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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:
- 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: Reform Judaism
The Spark Must Be Spent
On a Friday night in Beverly Hills a rabbi picks up a guitar. The room is the chapel at Temple Emanuel, 300 North Clark Drive, a Reform congregation that has stood in the city since before the man holding the … Continue reading
Posted in Beverly Hills, Reform Judaism
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Repro-Shabbat
Dennis Prager writes Feb. 21, 2023: The NCJW [National Council of Jewish Women] prepared a “Repro-Shabbat Playlist” on Spotify featuring such Jewish and holy songs as: “Bitch” (Meredith Brooks). “I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control & Beer)” (Two … Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, Reform Judaism
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Did you know that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was drafted at Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (@theRAC)?
ReformJudaism.org tweets: “Did you know that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was drafted at Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (@theRAC)? Today, our commitment to modern-day #civilrights continues, strong as ever.”
Posted in America, Blacks, Civil Rights, Reform Judaism
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How Trump Adviser Stephen Miller Divided a Santa Monica Synagogue
Hollywood Reporter: Members of the progressive temple, where Miller learned Hebrew, and L.A.’s Jewish community struggle to come to grips with a native son who forcefully champions the Muslim ban and the wall on the Mexican border. Says one Rabbi, … Continue reading
Posted in Reform Judaism, Stephen Miller
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Israeli Tourism Minister Blasts U.S. Reform Jews, Says Chelsea Clinton’s Wedding Shows Extent of Assimilation
Non-Orthodox Jews, including Reform Jews, will still be around in significant numbers in 200 years, but as each year goes past, Orthodox Judaism plays a bigger role in Jewish life. This has been a steady trend from the 1960s and … Continue reading
Posted in Israel, Reform Judaism
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LAT: In historic move, the largest U.S. branch of Judaism backs transgender rights
The Torah has so much to say about transgender rights! Chaim Amalek: “This is the future of American Judaism: multigender bathrooms, sexual fluidity, and all the rest that we see in Torah.” Los Angeles Times: The largest branch of Judaism … Continue reading
Posted in Reform Judaism, Trans
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Union for Reform Judaism Appeals For International Response to Refugee Crisis: Urgent Plea to U.S. Government Leaders, and Action Steps for North American Citizens
Link: “Difficulty Cannot Be an Excuse for Inaction in the Face of this Humanitarian Crisis” Sept 10, 2015, New York, NY – The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) is urging both international leaders and North American constituents to respond with … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration, Reform Judaism
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Converting Through Reform Judaism
Joe emails: “Hey, I was wondering. Can I join Reform Judaism and Also be considered a “real” jew, only to join the Reform Synagogue to study the Torah and go threw the conversion process to learn, BUT NOT agree with … Continue reading
Posted in Reform Judaism
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Gunther Plaut Was 99
The Jerusalem Post headline is: “Reform Movement mourns passing of Gunther Plaut” Well, I think more than just Reform Jews mourn the passing of this congregational rabbi and Bible scholar. One of the first Jewish books I read was Gunther … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, Reform Judaism
Tagged congregational rabbi, Dennis Prager, five books of moses, reform rabbis, rick jacobs, union for reform judaism
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The Synagogue In America: A Short History by Marc Lee Raphael
This is a superb new book. I just picked it up at the library and I can’t put it down. It has lots of stories about Los Angeles in general and Pico-Robertson in particular. On page 95, professor Raphael writes: … Continue reading
Posted in Blacks, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Pico/Robertson, Reform Judaism, Synagogue
Tagged ashkenazic jews, marc lee raphael, milk of human kindness, reform rabbis, sephardic congregations, sephardic jews
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