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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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Category Archives: R. Jonathan Sacks
Platform, Pulpit, Archive: Three Models of MO Rabbinic Self-Presentation in Los Angeles
While surfing Rabbi Pini Dunner’s website, I learned: Mavericks, Mystics and False Messiahs NOW AVAILABLE! “A thoroughly engaging introduction to some of the most colorful episodes in Jewish history. A wonderfully enjoyable read.” – Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks “Rabbi Pini … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance Theory, Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Los Angeles, Modern Orthodox, R. Elazar Muskin, R. Jonathan Sacks, R. Kalman Topp, R. Meir Soloveichik, R. Pini Dunner, R. Yitzchak Etshalom, R. Yosef Kanefsky
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Decoding James Kugel
Per Alliance Theory: Bible scholar James Kugel’s core move was to master two alliances that normally distrust each other. He was raised Orthodox and trained deeply in traditional modes of reading Tanakh and Midrash. He knows the inside language. He … Continue reading
Posted in James Kugel, R. J. B. Soloveitchik, R. Jonathan Sacks
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Decoding Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Written with AI: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is a norm translator and moral ambassador rather than a boundary enforcer or institutional governor. Telushkin’s power does not come from controlling entry, legitimacy, or halachic process. It comes from shaping how Jews explain … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance Theory, Ben Shapiro, Conversion, Dennis Prager, Guru, Marc B. Shapiro, R. J. B. Soloveitchik, R. Jonathan Sacks, R. Joseph Telushkin
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Decoding Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
Written with AI: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was the most successful “prestige mediator” in modern Jewish history. He used the language of sociobiology, game theory, and moral philosophy to defend traditionalist structures. While he claimed a high degree of rigor—often … Continue reading
Posted in R. Jonathan Sacks
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There can be no place in the immigration debate for xenophobia and the appeal to fear
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes: As a Jew, I am always deeply grateful that when fleeing antisemitism in Poland my late father found refuge in Britain. Like so many other Jews in Britain, I know in my heart, in my very … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration, R. Jonathan Sacks
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Judaism: Love the Stranger Because You Were Once Strangers
The rabbi does not say anything about the Jewish state needing to do anything for these refugees. He doesn’t say anything about Jews needing to do anything for these refugees, beyond hectoring the goyim with obscene Holocaust parallels to admit … Continue reading
Posted in Arabs, Holocaust, Immigration, R. Jonathan Sacks
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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on BBC Newsnight about the European refugee crisis
Rabbi Sacks says Europe must take in these Muslim refugees because Holocaust. He doesn’t say anything about Israel needing to take in these refugees. He pushes diversity on the goyim while keeping the benefits of cohesion to Jews. I’m not … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Immigration, R. Jonathan Sacks
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Lord Jonathan Sacks
Beth Jacob of Beverly Hills posts: “Please join us as we welcome Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks this Shabbat, February 22. Rabbi Sacks will give the Shabbat morning drasha in Shapell Sanctuary, with davening led by the Shabbaton choir.” It seems … Continue reading
Posted in R. Jonathan Sacks
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Using Slave Labor To Build Our Holy Temple In Jerusalem
Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: Regarding the Sacks siddur, I recommend that all listen to the wonderful dialogue between Rabbi Sacks and Leon Wieseltier available here. I have to say, however, that I was surprised to hear Sacks say at … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, R. Jonathan Sacks
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What Has Britain’s Chief Rabbi Done To Strengthen Modern Orthodoxy In UK?
Lawrence Kaplan writes: "The CR is an eloquent spokesman for traditional Jewish values on the nationial and international scene. Kol ha-kavod. But what has he done to strengthen the modern Orthodox community in the UK? From my own observations and … Continue reading
Posted in R. Jonathan Sacks
Tagged chief rabbi, eloquent spokesman, jewish rabbis, lawrence kaplan, torah community, traditional jewish values
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