Talk:Berel Wein

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This article was nominated for deletion on 05/12/2006. The result of the discussion was Keep.

Contents 1 Cleanup 2 book citing 3 Bibliography 4 Witty style 5 DOB 6 Wein is an American per Wikipedia:Manual of Style

[edit] Cleanup

I thought this was pretty obvious but I guess not. This article is fairly bad: it reads and flows poorly and is far too weighted down with boring irrelevent lists (more than half the article! remember WP:NOT indiscriminate collection of information), short paragraphs, and overly verbose quotations. It also has a few places where the tone/POV is a little off ("eager to hear his well-crafted lectures", eh? "high quality documentaries"?) and a few style/grammar problems. NicM 19:56, 22 May 2006 (UTC).

Could also do with simplfying/explaining some of the language for the non-Jewish reader, and some inline references. NicM 19:59, 22 May 2006 (UTC).

[edit] book citing

All the book references should be changes to the standard cite book template. Jon513 18:16, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bibliography

Why does NicM feel that the list of books is too long? This whole article is rather on the short side for a well-known personality, and doesn't list any of Wein's 1,000+ audio tape titles... Yoninah 19:02, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Aside from his four-volume work which is obviously seminal and already discussed elsewhere in the article, what does a massive list of book titles tell the reader about this person? If I wanted a list of his work, I would go to Amazon, Wikipedia is not the place. Long lists like this are boring, ugly and irrelevent. If there must be a bibliography, I would limit it to no more than six or so items. If any of the work is especially interesting or crucial to his life, it should be discussed in the text (with appropriate references, of course) in any case. NicM 19:17, 23 May 2006 (UTC).

You're right the article is on the short side, but filling it up with lists that just make it look longer isn't the answer... :-) NicM 19:33, 23 May 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Witty style

Also, you do not have to remove text just because you do not or cannot find a cite backing it up right now Equally, however, you may have found his presentation style witty and fluid, and I'm sure it is, but I'm afraid that is not a citable source. NicM 19:17, 23 May 2006 (UTC).

I understand. But the problem is that if we use Google as our reference list, the only references to Rabbi Wein's fluid and witty style are going to be in promos for his books. Doesn't it say something that they wrote a whole book about his witty sayings and observations called Vintage Wein: The collected wit and wisdom, the choicest anecdotes and vignettes of Rabbi Berel Wein? Yoninah 04:31, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it does say something and you are right there seems to be very little referencable material out there (no interviews, book reviews or news articles, all I can find is puff "about the author" bits). Using the title might work, perhaps something like "Rabbi Wein is known for his witty speaking and writing style: his sayings and observations have been collected together into a 283-page book entitled Vintage Wein: The collected wit and wisdom, the choicest anecdotes and vignettes of Rabbi Berel Wein." At least that gives some justification for us saying it, although an external reference would be nicer. NicM 08:05, 24 May 2006 (UTC).

I like your idea and have added it to the article. Yoninah 08:15, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DOB

Now, can we find out when Rabbi Wein was born? It seems his organization keeps a tight lid on that kind of PR. Yoninah 08:15, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

That's fine. I can't find anything for the date of birth or anything like that, but there definitely isn't very much to go on. NicM 08:24, 24 May 2006 (UTC).

His foundation held an event in 2005 celebrating his 70th birthday, thus he was born in 1935 Rabbi-m 04:59, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Good work, Rabbi-m! Yoninah 13:56, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wein is an American per Wikipedia:Manual of Style

Added that Wein is an American per Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) --Tom 12:32, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

but I think he ought also be listed on [[Category:Israeli clergy|Wein, Berel]] and [[he:קטגוריה:רבנים ישראלים]] since he is a Rabbi living in Israel, but I can't get them to work -- Rabbi-m