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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)
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- 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
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- 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
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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)
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* 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)
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* 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)
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Category Archives: Modern Orthodox
Left Behind: A Modern Orthodox Reckoning
The group chat name changed first. “Har Etzion Carpool.” “Alon Shvut Moms.” “Jerusalem STEM Cohort 2027.” You noticed because you were still in them. At first it felt like logistics. Flights. Containers. “Does anyone have a good moving company?” “What’s … Continue reading
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The Best Of The Modern Orthodox Have Been Steadily Moving To Israel
Mate, it feels like the bloody rapture has happened and I’ve been left behind. The best of American Modern Orthodoxy keep moving to Israel. Not the median synagogue member. The people with unusually high human capital: serious Torah learners, fluent … Continue reading
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Modern Orthodoxy’s Affordability Crisis
The affordability crisis in Los Angeles is dismantling the traditional Modern Orthodox middle-class lifestyle with the methodical efficiency of a structural force rather than a cultural choice. In Pico-Robertson and Hancock Park, home prices have escalated so rapidly that price-to-income … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Los Angeles, Modern Orthodox
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Ben Shapiro: ‘Modern Orthodoxy’s Moral Failure’
Ben Shapiro writes in 2022: What, then, should the Modern Orthodox do? First, we ought to stop relying on institutions as reliable moral guideposts, absent verification of their values. If those institutions are willing to sell out the long-term values … Continue reading
Posted in Ben Shapiro, Modern Orthodox, Yeshiva University
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Decoding Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Written with AI: Rabbi Aharon Feldman is best understood as a standards governor and quiet legitimacy allocator whose power lies in shaping who is trusted to rule rather than in public leadership or ideological innovation. He is not a charismatic … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, R. Aharon Feldman
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Decoding The ‘Philosophical Apologist’ Rabbi Dr. David Shatz
Written with AI: Rabbi Dr. David Shatz is best understood as a high-status internal rationalizer and risk manager whose function is to preserve Modern Orthodoxy’s intellectual legitimacy without exposing the alliance to destabilizing evidence. He is not an innovator of … Continue reading
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Decoding The Rigor Claims Of Modern Orthodox Rabbis
Written with AI: In the social marketplace of Modern Orthodoxy, “rigor” functions as a luxury good. It signals that the speaker possesses the cognitive surplus to navigate both the dense legalism of the Talmud and the sophisticated frameworks of the … Continue reading
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Decoding Open Orthodoxy
Gemini says: The seventh area is the role of “Open Orthodoxy.” This movement seeks to push the boundaries of Jewish law to be more inclusive and progressive. Critics within the mainstream Orthodox world argue that Open Orthodoxy has drifted too … Continue reading
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Decoding Who Gets Drafted In Israel
Gemini says: The fourth debate addresses the military draft of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men in Israel. For decades, students in yeshivas received blanket exemptions. Recent court rulings and political shifts have ended many of these protections, leading to massive protests and … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Israel, Modern Orthodox
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Decoding The Struggle For Power In Orthodox Judaism
Gemini says: The third area of conflict centers on the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and its monopoly over conversion and marriage. This debate often pits Diaspora Jews against the Israeli religious establishment. The Rabbinate has occasionally “blacklisted” prominent American Orthodox rabbis, … Continue reading
Posted in Israel, Modern Orthodox
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