Who am I? My name is Daniel. I'm an IT specialist working as Technical Support Engineer for a major provider of storage equipment. I lived in Jerusalem, specifically in Givat Shaul, for almost 6 years, spent several years in Gateshead in northern England, and am now again living in Zutphen in the Netherlands, my hometown.
I'm Jewish, was Orthodox for quite a few years, currently not practicing but quite aware of all aspects of Orthodox Jewish culture and society. I still have a very positive view of that world.
Activity I am not active on Wikipedia on anything approaching a regular basis. Sometimes I'm active for a couple of days at a time, then I'm gone for 3 months. It all depends on how busy I am and how I feel. In earlier years, when I was not married yet, I spent a lot more time on Wikipedia and created a lot of content. These days most of my edits are about reverting damage to articles on my watchlist and preventing users with malicious, libelous intentions from inserting false statements into articles - primarily about Judaism-related subjects, and primarily relating to the Haredi world and Zionism.
Am I a good editor? I am neutral. I know what NPOV means, and never forget that. I had a secular, atheist / humanist upbringing and this, combined with a strong religious background in later years, allows me to look at certain issues from multiple sides and allows me to maintain a strong separation between personal feelings and facts. I have also studied in university in the past and read a large amount of scientific literature, mostly medical, which also emphasizes a neutral, factual approach to any and all issues.
My personal ideology relating to Zionism and the State of Israel There is a strong tendency among Zionists to attempt to negate any mention of (in particular Jewish) opposition to Zionism. This is not true, as large - immense - parts of the Haredi world strongly oppose Zionism. An often-heard statement is, "Haredim wouldn't oppose the state if it were religious, they oppose it because it's secular"; this, again, is a lie - we oppose Zionism because of the Three Oaths, and this has nothing at all to do with that state being religious or secular. On the contrary, a 'religious' state would be an impossibility since Judaism forbids such a state.
On the other hand, I am tolerant of Zionism and Zionists in general. I do not harbor a grudge against anyone - this is merely an ideological issue, not a personal one. I have many Zionist acquaintances and have no problems dealing with them. Also I do not believe one can blame any person for following Zionism: imagine your family nearly having been wiped out, and then you're offered a change to participate in this new state which will arm your people and, so they claim, prevent this from happening again - wouldn't you go for it?! You can't blame a person for saying "yes". Also, I do not believe in dissolving the State of Israel; the only thing such a move would likely cause would be not peace, but another Holocaust. I believe that in our times, there is no solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict; we can only wait for the Messiah to come and resolve it for us.
Reliable Sources If there is one thing I do not like on Wikipedia, it is the "Reliable Sources" policy, which I sometimes consider to be too strict and limiting. Particularly on Haredi subjects, there are often to "Reliable Sources", and when there are, the information they contain is often the opposite from the truth and absolutely unreliable. I would much rather see an alternative (addition) to the "Reliable Sources" policy consisting of a committee of appointed Subject Matter Experts who will validate contested statements in articles on certain issues, based on their own knowledge and experience, regardless of sources. These people could serve as 'judges' adjucating such conflicts.
Why this name? I like the Engadin, mainly the Upper Engadin. I speak German, English, several other languages, and can read Romansh quite well. My username is after the Piz d'Es-Cha also known as Piz Kesch (German), above Madulain, where I spent quite a few vacations.
Pages created by me edit
Me in the Engadin edit
- summer 2000, Madulain
- summer 2001, Madulain
- summer 2002, Madulain
- winter 2003, Samedan - volunteered at the World Alpine Ski Championships
- summer 2003, Madulain
- winter 2004, Madulain
- summer 2004, Madulain
- winter 2005, Madulain
- summer 2005, Madulain
- winter 2007, Madulain
- winter 2009, Champfer
- summer 2012, Cinuos-chel
- summer 2013, Cinuos-chel
- winter 2014, Zernez and Champfer
- summer 2014, Madulain
- winter 2015, Champfer
- summer 2015, Madulain
- scheduled - winter 2016, Silvaplana