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"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
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- 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
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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)
* 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)
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Category Archives: Haredi
Covid & Culture
William Lind writes April 26: In most cultures, including Hispanic culture, you owe nothing to anyone who is not a member of your family, clan, or tribe, in that order of importance. The public realm is simply a combined dump … Continue reading
Haaretz: From Bar Refaeli’s Torah Lessons to Paparazzi Shots of Rabbis: The ultra-Orthodox Love Affair With Gossip
From Haaretz: It was in the Shleikes Jewish food restaurant in Bnei Brak that I got the definitive proof of how gossip has conquered the ultra-Orthodox public. I had arrived for a joint interview with journalist Itzik Ohana, whose specialty … Continue reading
NYT: Do Children Get a Subpar Education in Yeshivas? New York Says It Will Finally Find Out
I suspect the reactions of most yeshivos will be to try to cheat the system. Dennis Prager remembers that when he taught at Brooklyn College, teachers found that yeshiva kids were more likely to cheat than other kids. From the … Continue reading
Hasidim Don’t Tell You How To Change Your Jewish Practice
In his part one lecture on the Ben Ish Chai for Torah in Motion, Marc Shapiro says: “Anyone over 30 knows how different things are today than when we were growing up… We are accustomed to thinking that this sort … Continue reading
Who Is The Most Highly Regarded Haredi Torah Scholar?
Marc B. Shapiro, history professor, writes: …opponents of R. Steinman have been very harsh in their evaluation of him, and a steady stream of publications has appeared designed to show that his views are not in line with the haredi … Continue reading
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Your Moral Code
I find slavery abhorrent but who cares about my feelings. I get my values from Judaism. The Torah (both in its written and oral forms) allowed slavery. From the Orthodox Jewish perspective, the Torah comes from God. So if I … Continue reading
Why Do Jewish Leaders Keep Ignoring Ultra-Orthodox Education Crisis?
Forward: The New York State Legislature is currently considering two bills, one introduced by Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee in early May , the other by Sen. David Carlucci and Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski in January , to strengthen existing legislation requiring nonpublic … Continue reading
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss Condemns Zionism at UC Irvine
There’s nothing sinister about Haredi (traditional Orthodox) Jews who do not support the modern secular state of Israel. They are being consistent with their understanding of Judaism. Prior to WWII, most Jews were not Zionist aka were not pushing for … Continue reading
Haaretz: A Screenwriter, a Hasidic Mother of Seven, and a Sex Poet
From Haaretz: Marilyn Wennig, 36, uniquely combines the two estranged worlds of an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle with secular Israeli film and literature. A day after Marilyn Wennig was interviewed on Channel 2’s late night news show about the Oscars, she asked … Continue reading
Will Israel Survive Going Haredi?
From Ruth Marcus in 2012: “We’re verging on a trajectory of Israel slipping toward a third-world economy, and a third-world economy can’t sustain a first-world military,” says Yohanan Plesner, a Kadima member who chaired a committee to rewrite the exemption. … Continue reading