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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:
- 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)
- Benedict Anderson and the Nation as Imagination
- Anthony D. Smith: The Student Who Kept the Question and Rejected the Answer
- Ernest Gellner
- Eric Kaufmann: The Man Who Made the Majority Visible
- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
- Steve Lopez: The Last City Columnist
- California Historian Kevin Starr
- Stephen Kotkin: A Life in Power
- William T. Vollmann: An American Life in Excess
- Rod Dreher: A Life in Exile
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: YICC
How do the members of Young Israel of Century City, Beth Jacob and Bnai David-Judea view each other?
Per Alliance Theory: Young Israel of Century City Self-view Centrist Modern Orthodox. Serious but not extreme. We are normal, professional, American Orthodoxy done right. Law, medicine, business, observance without theatrics. How they view Beth Jacob Impressive, intense, a little intimidating. … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Pico/Robertson, YICC
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Decoding Young Israel of Century City
ChatGPT says: Through Alliance Theory, Young Israel of Century City is best understood as a successful coalition-building machine whose core achievement was transforming Orthodox Judaism from a fragile minority practice into a stable, high-status communal default in Los Angeles. YICC … Continue reading
Posted in YICC
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YICC Hosts California’s Attorney General
Sid emails: “On Tuesday evening, February 6, YICC (Young Israel of Century City) will host Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California, an outspoken advocate for obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law. Every law-abiding Jew should protest loudly at this … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration, Jews, Orthodoxy, YICC
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Rabbi Elazar Muskin 2.0 Skit from the 2016 Banquet
Posted in R. Elazar Muskin, YICC
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A Local Twist On The R. Jonathan Rosenblatt Scandal
Y. says: Here is a blog entry by Rabbi Marc Angel about Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt. Angel and Rosenblatt were scholars in residence this past Shavuot, yes, just over a week ago, just blocks apart, at YICC and Beth Jacob, respectively. … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Beth Jacob, R. Jonathan Rosenblatt, YICC
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Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff Says YICC Wanted To Record His Shabbat Talks
In this 2014 talk, Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff says (about 37 minutes in): “I had this shaila (rabbinic question) at Young Israel of Century City. They wanted to record me [on Shabbat]. This way they can hear it again. They have … Continue reading
Posted in R. Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff, YICC
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The Force Field
He walked past Bnai David Thursday afternoon and saw a trash can with the sign, “Sponsored by Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky.” He stopped and stared. “What the hell?” he thought. “A trash can sponsored by a rabbi? Where’s the kavod of … Continue reading
Posted in Bnai David-Judea, Personal, R. Elazar Muskin, R. Yosef Kanefsky, YICC
Tagged Dennis Prager, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi, rabbi yosef, radical egalitarianism, trash cans
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Hitler finds out YICC let Rabbi Weiner go!
Hitler was so excited to finally see Rabbi Weiner in action at Young Israel of Century City, to only find out that YICC let him leave….to Cedars. This video has been made private, but I got to see it a … Continue reading
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What Is Your Shul’s Vision?
What is Shalhevet’s vision? It is the one Orthodox high school school in Los Angeles where boys and girls receive the identical education. Its mixture of Lawrence Kohlberg and Orthodox Judaism is highly un-Orthodox. I’ve never met a Shalhevet student … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, YICC
Tagged Beth Jacob, lawrence kohlberg, orthodox judaism, orthodox shul, simon wiesenthal center, YICC
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Pico-Robertson In The 1960s
It was populated with faux yeshivas to get Orthodox Jews out of the Vietnam draft. By 1980, there were only two Orthodox synagogues in the community — Young Israel of South Beverly Hills and Beth Jacob. There wasn’t a kosher … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Hancock Park, Haredi, Harkham Hillel, Pico/Robertson, R. Kalman Topp, YICC
Tagged Abner Weiss, Beth Jacob, orthodox shul, orthodox synagogues, rabbi maurice lamm, vietnam draft, YICC, Young Israel
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