- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"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:
- Dennis Prager v Cedars-Sinai Lawsuit
- 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
- Steve Lopez: The Last City Columnist
- California Historian Kevin Starr
- Stephen Kotkin: A Life in Power
- William T. Vollmann: An American Life in Excess
- Rod Dreher: A Life in Exile
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: Orthodox Union
New York Mashgiach Says Orthodox Union Only Interested In Making Money, Not In Policing Kashrut
According to Wikipedia: "In Judaism, a Mashgiach (Hebrew: ?????, pl. ???????, mashgichim) is a person who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment." Thursday evening, Robert Frank, a New York mashgiach, emailed me: "Dear Mr. Ford, I would like … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Jewish Journalism, Kashrut, Orthodox Union, Robert Frank
Tagged consumer fraud, consumer fruad, hospital cafeteria, kosher status, kosher supervision, mashgiach, Orthodox Union
Comments Off on New York Mashgiach Says Orthodox Union Only Interested In Making Money, Not In Policing Kashrut
Ari Wasserman’s Double Life
From Jewish Action, a magazine of the Orthodox Union: Ari Wasserman, thirty-eight, a successful Los Angeles lawyer, is leading a double life. He’s traversing both the Torah and corporate worlds with seemingly the greatest of ease, and prospering in both. … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodox Union
Tagged corporate contracts, jewish action, parashat hashavua, shacharit, shiur, shiurim
Comments Off on Ari Wasserman’s Double Life
How Is Rabbi Weil Doing With The Orthodox Union?
Rabbi Steven Weil ran Beth Jacob for nine years. The shul members who hired him thought he’d stick around longer than that. Rabbi Weil’s fundraising abilities helped the shul turn its finances around. He also brought in new members, many … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodox Union, R. Steven Weil
Tagged Beth Jacob, beverlywood, Dennis Prager, michael berkow, Orthodox Union, shabbos morning, young couples, Young Israel
Comments Off on How Is Rabbi Weil Doing With The Orthodox Union?
In 20 Years, The Haredim Will Dominate Pico-Robertson
Los Angeles has little culture of Torah learning (except among the Haredim aka the traditional Orthodox). There are only two first-rate Modern Orthodox Torah scholars in Los Angeles — rabbis Yehuda Bukspan and David Rue. L.A.’s Modern Orthodox shuls don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Abner Weiss, Anshe Emes, Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Modern Orthodox, Nachum Sauer, Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Kalman Topp, R. Yehuda Bukspan, YICC
Tagged Beth Jacob, marriage prospects, orthodox shuls, rabbi search, torah scholar, torah scholars, touro college
Comments Off on In 20 Years, The Haredim Will Dominate Pico-Robertson
Does The Orthodox Union Certify Any Foods That Need Certification?
Have you noticed that everything that the Orthodox Union certifies does not really need a kosher certification? They certify bottled water but bottled water does not need a kosher certification. Sure, it makes the companies more money that sell the … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy
Tagged bottled water, kosher certification, Orthodox Union, toilet bowl, Torah
Comments Off on Does The Orthodox Union Certify Any Foods That Need Certification?
Orthodox Union Press Hires Rabbi/Blogger Gil Student
From Hirhurim: Link: OU Press Hires Rabbi Gil Student to be Managing Editor May 26, 2009 He’s a student of the publishing industry with hands-on experience running his own book company; he’s a knowledgeable businessman with years of experience in … Continue reading
Posted in Hirhurim, Orthodox Union
Tagged gil student, orthodox rabbi, Orthodox Union, probability and statistics, rabbi joseph, seder night
Comments Off on Orthodox Union Press Hires Rabbi/Blogger Gil Student
Do Rabbis Avi Weiss, Saul Berman Deserve To Be Called ‘Amalek’?
Yehuda posts to Hirhurim: Gil, it’s lovely you’re so tolerant. I’m glad you know what they mean. Despite your tolerance, I think anyone calling you, Rabbis Weiss or Berman, or any other Torah opinions "Amalek" deserves a public rebuke, and … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy, YCT, Yeshiva University
Tagged beit midrash, lawrence kaplan, public apology, rabbi david, rabbi dovid, torah scholars
Comments Off on Do Rabbis Avi Weiss, Saul Berman Deserve To Be Called ‘Amalek’?
Paying For Jewish Day Schools
From Hirhurim: OU Plans to Foster Major Savings in Non-Academic Yeshiva Expenses (link): With the encouragement and participation of a growing number of yeshivot and day schools across North America, the Orthodox Union is quickly moving ahead with a two-pronged … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy
Tagged academic areas, insurance savings, jewish day schools, jewish education, orthodox community, Orthodox Union, parosh, plan health insurance, prong approach, revenue enhancement, school tuition, yeshivot
Comments Off on Paying For Jewish Day Schools
Rabbi Weil Organizes An OU Retreat For Elite Rabbis
Did you hear that Rabbi Weil convened a special OU meeting/retreat last weekend in Los Angeles with six of the top rabbis in the country? What went on there? A source says: "It was a rabbinic training event for nearly … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Orthodox Union, R. Steven Weil
Tagged Beth Jacob, boca raton, energy drive, guest presenter, Orthodox Union, shul
Comments Off on Rabbi Weil Organizes An OU Retreat For Elite Rabbis
The OU Marriage Satisfaction Survey
Zev writes on hirhurim: Very poorly done survey, obviously prepared by women and from a woman’s point of view. For example, a question asks how much of the following affects your marriage: drugs, internet time, inapprpropraite internet sites, gambling, illegal … Continue reading
Posted in Marriage, Orthodox Union
Tagged aleinu, guys point, happy marriage, Hirhurim, marriage counselling, orthodox jews, satisfaction survey, unhappy marriages, unrealistic demands
Comments Off on The OU Marriage Satisfaction Survey