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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:
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
- W. Bradford Wilcox: The Sociologist Who Tells America to Get Married
- Peter Moskos: The Cop Who Talks to People
- Julius Krein
- Ryan Burge: The Numbers Man in the Empty Church
- Emily Oster: The Economist in the Delivery Room
- The Most Ridiculous Story Ever Told
- Tanner Greer
- Economist Tyler Cowen
- Richard Reeves: A Life in Institutions
- Jake Adelstein: The Reporter Who Became His Story
- 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
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: Chabad
How Do Chabad Guys Marry Models?
Most of the Chabad guys I know, at least two dozen, have smoking hot wives. What’s up with that? I know of no other sect of Judaism where the wives are so consistently hot. How does this happen? I don’t … Continue reading
The Visual Culture Of Chabad
Marc B. Shapiro blogs: …[L]et me also include this amazing picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It appears courtesy of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and I thank Rabbi Jerry Schwarzbard who first showed it to me a few … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged bryan mark rigg, jewish theological seminary, lubavitcher rebbe, Marc B. Shapiro, psychoanalyst wilhelm, Samuel Heilman
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Santa Monica Chabad Bombing Suspect Arrested In Ohio
From The Los Angeles Times: A man suspected in the explosion last week next to a Santa Monica synagogue was arrested in Ohio late Monday after someone noticed him at another synagogue in Cleveland Heights. Sources told the Los Angeles … Continue reading
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Chabad
Tagged chabad house, greyhound bus, greyhound station, Los Angeles Times, ron hirsch, Santa Monica
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Chabad Jews Tend To Be Loving Jews
Watch the whole show:
The Most Interesting Man In The World Is A Lubavitcher
Jordan Schultz writes a long article about the man in the Dos Equis commercials and never mentions that he is a Chabad Jew. That’s right. He’s a Hasid. The Jewish Journal profile. From Fanhouse: Jonathan Goldsmith is not a household … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad
Tagged beer commercials, dos equis beer, fanhouse, hasid, household name, memorable life
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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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Florida family has 45 guests at Thanksgiving dinner
I’m reading this story from the Drudge Report and thinking about the Happy Minyan. Its stalwarts Stuart and Enny Wax regularly had Shabbat dinner for a hundred people for about two years until they had kids. The kind of hospitality … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Orthodoxy
Tagged drudge report, minyan, orthodox judaism, shabbat dinner, thanksgiving dinner
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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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The Ten Commandments Of Chabad Jews
Watch the whole Torah talk. Rabbi Rabbs goes off on the Ten Commandments of Chabad Jews (I love Chabad and Aish HaTorah, but I enjoy hearing Rabbs’ rant): * You shall accept the Rebbe into your heart as your personal … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, R. Rabbs
Tagged lord and savior, personal lord, rabbs, rebbe, sabbath candles, shem tov
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Torah Weirdo
A few years ago in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, Aish HaTorah rabbi Aryeh Markman called me a “Torah weirdo.” I felt hurt at first but then Chaim Amalek told me he loved the phrase and so I learned … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Personal
Tagged Aish HaTorah, departmental budget, jewish month, mcgill university, month of shevat, royal victoria hospital
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