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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
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- Jordan Bardella: The Manufacture of Normality
- Everyone Became Television: Bourdieu’s Warning and the 2026 Iran War
- Marine Le Pen
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- Bernard Haykel: A Life Between the Text and the Gun
- Walker Connor (1926-2017)
- Benedict Anderson and the Nation as Imagination
- Anthony D. Smith: The Student Who Kept the Question and Rejected the Answer
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- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
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- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
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* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
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* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
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* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
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Author Archives: Yisroel Pensack
Yisroel Pensack: New York Times Plays ‘Catch Up’ with Jewish Bloggers on Israel’s Subsidy Payments to Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Men for Full-Time Torah Study
This heavily-blogged topic is apparently news to The New York Times, which covers it at length today under the headline “Some Israelis Question Benefits for Ultra-Religious.” Isabel Kershner reports: JERUSALEM — Chaim Amsellem was certainly not the first Parliament member … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Israel, Judaism, New York Times, Orthodoxy, Torah, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged amalek, benefits, full-time Torah study, Isabel Kershner, R. Chaim Amsellem, shas party, ultra-Orthodox men, ultra-religious, welfare subsidies
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Yisroel Pensack: 40 Die in Chanukah Forest Fire in Israel in Country’s ‘Biggest and Deadliest’ Blaze
The New York Times reports: JERUSALEM — A fire raging in a northern Israel forest on Thursday has left at least 40 people dead, caused the evacuation of thousands of people, burned some kibbutz houses to the ground and prompted … Continue reading
Posted in Aish HaTorah, Circumcision, Greece, Israel, Judaism, New York Times, R. Ari Kahn, Sabbath, Torah, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged chanukah, fatal, forest fire, Givat Ze'ev, hebrew calendar, holy land, Jerusalem, Kislev, Nadav and Abihu, Rafi Alkaly, rosh chodesh, sons of Aaron, Syrian-Greek empire, Tevet
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Yisroel Pensack: Happy Chanukah!
This is not a Lubavitcher chossid, obviously. The branches of Chabad-Lubavitch menorahs are straight and diagonal — not like this: or this: but like this: and this: and this:
Posted in Chabad, Hanukkah, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged alaska, happy Chanukah, lubavitch, menorah, Wilshire Grand Hotel, zebra
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Yisroel Pensack: 2 Years after Mumbai Massacre, Chabad and Slain Rabbi’s Parents Battle in Court
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement thrives on favorable publicity, but this story on The New York Times homepage doesn’t qualify as that: MUMBAI, India — Days ahead of the second anniversary of a deadly terrorist attack on this bustling city, a Jewish center … Continue reading
Posted in Brooklyn, Chabad, Hasidim, Israel, Judaism, New York Times, Terror, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged battle in court, denomination, Eliran Russo, holtzberg, india, jewish center, legal dispute, lubavitch, massacre, Mumbai, Nariman House, renovation of building, slain rabbi's parents
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Yisroel Pensack: Iowa Voters Oust ‘Gay Marriage’ Judges from State’s Highest Court
Common sense prevailed in Iowa. A.G. Sulzberger of The New York Times reports: DES MOINES — In a rebuke of the state supreme court with implications for judicial elections across the country, voters here removed three justices who participated in a … Continue reading
Posted in New York Times, Politics, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged A.G. Sulzberger, chief justice, common sense, gay marriage, Iowa, judges, justices, same sex marriage, state supreme court, voters
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Yisroel Pensack: NPR Expands “Don’t Tell” Policy to Include Telling the Truth About Terrorism and Islam
The New York Times reports: NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel… The move came after Mr. Williams, who is also a … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Journalism, New York Times, Pakistan, Terror, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Bill O'Reilly, car bomb, editorial standards and practices, fox news, Jihad, Juan Williams, Muslim dilemma, muslims, npr, Pakistani immigrant, terrorism, The O'Reilly Factor, times square
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Yisroel Pensack: Germany Bans Turkey-Based Gaza Flotilla “Charity”
Buried deep down in a story headlined, “Sponsor of Flotilla Tied to Elite of Turkey,” The New York Times reports: The Humanitarian Relief Foundation was founded in the early 1990s, first as a charity for the poor in Istanbul, and … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Germany, Islam, Israel, Turkey, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged al qaeda, banned, flotilla, Gaza, hamas, Humanitarian Relief Foundation, I.H.H., terrorist organization
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Sholom Rubashkin to Receive 27-Year Prison Sentence, Federal Judge Says
The Des Moines Register reports: Sholom Rubashkin will receive a 27-year federal prison sentence on Tuesday for his leadership in the financial fraud scandal at Agriprocessors Inc., a judge declared today. U.S. District Judge Linda Reade will impose a 324-month … Continue reading
Posted in Agriprocessors, Chabad, Kashrut
Tagged 27-year, bogus financial documents, Cedar Rapids, des moines register, false sales records, false work papers, financial fraud, illegal immigrant employees, Iowa, Judge Linda Reade, personally benefitted, postville, prison, sentenced, Sholom Rubashkin, slaughterhouse
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Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu Dies at 81
The Telegraph.co.uk ran an obituary of former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu: Mordechai Eliyahu, who died in Jerusalem on June 7 aged 81, was a former Chief Rabbi of Israel (“Rishon Le’Zion”) and a spiritual leader of the … Continue reading
Posted in Jerusalem, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Tagged chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, dayan, Magain David Sephardim Congregation, Mordechai Eliyahu, obituary, Porat Yosef yeshiva, R. Eliahu Shalom Ezran, rishon lezion
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