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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:
- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
- Moira Greyland
- Robert Oscar Lopez: The Inconvenient Witness
- Two Ledgers: Decoding the Gurus and the Price of Talk
- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
- Mark Helprin: Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
- Strange Bedfellows in the Academy: Alliance Theory and the Straussian Schism
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
- The Self-Hating Jew
- The Alliance Theory in the Academy
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- A Place For You
BEST POSTS:
- * 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)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* 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)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Rabbis
Decoding Orthodox Rabbis Who Demonstrated Particular Empathy For Non-Jews
Here are prominent Orthodox rabbis who, in different ways, articulated strong theological or ethical concern for non-Jews. This is about public posture and teaching, not private virtue. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks He made human dignity across faith lines central to his … Continue reading
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Decoding Israel’s Chief Rabbinate
Written with AI: The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is a state-backed monopoly alliance enforcer whose power comes from legal compulsion rather than persuasion, trust, or charisma. Its authority is structural and coercive. The Rabbinate controls marriage, divorce, conversion, burial, kashrut, … Continue reading
Rabbis Are Rarely Gurus
Rabbis are rarely gurus. They usually have little in common with the gurus discussed on the podcast Decoding the Gurus. The rabbinic role developed to do almost the opposite of what a guru does. Rabbis are interpreters, not originators. Their … Continue reading
Posted in Guru, Hasidim, Marc Gafni, R. Daniel Landes, R. Kook, R. Shlomo Carlebach, R. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbis
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What Makes Charismatic Rabbis Dangerous Rabbis?
ChatGPT says: Alliance Theory explains this pattern cleanly and without moral mysticism. The same traits that make a rabbi maximally effective at binding people emotionally also place them structurally closest to boundary failure. This is not about bad character. It … Continue reading
How do you build a career as a Modern Orthodox congregational rabbi?
ChatGPT says: Alliance Theory would say a Modern Orthodox congregational rabbi succeeds by becoming a trusted coordinator between multiple overlapping alliances and by proving indispensable to each. The alliances you must bridge. The rabbinic elite. Roshei yeshiva, senior rabbis, seminary … Continue reading
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Status Anxiety In Jewish Life
Gemini: Status anxiety in Jewish life functions through distinct communal “currencies.” Whether the goal is religious stringency, intellectual prestige, or social belonging, the fear of losing standing often drives individuals toward decisions that are financially or psychologically unsustainable. Orthodox Judaism: … Continue reading
The Rabbi & The Wanker
My mate writes to Grok: “write a short story about Luke Ford preparing to masturbate only to have the mental image of his crusty lipped rabbi looking down at him disrupt his plans.” Grok: Luke Ford settled into his worn-out … Continue reading
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Rabbis & Rapists: A New Novel Exposes California Judaism
When Orthodox Judaism sends its people to oversee conversion programs, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing … Continue reading
Posted in Jews, R. David Wolpe, Rabbis
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If I Were A Rabbi…
If I were a rabbi, and I wanted to make some extra shekels, I’d tell people I was a kabbalist and that I had a yeshiva in Israel and I was available to give brachas, and when the rich women … Continue reading
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Who Leads Orthodox Jewish Los Angeles?
Posted in Los Angeles, Rabbis
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