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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:
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
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- Emily Oster: The Economist in the Delivery Room
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- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
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- 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
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- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
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- * 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)
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Category Archives: Modern Orthodox
The Modern Orthodox Intellectual
I find it really tiresome in Modern Orthodox life how its rabbis go about picking on Artscroll (a hugely succesful chareidi press) for the tiniest of mistakes. Another symptom of this is when Modern Orthodox rabbis go off on Agriprocessors. … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Marc B. Shapiro, Modern Orthodox
Tagged leaps of faith, Marc B. Shapiro, rabbi yitzchak etshalom, slaughter house, tender souls, yeshiva world
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Agriprocessors Is The New Artscroll
Just as the Modern Orthodox love bashing Artscroll (the hugely successful Jewish publishing company run by the super-Orthodox), they now love bashing Agriprocessors (the hugely successful meat packaging plant run by the super-Orthodox). One of the criticisms of Agriprocessors is … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Articles, Kashrut, Modern Orthodox
Tagged illegal immigrants, illegal mexican immigrants, kosher market, meat packaging, mexican illegals, mexican immigrant
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‘Can Anyone Grow Up To Be (Shul) President?’
I get off my sickbed Shabbos afternoon and go to this lecture. Last year, a Young Israel shul hired a graduate of the most left-wing Orthodox yeshiva (Chovevei Torah) — as its assistant rabbi. A few months later in response, … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, YCT, YICC, Young Israel
Tagged assistant rabbi, century city, chovevei torah, converts, dr jay, halacha, Israel, israel movement, left wing, ncyi, orthodox synagogue, presidencies, presidents, private citizen, productive members, rabbi moshe feinstein, Rabbis, rosh yeshiva, screening policy, synagogue president, talmudic, weiner, woman president, Yeshiva University, young israel of toco hills, young israel synagogue
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Modern Orthodox Authenticity Guilt
Pico/Robertson is home to three big Modern Orthodox shuls — Young Israel of Century City (YICC), Beth Jacob (BJ) and Bnai David Judea (BDJ). An Orthodox friend calls: "Who is the number one shul in Los Angeles for technical adherence … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox
Tagged adherence, authenticity, Beth Jacob, bj, black hat, century city, davening, finger tips, guilt, hat service, jewish law, judea, lettuce, megillah, orthodox shuls, penis envy, shul, Torah, YICC, Young Israel
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Chabad Vs. Modern Orthodox
I spent my Shabbat evenly divided between Chabad and the Modern Orthodox. Friday night dinner was with Chabad. It was a big raucous informal table. As Dennis Prager says, it seems like all Chabad shlichim (emissaries) are funny and all … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Modern Orthodox
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Orthodox – Non-Orthodox Relations In Los Angeles
Conservative Rabbi David Wolpe has said that L.A. has the worst Orthodox-Conservative relations in the country. Yet LimmudLA has at least two Orthodox rabbis speaking (Elazar Muskin and Yosef Kanefsky) and a string of Orthodox laity presenting. The New York … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Pico/Robertson
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An Agenda For Modern Orthodoxy
Rabbi Gil Student writes: R. Barry Gelman, author of the recent book Irresistible Judaism, presents an agenda for Modern Orthodoxy in the current issue of The Jewish Week (link). What follows is my summary of his points (in bold) along … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox
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Can A Modern Orthodox Shul Import A Religious Experience?
Feeling close to God was relatively easy in Christianity. A good sermon, a good song, a good movie, and you started feeling very spiritual. I remember going to a Billy Graham crusade in Sacramento around 1984. Only the hardest of … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Personal
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Opening Up Orthodox Judaism
Steve Lipman writes for The Jewish Week: In a small classroom across Broadway from Columbia University, Moshe is having a meltdown one recent afternoon. Moshe, in his late 20s, is reluctantly unburdening with his rabbi about his drinking problem. Depressed, … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy
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Rabbi Saul Berman Comes To Town
I’ve heard mixed reviews about his Sabbath talks. I’m told: Like many speakers he had more time to speak than material. He was a bit ideological Friday night on his point that chumras are a socio-cultural/historical phenomenon of post-Holocaust Judaism. … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Pico/Robertson, Saul Berman
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