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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:
- 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: A Life Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
- Strange Bedfellows in the Academy: Alliance Theory and the Straussian Schism
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
- The Self-Hating Jew
- The Alliance Theory in the Academy
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- A Place For You
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)
Tag Archives: conversion to judaism
Becoming Jewish Three Times
I used to go to Ohr HaTorah with this guy. We reconnected at the first LimmudLA in February 2008. He lives in Jerusalem and looks chareidi. He’s the most genial guy, funny, and easy to talk to. Yes, most Orthodox … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Orthodoxy
Tagged christopher campbell, conversion to judaism, orthodox jews, punch lines, Reform Judaism, suburban philadelphia
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Jewish School Refuses To Admit Boy On Religious Grounds
From The Guardian: Britain’s most successful Jewish school told the supreme court today it had discriminated against a 12-year-old boy on religious rather than racial grounds. Lord Pannick QC, representing the JFS, told nine judges and a standing-room-only crowd that … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy
Tagged chief rabbi, conversion to judaism, jewish school, jonathan sacks, life peer, sir jonathan
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Are You On A Spiritual Journey?
I chose to click the Barry Gelman link in my Google News Alert for "rabbi" because I am a masochist. I know that whenever I read this Orthodox rabbi, I will be annoyed by the shallowness of his thought. Here’s … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Personal
Tagged bells and whistles, conversion to judaism, google news, religion judaism, simchat torah, spiritual journeys
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My Rabbi Does Good
The first rabbi I became close to was Rabbi Aaron Rubinger of Congregation Ohev Shalom in Orlando, Florida. I moved to Orlando in August 1993, shortly after my initial conversion to Judaism earlier that year through a Reform rabbi in … Continue reading
Posted in Rabbis
Tagged alan grayson, chronic fatigue syndrome, congregation ohev shalom, conversion to judaism, rabbi aaron, rabbi emeritus
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Dull Books For Yom Kippur
I afflicted my soul on Yom Kippur by reading a couple of very dull, poorly written academic books on Judaism. The first one had the exciting title: Between Redemption and Doom: The Strains of German-Jewish Modernism. I gave up on … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Germany, Judaism
Tagged academic books, conversion to judaism, dull books, gideon klein, hebrew prayers, jewish modernism, jewish neighbors, jim zorn, orthodox rabbi, public identity, rabbi robert, reform rabbi, washington redskins, yom kippur
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A Miracle Of Grace
I emailed my Christian mother Sunday: "I finished my Orthodox conversion today [with the Los Angeles Beit Din]…more than 16yrs after finishing my conversion with a Reform rabbi…" She responded: "It’s a miracle of grace." Joe emails: "Welcome to the … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged Beth Jacob, century city mall, christian mother, conversion to judaism, davening, miracle of grace, orthodox conversion, reform rabbi, sephardic temple
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Feeling Like An Outsider In Orthodox Judaism
I have a several close female friends who’ve flirted with Orthodox Judaism but not finished conversions to it. They look obviously goyish. They feel like conspicuous outsiders to the Jewish community, and they fear that they will always be viewed … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Orthodoxy
Tagged conversion programs, conversion to judaism, female friends, orthodox conversion, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism
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Pat Dollard’s Conversion To Judaism Didn’t Take
According to Wikipedia: "Patrick Dollard is an American documentary filmmaker. In the 1990s he was a Hollywood talent agent, manager, and producer most known for guiding the career of Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh. Dollard became known as a Hollywood conservative … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Judaism
Tagged conversion to judaism, director steven soderbergh, documentary filmmaker, pat dollard, patrick dollard, steven soderbergh
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The First Night
"Would you marry a girl who only had a Conservative conversion [to Judaism]?" my friend asked over lunch. "Or if she was only half-Jewish. Only her dad was Jewish." "I wouldn’t rule it out," I said. "When you find a … Continue reading
Posted in Dating, Personal, Sex
Tagged asani, conversion to judaism, having a nightmare, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, orthodox women
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Shmarya’s Rogue Gallery Of Haredi Rabbis
He writes on Jewcy: Israel has no civil marriage or divorce, which means that every Jewish Israeli is at the mercy of the state’s rabbinic courts. During the past decade, ultra-Orthodox rabbis have wrested control of those state rabbinic courts … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi
Tagged conversion procedure, conversion to judaism, nightmare scenario, orthodox rabbis, religious zionist, rogues gallery
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