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How to Work with Hebrew in LibreOffice

Libreoffice_icon_mix

You don’t need to purchase expensive software for offline work with Hebrew — not since the amazing open source programmers behind LibreOffice, the Document Foundation, developed a free and open source solution for working with Right-to-Left texts like Hebrew. Until the Open Siddur web application is available for crafting siddurim and other curricular resources on Jewish liturgy, we recommend LibreOffice. . . . → Read More: How to Work with Hebrew in LibreOffice

STOP ACTA & TPP from Undermining Free Speech on the Internet

Keep the Internet as open as Avraham and Sarah’s tent. Help us oppose ACTA & TPP: — free trade legislation with specific language that will undermine free speech on the Internet. . . . → Read More: STOP ACTA & TPP from Undermining Free Speech on the Internet

תנ״ך | Yehoyesh’s Yiddish Translation of the Tanakh

Yehoyesh Blumgarten (1870-1927)

The Open Siddur Project is pleased to distribute a masterful Yiddish translation of the Tanakh by “Yehoyesh” (Yehoash) Shloyme Blumgarten (1870-1927) as published in Torah, Neviʼim, u-Khetuvim (New York: Yehoʼash Farlag Gezelshaft, 1941) that now resides in the Public Domain. . . . → Read More: תנ״ך | Yehoyesh’s Yiddish Translation of the Tanakh

Call Congress: Stop SOPA and PIPA

stop_sopa_450

Keep the Internet open, like Avraham’s tent. . . . → Read More: Call Congress: Stop SOPA and PIPA

The afikoman hiding in plain sight

Image: Pharoah's Imagination by Aharon Varady (License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

How good are you playing this amazing, venerable role-playing game called Judaism? Playing your whole life? Grand. So is it fun? Is it worthwhile? Would you recommend it to your friends? No. All right… so why not? Oh. Yeah. Oh… true. Ok, yeah, those are all good reasons. But what if I told you there was a way to play it better. Not everyone will catch on at first, but it should satisfy the most conservative players AND the most innovative. The geeks will love it and it will lower the bar for entry to even the most simple of players. Ok, it does sound too good to be true. But hey, what’s the point of playing the game if you’re not willing to suspend the physics of the familiar and try on a new set of rules. Embrace the illusion. Try on a new reality. Help create a new one, together. I just want players to use their imagination, feel appreciated instead of alienated, and just improve the game for everyone. So what is it? I’ll tell you. . . . → Read More: The afikoman hiding in plain sight

Just say NO to NC — choose a *free* Creative Commons license

Which of the above Creative Commons licensing option conflicts with the entire copyleft and free/libre license ecosystem?

This post continues the series of advocacy posts directed at Jewish content creators and aggregators. Other parts of the series discussed the global communal benefit of free primary data resources and issues of copyright license compatibility and the connection between copyright licensing and remixability. While my previous post briefly mentioned the non-free Creative Commons licenses, this post details why you should choose a free culture license. In particular, it urges you to avoid the licenses with the non-commercial-use only (NC) terms. . . . → Read More: Just say NO to NC — choose a *free* Creative Commons license

A Decision Tree for Choosing Free/Libre Licenses for Cultural and Technological Work

Licensing-Creative-Works-for-Advancing-a-Creative-Culture-decision-tree

To help creators of new works navigate the panoply of free/libre, open source, and copyleft licenses, I made a decision tree flowchart as an image map with clickable links to respective licenses and relevant articles. . . . → Read More: A Decision Tree for Choosing Free/Libre Licenses for Cultural and Technological Work

When will Banu Ḥoshekh L’Garesh enter the Public Domain?

Sara Levi-Tanai (1910-2005

In 1960, Sara Levi-Tanaiׁ (1910-2005) published the now popular Ḥanukah song and melody Banu Ḥosekh l’Garesh in a songbook, Zman Ḥeyn (p.49) by the Publishing House of the Composers’ League in cooperation with the Center for Culture and Education (הופיע בספר/חוברת “זמר חן”, בית הוצאה של איגוד הקומפוזיטורים בשיתוף עם המרכז לתרבות ולחינוך). The work . . . → Read More: When will Banu Ḥoshekh L’Garesh enter the Public Domain?

A Tale of Two Codexes: The Aleppo and Westminster Leningrad Codex of the תנ׳׳ך

Leningrad Codex (carpet page)

Given that more than 50% of the Siddur is comprised of text from the תנ׳׳ך (TaNaKh) any project that seeks to rigorously attribute its sources depends on a critical, digital edition of the Masoretic text of the Hebrew bible. And such is the case for our Open Siddur Project. The entire history of the transmission . . . → Read More: A Tale of Two Codexes: The Aleppo and Westminster Leningrad Codex of the תנ׳׳ך

The Sfas Emes on Sharing Torah in Parshat Terumah

A belated post that our humble project was mentioned in a cover story in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles on September 28th, 2010. Thanks to writer Jonah Lowenfeld, a very patient interviewer. In his article, “The Ten Commandments of social networking” Jonah felt the Open Siddur Project exemplified the eighth commandment:

[No.] 8. . . . → Read More: The Sfas Emes on Sharing Torah in Parshat Terumah

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