Category Archives: Rabbis

What Significance Did R. David Hartman Have To Judaism?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Luke Ford

Now that Rabbi Hartman is dead, his constituency, the news media, is publishing flattering obituaries. I’m wondering what was R. Hartman’s significance aside from headlines? He was undoubtedly a scholar, but to me he was an abstruse thinker like R. … Continue reading →

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My Frightened Defiant Response To Authority

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Luke Ford

I’d react identically if my father or my rabbi or my God or my boss posted on my FB page. I’d be frightened that I’d been naughty. It’s weird to me that all my reactions to authority are identical. I … Continue reading →

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Rabbis Talk Differently To Other Rabbis

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Luke Ford

In his fourth lecture on Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, history professor Marc B. Shapiro says: Wikipedia has everything you need. In the rabbinic world, you don’t have book reviews [like what Rav Zevin did in Sofrim U’Sefarim]. It’s not part … Continue reading →

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Is My Writing Toxic?

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Luke Ford

In the first 11 years of my Jewish journey, I never wanted to write anything bad about any rabbi. I revered rabbis. I knew there were bad ones, but I revered the profession as a whole. Then I got kicked … Continue reading →

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Shais Taub – The Recovery Rabbi

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Luke Ford

Rabbi Shais Taub tells TheFix: Addicts have the existential pain many of us do, but they feel it more acutely. Normal people have the luxury of being able to live in a state of spiritual laxity and get away with … Continue reading →

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