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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:
- 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: R. David Rue
Orthodox Jewish Law Courts In LA Forbid Potential Converts From Jewish Social Events
A few months ago, almost all of LA’s Orthodox Batei Din (Jewish law courts) for conversion agreed with the Rabbinical Council of California‘s (RCC) decision to forbid those in the process of converting to Judaism from going to Jewish social … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, R. David Rue, RCC
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Rabbi Samuel Ohana Interview
Fluent in French, Hebrew, Yiddish and English, Rabbi Samuel Ohana has lived in Los Angeles since 1972. He is 75 years old. He runs the storefront synagogue Beth Midrash Mishkan Israel (13312 Burbank Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, CA 91401 (818) 901-1598) … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, R. David Rue, R. Nachum Sauer, R. Samuel Ohana, Steven Friedman
Tagged assistant rabbi, chief rabbi, sephardic synagogue, sherman oaks ca, sifrei torah, torah scrolls
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Where Are The Orthodox?
In the wake of last week’s flotilla mess, numerous non-Orthodox rabbis took to print to critique Israel’s response. Among them was Conservative rabbi Sharon Brous. Her complete lack of expertise in matters of security did not stop her from approvingly … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, R. Bradley Shavit Artson, R. David Rue, R. Sharon Brous, R. Yehuda Bukspan, Rabbis
Tagged bradley shavit artson, conservative rabbi, Dennis Prager, flotilla, israeli policies, mossad, orthodox clergy, orthodox rabbis, security methods, torah scholar, torah scholars
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Converting The Mentally Ill
Orthodox Jews don’t look for converts among non-Jews. They typically turn away three times Gentiles seeking conversion and then only convert them after they have proved themselves. Now what happens if the convert is sincere but mentally ill? Different Batei … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Personal, R. Avrohom Union, R. David Rue
Tagged chronic fatigue syndrome, conversion applications, head rabbi, jewish conversion, masters degree in psychology, orthodox jewish community, rabbi abner weiss, rabbi david, rabbinical council of california
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Finding An Orthodox Wife
A young man converting to Judaism tells me: “The problem I have is that most orthodox women (90% +???) won’t recognize a ger (a convert to Judaism) unless he has an RCA-approved conversion.” I don’t think that’s true. Unless you … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Marriage, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Michael Melchior
Tagged conversion status, conversion to judaism, converting to judaism, orthodox conversion, orthodox women, rabbi michael
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Orthodox Conversion Programs In Los Angeles Working Well
According to what I hear, all of the Orthodox conversion programs in Los Angeles boast better than a 90% success rate (when success is measured by its converts staying Sabbath-observant after becoming Jewish). I’ve not encountered an Orthodox rabbi in … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, R. David Rue, R. Gavriel Cohen, RCC
Tagged conservative conversions, conversion controversy, conversion programs, conversion to judaism, orthodox conversion, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi, rabbi cohen
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Is The Purpose Of Religion To Aggrandize Yourself Or To Serve God?
That’s the question I think about when I look at Jewish Los Angeles. When the Orthodox Union puts its hashgacha (kosher certification) on toilet bowl cleanser and water, is that just for making money or is there a divine reason … Continue reading
Posted in Kashrut, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Gershon Bess, R. Yehuda Bukspan, RCC
Tagged halakhic questions, jewish los angeles, personal aggrandizement, rabbi yehuda, rabbinical council of california, toilet bowl cleanser, torah text
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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
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Who Is The Chief Rabbi Of Los Angeles?
I was told today that it was Rabbi David Rue of the Los Angeles Beit Din. He has a long white beard and a knitted yarmulke and sandals like Jesus. He looks like a West Bank settler but without the … Continue reading
Posted in Jews, R. David Rue
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Back Story Behind The L.A. Eruv
Here’s the inside story that the Jewish Journal did not tell you. Initially Rabbi Bess (the leading authority on Jewish law in Los Angeles) was anti-eruv and rabbis in the Fairfax area did not want to get on his bad … Continue reading
Posted in Los Angeles, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Meyer May
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