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- Robert Putnam: The Man Who Counted What America Lost
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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)
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* 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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* 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: Judaism
Feeding Drugs To Kids
I caught this in a Pico-Robertson shul bulletin on Shabbos: Last week, two men posing as DWP workers committed several robberies… We also received an alert from Jewish Family Service Aleinu Family Resource Center that a man who goes by … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Los Angeles, Orthodoxy, Pico/Robertson
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What Made The University of Judaism Rabbinic Ordination Program So Excruciating?
Brad Artson could not have been more boring or longwinded. He spoke for about an hour. Much of his audience walked out to chat on their cell phones. I wonder if Brad Artson is a bit autistic. He seems to … Continue reading
Posted in AJU, Judaism, Los Angeles
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Cry Me A River
In reaction to this, I say: As a convert to Judaism, I’ve experienced snide remarks about converts maybe once or twice or maybe never. I don’t remember. I don’t treasure these things and cry myself to sleep over them. Any … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism
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I-Thou Relationships Are An Unhealthy Delusion
They are another cry for unconditional love. Adults should not seek unconditional love, notes Dennis Prager. One should not expect to receive good treatment from others no matter your behavior. Infants may deserve unconditional love but there’s nothing wrong with … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Monica Osborne
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Insecurity
Monica Osborne writes on Jewcy.com: Last night, I was out to dinner with about twenty-five other scholars of Jewish and Jewish American literature. As we waited for a table large enough to accommodate us at the Cheesecake Factory, one male … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism
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Sociologist Steven M. Cohen Visits Los Angeles
Dr. Cohen says he comes from a non-observant Orthodox home (their Sabbath ended around noon). Though somewhat observant of Jewish law, he is no longer Orthodox. But he was the scholar in residence at a local Orthodox shul this past … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Judaism, Judaism, Los Angeles, Orthodoxy, Reform Judaism, Sociology, Steven M. Cohen
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A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man’s Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance
This is a terrific book by Zev Chafets. From page 53: "In Miami, twenty years ago, I knew a rabbi named Emmet Frank who offered a one-day conversion course complete with ritual immersion on the beach. But even Rabbi Frank … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Israel, Judaism
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Shaarey Zedek Has A Pulpit Star
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenberg (45)?) has wowed most of his new shul in Valley Village (except for the right-wing). I talk to an Orthodox friend about going to Beth Am (Conservative). "Do they call it davening still or is it ‘communing … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Los Angeles, Orthodoxy
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Rabbinic Foolishness
From Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish: Broadway producer/director Harold Prince says: "When Fiddler on the Roof opened, Jerry Robbins gave his first teacher — an old, old man — the role of the rabbi. And he … Continue reading
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Naval officer erected a giant menorah in Saddam’s palace
From Canadian Jewish News: She’s a Jewish U.S. naval reserve officer, she keeps kosher and Shabbat, and she has completed two tours of duty in Iraq. Lt. Laurie Zimmet of Los Angeles is not your typical former Jewish day school … Continue reading
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