. I’ve never been trained in debate but am able to hold my own in a conversation which isn’t formatted in that manner. So, it’s either wander in and add my ten cents worth and risk being asked for cites which will gobble up time I’m not willing to devote to every post or flutter about being conversational.
I’m probably not well suited to this site but there are many intelligent and interesting people here and some good information.
So. . .
What’s a guy to do? Sometimes it takes time to adjust to a forum.
This is the Dope. Have fun, and enjoy yourself, and when something comes along (as it eventually will), you’ll get your chance to shine. Don’t try to worry about trying to impress your fellow Dopers with knowledge, or feel an obligation to contribute something. Just have a nice time, and have fun, and you’ll do just fine.
There are a few interesting Jewish knowledge Questions that get asked every year, but they tend to peak more so around the actual holidays themselves, or when we get a new user with some interesting views/beliefs. That said- don’t sweat it, do0d. My first question to the Dope was “How do you wash your hair?”- Hell, you could have easily knocked that one outta the park- so just stick around in GQ, IMHO, and MPSIMS, and just answer the polls if you feel like you need an ego boost for “contributing” as there are plenty of Qs there for the layman to answer, and just keep waiting for the big 'un to come along one day.
It’s like Fishing, we can’t all just go out and catch Great Whites all day long, sometimes it’s fun just to hang out with your friends, shoot the shit, and have a couple of drinks while not worrying about the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Peace out.
~R
I need a sociologist joke. I’ve only been able to find one on the internet, and it’s stupid.
Thanks all!
Basically discussing intricacies related to Yom Kippur:
Oy vey, stop kvetching and just post more. You already fit in fine 
Maybe I’m a bad person, but I looked at the thread title and thought: I Feel Good! 
You can do what I do: Add contentless posts to every thread you open.
You might be as popular as me one day!
As if anyone else’s popularity could sink as low as yours, Melon
Questions about Jewish things do crop up quite often, actually. Of course, the rule is that they do so real close to some Jewish holiday or other and generally during the Sabbath…
Shucks. You’re making me blush!
Silence! I luv the Melon!
The best Jewish questions arise no earlier that 30 minutes before sundown Friday… or later.
I have one I asked in the Kosher Pickles thread in CTCC forum, why do Ashkenazi Jews regard peanuts as non-kosher for Passover?
Start a thread titled ‘why is tonight different from other nights’
Or just “Ask the guy who knows a lot about Jewish History”
Or just explain Masada, or the concept of the Messiah.
Your knowledge about Jewish history is way more doper-friendly than my expertise about diatoms, trust me on this one.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to compete with Clocky.
We have a tradition here called “Ask The…” threads that might be right up your alley. Some of them are seriously from the point of view, experience or training of the OP (Ask the (returned) Peace Corps Volunteer, Ask the woman who put up a child for adoption), and some are tongue in cheek threads where the OP takes on a persona for the duration (Ask the 50’s Dad…, Ask the Evil Supervillain) but all of them are threads started by people inviting questions they’re willing to answer, rather than waiting for questions to be posted by other people.
There’s a huge anthology of these threads here, if you want to get a feel for how they generally go.
Might be just the niche you’re ready to break into to share your knowledge and let us get to know you better.
Yeah, I agree that an “ask the” thread may be helpful here. I guess I tried to treat this one as an “ask the” thread instead of discussing what was bothering you (sorry!)
Thanks for answering my question anyway - I probably could not have found that on Wikipedia on my own, because of my uncertainty about the spelling.
Also, welcome!
Oh, and Attack, diatoms are awesome!
Hey, it could be worse. When I first had the urge to share my knowledge of Judaism, I went to Yahoo Answers. I think my brain still hasn’t quite recovered…
Anyway, don’t worry. There’s no such thing as a stupid question (except on the aforementioned Yahoo Answers). Have fun. And, yes, “Ask the…” threads are a favorite in MPSIMS (mine were “Ask the Orthodox Jew/Amateur Theologian”, “Ask the Girl with Face-Blindness”, and “Ask the Evil Mastermind who’s about to take over the world”).