- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"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:
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- A Place For You
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
- The Self-Hating Jew
- The Alliance Theory in the Academy
- 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)
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. Avrohom Union
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
Comments Off on Converting The Mentally Ill
Rabbi Avrohom Union – Gatekeeper
Rabbi Union runs the Rabbinical Council of California, which converts about 30 people a year. He has the power to stop a potential conversions. He’s rejected hundreds of people from the program over the years. Many of them, including myself … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, R. Avrohom Union, RCC
Tagged classical mythology, gatekeeper, gatekeepers, rabbi akiba, rabbinical council of california, shape shifters
Comments Off on Rabbi Avrohom Union – Gatekeeper
Does The RCC President Matter?
No. What matters for the Rabbinical Council of California is who runs it and that is the tough as nails passionate baal teshuva Rabbi Avrohom Union. The RCC current president is Rabbi Meyer May. The organization wouldn’t operate much differently … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, R. Meyer May, RCC
Comments Off on Does The RCC President Matter?
Rita Pauker Vs. Rabbi Samuel Ohana
Here’s my Feb. 23, 2009 report on this dispute over four Torah scrolls. The Jewish Journal reported April 15, 2009: North Hollywood widow Rita Pauker plans to appeal a recent L.A. Superior Court decision that would bar her from reclaiming … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, R. Samuel Ohana, Rabbis, RCC
Tagged los angeles daily news, orthodox synagogue, scott sobel, sifrei torah, superior court judge, torah scrolls
Comments Off on Rita Pauker Vs. Rabbi Samuel Ohana
What Makes The Rabbinical Council Of California The Most Powerful Orthodox Institution In Town?
It’s the killer combination of Rabbi Gershon Bess — the savviest politician among the traditional Orthodox rabbinate in Los Angeles — and Rabbi Avrohom Union, a nasty street fighter who administers the RCC. In my mind, being skilled at politics … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, Rabbis, RCC
Tagged killer combination, loving kindness, nasty street, orthodox institution, orthodox rabbinate, rabbinical council of california, torah study
Comments Off on What Makes The Rabbinical Council Of California The Most Powerful Orthodox Institution In Town?
‘Don’t Tell Rabbi Union’
If he only knew the role he played in my life, he’d be so proud. Everything I am today is because of this man. Whenever I’m about to violate Jewish law behind closed doors, I whisper this mantra to my … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union
Tagged closed doors, comrades, jewish law, mantra, rabbi
Comments Off on ‘Don’t Tell Rabbi Union’
Rabbi Avrohom Union’s Background
He’s a baal teshuva. He was not raised in Orthodoxy. He came to it as an adult under the influence of Rabbi Beryl Wein and others. Rabbi Union was in on the founding of Ohr Somayach. He came to Los … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union
Tagged adult, baal teshuva, beryl, incarnation, Orthodoxy, rabbi, rabbinical council of california, relaxed attitude, wein, zeal
Comments Off on Rabbi Avrohom Union’s Background
My Whole World Has Cracked And Come Tumbling Down
I’m been researching a court case (Case Number: BC255351 C CUBED SOLUTIONS INC VS MARC HABERMAN) that shows holy rabbis Avrohom Union and Gershon Bess engaging in fraud. In 2002, the Los Angeles Superior Court threw out their arbitration of … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, R. Gershon Bess, RCC
Tagged bess, case case, case number, court case, Fraud, gershon, giants, marc haberman, nothing sacred, rabbinical council of california, Rabbis, solutions inc, Torah, unethical behavior, west of the mississippi
Comments Off on My Whole World Has Cracked And Come Tumbling Down
Let’s Compare The Los Angeles Beit Din With The RCC’s Conversion To Orthodox Judaism
The RCC conversion is universally accepted throughout the Jewish world, including Israel. Nobody will question your Jewish bonafides once you achieve it. The Los Angeles Beit Din is an easier route even though they reject nine out of ten applicants. … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, R. Avrohom Union, RCC
Comments Off on Let’s Compare The Los Angeles Beit Din With The RCC’s Conversion To Orthodox Judaism