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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:
- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
- W. Bradford Wilcox: The Sociologist Who Tells America to Get Married
- Peter Moskos: The Cop Who Talks to People
- Julius Krein
- Ryan Burge: The Numbers Man in the Empty Church
- Emily Oster: The Economist in the Delivery Room
- The Most Ridiculous Story Ever Told
- Tanner Greer
- Economist Tyler Cowen
- Richard Reeves: A Life in Institutions
- Jake Adelstein: The Reporter Who Became His Story
- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
- Moira Greyland
- 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
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: Judaism
Should Jewish Women Cover Their Faces When They Go Outside?
Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: A long time ago I was asked to deal with the so-called Jewish Taliban women, who completely cover their faces when they go out. I know that everyone has downplayed their significance and referred to … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Judaism, Marc B. Shapiro
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All Defects Of Character
Alcoholic Anonymous started 72 years ago yesterday. Step Six of the Twelve Steps is: “We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” I’ve not been able to surrender to this step yet. I have too many … Continue reading
Posted in Addiction, Hasidim, Judaism, Personal
Tagged 72 years, countless times, hole in my soul, m 46, misbehavior, train wreck
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The Road To Auschwitz
I grew up a Seventh-Day Adventist and many of the things I was taught from the pulpit lead directly to Auschwitz. Christians did not create Auschwitz (Nazism was profoundly anti-Christian) but without 1900 years of Christian hatred of Jews and … Continue reading
Posted in Adventist, Christianity, Judaism, Personal
Tagged concentration camps, day adventist church, jewish converts, persecution of jews, seventh day adventist, seventh day adventist church
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The Mysteries Of Male Sexuality
In the Spring of 1999, Dennis Prager gave a series of four lectures on male sexuality at the University of Judaism. Here are some highlights: I talked to other guys and I realized I was in the normal range of … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, Judaism, Marriage, Sex
Tagged Dennis Prager, harvard divinity school, hebrew bible, hebrew university, male sexuality, university of judaism
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Yisroel Pensack: None Dare Call It Conservadox
Practically around the corner from where I live is a big old synagogue called Congregation Chevra Thilim that describes itself as “San Francisco’s oldest Orthodox congregation.” Chevra Thilim is currently undergoing a $1.6-million, months-long renovation, upgrade and expansion of its social hall building, which is … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Conservative Judaism, Conservatives, Dovid Eliezrie, Judaism, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, San Francisco, Synagogue, Torah, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged "politically incorrect" blessings, $1.6 million, building on shabbos, burials, chabad lubavitch, congregation beth sholom, Congregation Chevra Thilim, Conservadox, David Kimel, gil student, kohanim, meis mitzvah, R. David Eliezrie, R. Shimon Margolin, R. Shlomo Zarchi, R. Yosef Langer, social hall, yetzer hara
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Marc B. Shapiro: If Christianity Isn’t Idolatry, Then What Is?
According to the chief rabbinate of Israel, Hinduism is not idolatry. Hindus see themselves as monotheist. They’re not monotheists by our Jewish standard. Hinduism has no doctrine of incarnation, of God becoming man. That’s the essence of Christianity and that’s … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Marc B. Shapiro
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Judaism Views Never Married Jewish Women As Virgins
Posted in Judaism
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Judaism’s Perspective On Treating The Dead
In the wake of American soldiers urinating on Taliban corpses, what does Judaism say about how we should treat the dead? Judaism commands that the dead be treated with great respect.
Posted in Judaism
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The Jewish Annotated New Testament
The New York Times reports Nov. 25, 2011: SAN FRANCISCO — Growing up Jewish in North Dartmouth, Mass., Amy-Jill Levine loved Christianity. Her neighborhood “was almost entirely Portuguese and Roman Catholic,” Dr. Levine said last Sunday at her book party … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Jews, Judaism
Tagged american academy of religion, Brandeis University, miracle of our lady of fatima, new testament studies, oxford university press, testament scholar
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Torah, The God of Israel, Truth and Conversion
I got this from a young man: My research on the two major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity and Islam). I looked into it Philosophically, Scientifically, Historically, Theologically. And this, these are my results. 1. Jesus of Nazareth Existed. 2. Jesus of … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism
Tagged abrahamic faiths, christianity and islam, jesus of nazareth, jewish perspective, Judaism, word of god
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