Wikipedia's first sentence called it “great advocate”. Today it says “german rabbi and community leader”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Josel (Joselmann, Joselin, Yoselmann) of Rosheim or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz (c. 1480 - March , 1554 ) was the great advocate (" shtadlan ") of the German and Polish Jews during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V .1 His stature among the Jews, and the protected status he gained for himself and for the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire , rested in part on his skills as an advocate and in part from the Jewish role in financing the expenses of the emperor.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17240321.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Josel of Rosheim (alternatively: Joselin , Joselmann , Yoselmann , , Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim , or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz ; c. 1480 – March, 1554 ) was the great advocate (" shtadlan ") of the German and Polish Jews during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V . His stature among the Jews, and the protected status he gained for himself and for the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire , rested in part on his skills as an advocate and in part from the Jewish role in financing the expenses of the emperor. Josel of Rosheim remains a major figure of the History of Jews in Alsace .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 338344738.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Josel of Rosheim (alternatively: Joselin , Joselmann , Yoselmann , , Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim , or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz ; c. 1480 – March, 1554) was the great advocate (" shtadlan ") of the German and Polish Jews during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V . Maximilian I appointed him as governor of all Jews of Germany, a position which was confirmed after his death by his grandson, Charles V. His stature among the Jews, and the protected status he gained for himself and for the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire , rested in part on his skills as an advocate and in part from the Jewish role in financing the expenses of the emperor. Josel of Rosheim remains a major figure of the History of Jews in Alsace . Rabbi Joselmann of Rosheim , Feldheim.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660531444.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
German rabbi and community leader (c.1480–1554) Josel of Rosheim (alternatively: Joselin , Joselmann , Yoselmann , , Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim , or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz ; c. 1480 – March, 1554) was the great advocate (" shtadlan ") of the German and Polish Jews during the reigns of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V . Maximilian I appointed him as governor of all Jews of Germany, a position which was confirmed after his death by his grandson, Charles V. His stature among the Jews, and the protected status he gained for himself and for the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire , rested in part on his skills as an advocate and in part from the Jewish role in financing the expenses of the emperor. Josel of Rosheim remains a major figure of the History of Jews in Alsace . Rabbi Joselmann of Rosheim , Feldheim.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177039803.
The opening as it stood in 2025
German rabbi and community leader (1470s–1554) Josel of Rosheim (alternatively: Joselin , Joselmann , Yoselmann , German : Josel von Rosheim , Hebrew : יוסף בן גרשון מרוסהים Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim , or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz ; c. 1476–1480 – March 1554) was a German rabbi and community leader. He was the great advocate (" shtadlan ") of the German and Polish Jews during the reigns of the Holy Roman emperors Maximilian I and Charles V . Maximilian I appointed him as governor of all Jews of Germany, a position which was confirmed after his death by his grandson, Charles V. His stature among the Jews, and the protected status he gained for himself and for the Jews within the Holy Roman Empire , rested in part on his skills as an advocate and in part from the Jewish role in financing the expenses of the emperor. Josel of Rosheim remains a major figure of the History of Jews in Alsace . Rabbi Joselmann of Rosheim , Feldheim.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1292734937. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “great advocate”. Today it says “german rabbi and community leader”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
great advocate
Now
german rabbi and community leader
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
