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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:
- What Might Survival Cost For Israel & Jews?
- If Mearsheimer Is Right
- Forty Thousand
- Vox Day
- Page 261
- The Oven
- Table Six
- For Money
- Live Questions in Torah
- Another Exciting Scold About AI From A University Professor!
- Sociologist Philip N. Cohen
- Herb K – Recovery Teacher
- Live Questions in Philosophy
- The List Problem
- Fred Luskin: Forgive for Good
- James C. Weidmann and the Making of Chateau Heartiste
- If the Populists Gain Power, Who Will be Their Favorite Economists?
- Live Questions in Psychology
- Live Questions in Jewish Studies
- The Gap
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)
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Category Archives: Marc B. Shapiro
Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History by Marc B. Shapiro
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book for years. Surely it is the most anticipated Jewish book of 2015. When I checked last week, it was the top-selling Judaism book on Amazon.com. Changing the Immutable does not disappoint. It is chock-filled … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Jews, Marc B. Shapiro, Orthodoxy
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God, Torah & The Commandments
Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: R. Kook argued that there is good reason to observe mitzvot even if one does not have a traditional view of the Torah’s authorship. On the one hand, there is nothing surprising in this. After … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, R. Kook, Torah
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The Torah’s Position On Voyeurism
Marc B. Shapiro writes: “I am aware of only two times that a woman (other than one’s wife) can be seen without her clothes. One is the sotah, when her top is removed.[18] R. Judah states that if her breasts … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Sex, Torah
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Rabbinic Perspective On Dealing With Terrorism
Marc B. Shapiro writes: While I have enormous admiration for R. Bleich’s erudition, not all of his conclusions are widely shared. For example, in a 9/11-type scenario R. Bleich argues that it is forbidden to shoot down an airplane which … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Terror
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What’s The Torah’s Position On Intentionally Injecting Somebody With HIV?
Marc B. Shapiro writes: Finally, I want to discuss a recent article by Rabbi Shalom C. Spira and Dr. Mark A. Wainberg that appeared in Hakirah entitled “Criminalization of HIV Transmission.”[30] They begin by quoting R. Zvi Spitz who argues … Continue reading
Posted in AIDS, Marc B. Shapiro
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Spinoza The Righteous
Marc B. Shapiro writes: R. Hirschensohn discusses Spinoza’s pantheism and states that he was not guilty of two of the big heresies: (1) regarding God as a corporeal being, or (2) avodah zarah. He was simply in error, and that … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
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Burning Mordecai Kaplan’s Siddur In 1945
Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: This burning of a Jewish book, coming so soon after the end of the Holocaust and so much at odds with the American tradition of freedom of expression, horrified both Jews and non-Jews. The fact … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
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Muslims & Orthodox Judaism
Marc B. Shapiro: “As far as I know there are no significant relations between the Modern Orthodox and Muslims. The Muslim community in the United States has never been forthcoming as it should be in condemning Hamas, Hizballah, and their … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Marc B. Shapiro, Modern Orthodox
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Sex With Non-Jewish Women Vs Sex With Jewish Prostitutes
An easy way to see a difference between the Jewish and Christian approaches to sex is to contrast the Jewish state of Israel with Christian countries such as the United States when it comes to prostitution. Using a prostitute is … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Prostitution, Sex
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How Big Of A Sin Is It For A Jewish Man To Be With A Non-Jewish Woman?
Marc B. Shapiro writes: The censorship of this responsum can only have one purpose, namely, so that people don’t learn about how some members of R. Stern’s community (the Hungarian hasidic world) are having sexual relations with non-Jewish women. What … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Sex
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