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"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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- Dennis Prager Through Randall Collins: Interaction Ritual Chains
- What is a ‘Received Idea’?
- Jordan Bardella: The Manufacture of Normality
- Everyone Became Television: Bourdieu’s Warning and the 2026 Iran War
- Marine Le Pen
- The Coalition-Proximity Rule
- Nigel Farage
- 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
- Ernest Gellner
- Eric Kaufmann: The Man Who Made the Majority Visible
- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
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- Stephen Kotkin: A Life in Power
- William T. Vollmann: An American Life in Excess
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- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* 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)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
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* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* 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)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
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Author Archives: Yisroel Pensack
Yisroel Pensack: Berkeley Orthodox Mohel Chanan Feld Dies of Oral Cancer at 53
I received this email this afternoon from the Berkeley Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, which was co-founded by Chanan Feld and his wife and another couple: Chanan Velvel Simcha ben Eliahu, Rabbi Feld, our precious teacher and beloved friend, left the … Continue reading
Posted in Mohel, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, Berkeley, R. Chanan Feld
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Yisroel Pensack: Succot Message From Berkeley Mohel
Berkeley-based Orthodox rabbi and mohel Chanan Feld, who is unable to work or speak due to complications of oral cancer, has issued a message for the Succot holiday that starts tonight. Succot is often called the Harvest holiday. But what … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Mohel, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Berkeley, R. Chanan Feld, Succot
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Yisroel Pensack: The New York Times Reports On Senator’s Aid To An Aide
The New York Times is currently running this headline on its home page: "Senator’s Aid After Affair Raises Ethics Flag". The sentence on the home page under that headline says, "Experts say Senator John Ensign may have violated ethics laws … Continue reading
Posted in Adultery, AIDS, Infidelity, New York Times, Politics, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged aide, Ethics, Senator John Ensign
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Yisroel Pensack: San Francisco Orthodox Shul Plans $4.5 Million Building Renovation and Partial Redesign
Congregation Chevra Thilim, which describes itself as "San Francisco’s oldest Orthodox congregation," has launched a $4.5 million fundraising drive to renovate, partially redesign and upgrade its large sanctuary and social hall. The project also includes plans for new classrooms as … Continue reading
Posted in Brooklyn, Chabad, Conservative Judaism, Hasidim, Orthodoxy, San Francisco, Synagogue, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Beth Sholom, Congegation Chevra Thilim, fundraising, redesign, renovation, upgrade
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Yisroel Pensack: Imagine The Difference — If They Had All Just First Taken The Time To Read This Book
I wonder if this book and these three articles will now become required reading for animal lab technicians and researchers at Yale University and graduate students at Columbia University.
Posted in Aish HaTorah, Animals, Books, Christianity, Crime, Education, Intermarriage, Judaism, Weddings, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged columbia university, yale university
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Yisroel Pensack: The New York Times Shows Uncanny Timing With Sunday Travel Story On Mountain Climbing In The Himalayas
"It was 4 a.m. in mid-November, and I was stretching in a lodge in Thorong Phedi, Nepal, at 14,500 feet, trying to pump warmth back into my body and get rid of a throbbing headache brought on by dehydration and … Continue reading
Posted in New York Times, Travel, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Carolyn B. Maloney, Himalayas, mountain climbing, Nepal, tibet
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Yisroel Pensack: Northern California Mohel Who Cannot Speak Issues Yom Kippur Message
Rabbi Chanan Feld, longtime San Francisco Bay Area mohel and a Torah teacher based at Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim in Berkeley, has been seriously ill with oral cancer. According to an email I just received from the Beit Midrash, "Though he … Continue reading
Posted in Mohel, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, Berkeley, R. Chanan Feld, yom kippur
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Yisroel Pensack: “Industrial Strength” Global Fundraising By Chabad For The New Year 5770
At first, I thought the return address said "CHABAD OF CRIME A" in Brooklyn, so I was wondering: What is the difference between "Crime A" and "Crime B", and what crimes do they stand for? Then when I opened the … Continue reading
Posted in Brooklyn, Chabad, Charity, Israel, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged 5770, Crimea, fundraising, rosh hashanah
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Yisroel Pensack: Berkeley Mohel Battling Oral Cancer Wrote Rosh Hashanah Poem
This poem by the seriously ill mohel and Torah teacher Rabbi Chanan Feld was read to his Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim congregation in Berkeley by his wife Jody on Rosh Hashanah: Rosh HaShanah words from Rabbi Chanan Feld [HaRav Chanan … Continue reading
Posted in Mohel, Poetry, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, Berkeley, R. Chanan Feld, rosh hashanah
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