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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: Abuse
Yisroel Pensack: Nazi-era Luftwaffe Nurse, Founder of Chile-based Anti-Semitic Religious Sect and Convicted Child Abuser, Dies In Prison; Was Under Investigation in 1985 Disappearance of Jewish Penn State University Math Professor
The New York Times reports: A former Nazi-era German soldier who founded a secretive German cult in southern Chile, where he sexually abused about 25 children, died of heart failure at a prison hospital early Saturday, Chilean officials said. He … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Anti-Semitism, Crime, Cults, Germany, Nazi, Predators, Yisroel Pensack
Tagged 20-year sentence, Boris Weisfeiler, Chile, Colonia Dignidad, died in prison, disappearance, drowned, executed, German cult, held captive, kidnapped, luftwaffe, mystery, Nazi-era German soldier, never charged, Paul Schaefer, Pennsylvania State University, Russian-born Jew, sexual abuse of minors, tortured, Villa Baviera
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How Common Is Spinka-Like Tax Fraud In American Yeshivot?
It is very common. Children learn it from their parents in business. We had a scandal in the past year among the Sephardic Jewish community in New York. Most of it comes from our Eastern European heritage where many Jews … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Yeshiva
Tagged benjamin netanyahu, czarist russia, eastern european heritage, orthodox judaism, reb moshe, sephardic jewish community
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Orthodox Bludgers
Elliot Resnick writes an important Op/Ed in this week’s Jewish Press: Acquaintances of mine have told me point-blank – without a trace of embarrassment in their voices – that they live in Section 8 housing and buy groceries with food … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Ethics, Orthodoxy
Tagged anonymous donors, charity recipients, orthodox jews, section 8 housing, talmudic sages, welfare fraud
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The Orthodox Rabbis Of Los Angeles
Andy* emails me: Dear Luke: I have sent to you a thank you note over the years but I never told you why. I went through hell in LA when the rabbis there mainly of chabad but also agudah and … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Orthodoxy
Tagged agudah, beverly hills high school, breslov, kitzur shulchan aruch, orthodox rabbis, talmudic scholar
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Hatred Of Americans
I’ve never suffered from Jew-hatred in the United States, but I constantly meet online Europeans who loathe Jews and Americans. It would never occur to me upon meeting somebody obnoxious or shallow to attribute their bad traits to their race … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, America, Europe, Literature, Personal, V S Naipaul
Tagged achievment, jew hatred, patrick french, s books, uppsala sweden, V S Naipaul
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Business Scandals Among LA Persian Jews
The Jewish Journal reports: Just over a year ago, Ezri Namvar was forced into involuntary bankruptcy and accused by investors of creating a Ponzi scheme that lost as much as $500 million that had been loaned to him
Posted in Abuse, Jews, Los Angeles
Tagged iranian jews, john farahi, persian jews, radio talk show, radio talk show host, talk show host
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Liability At Issue In Chabad Lawsuit In Nevada
Report: At the center of the Nevada case is Theressa Ramani, who filed a lawsuit in District Court in Clark County in 2003 against Chabad of Southern Nevada, Chabad of Summerlin, two rabbis and other individuals she said were affiliated … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Chabad
Tagged advocacy groups, chabad rabbi, court briefs, david frederick, orthodox synagogues, ramani
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Explaining Child Abuse
This is from Haaretz: The best part of these is when the rabbi/minister/priest tries to explain why what he’s doing isn’t what it looks like he’s doing, in this case: “Police said the rabbi told them he was not harassing … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse
Tagged channel 10, child sexual assault, pedophile, richard dawson, sexual subject matter
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Which Married Orthodox Pulpit Rabbi In LA Likes To Have His Ladies Dress Up As Yavneh Girls?
At least he’s still connected to his Yiddishe neshama even while sunk in the pits of degradation. Some of our pulpit rabbis in Los Angeles are a handful. In case you are wondering, Yavneh Hebrew Academy goes up through eighth … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse
Tagged average joe, eighth grade, handful, hebrew academy, pits, pulpit, rabbi, Rabbis
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Would You Get Spiritual Counseling From A Rabbi Who Had An Affair With A Congregant?
Around 2002, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg (brother of Rabbi Matis Weinberg) lost his job with Lincoln Square Synagogue for having an affair with a congregant. He was caught in the act. He was subsequently divorced (and I believe he married the … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, R. Simcha Weinberg
Tagged Aish HaTorah, hebrew bible, mattis weinberg, moral leader, spiritual counseling, torah judaism
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