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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)
Tag Archives: orthodox jews
Am I Inflammatory?
I never think about whether or not what I am about to say is inflammatory (unless I am in close quarters on a regular basis, then I am more careful). The other day, Martin Luther King’s name came up while … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged close quarters, martin luther king, martin luther king day, orthodox jews, phd thesis
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Unhappy Joggers Make A Poor Testimonial For Jogging
Out for my morning constitutional today, I passed an unhappy jogger. His steps were heavy. He was just pounding them out on the concrete sidewalk. He was pulled down and in. He was just gutting it out. He plainly disliked … Continue reading
Posted in Alexander Technique, Orthodoxy
Tagged bad posture, cardiovascular exercise, concrete sidewalk, knee problems, orthodox jews, unnecessary tension
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How Should You Walk The Mean Streets Of Pico-Robertson?
Leaving a Shabbat dinner the other night, I was advised by the hostess to watch out for muggers. Don’t let anybody sneak up behind me. There have been three Orthodox Jews mugged on Airdrome in the past month. I was … Continue reading
Posted in Alexander Technique, Crime, Pico/Robertson
Tagged bernie weiss, body signals, martial arts masters, orthodox jews, shabbat dinner, shotokan karate
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Working With The Rabbis
Many Orthodox rabbis strain their voices trying to project across a noisy room on the Sabbath. The Orthodox do not use microphones on Shabbat. Many rabbis end up hoarse. Some lose their voices completely. And this strain is unnecessary. It … Continue reading
Posted in Alexander Technique, Jews, Rabbis
Tagged alexander technique lessons, entire community, holding patterns, musculature, noisy room, orthodox jews
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You Can Live A Lie For Only So Long
I did not shave or cut my beard for almost four years. Then I cut it off three months ago. A couple of weeks ago, Matisyahu cut off his beard. Many people have asked me for my opinion. I say … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged beard, jewish observance, Matisyahu, orthodox jews, pretense
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I Walked Around Pico-Robertson In Jeans Friday Night
Friday was my graduation day. I had a friend in from the Bay Area. I had my psycho-therapy. And I did not have much spare time. So when my buddy came over at 5pm, I was still in my jeans. … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Pico/Robertson
Tagged graduation day, jewish law, orthodox jews, psycho therapy, shabbos candles, split pea soup
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Parashat Vayera (Genesis 18:1-22:24)
Why doesn’t the rabbi touch his girlfriend? Is he a freak? No. He’s just an authentic Orthodox Jew. All Jews are expected by Jewish law to not touch the opposite sex (except for spouse and family). Most Orthodox Jews observe … Continue reading
Posted in Torah
Tagged congregational rabbi, orthodox jew, orthodox jews, orthodox rabbi, orthodox rabbinate, rabbi chaim
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Now The Truth Can Be Told – Renegade Jews Cut The Beards Of Their Own Kind
I’ve been too embarrassed to reveal the truth about what happened to my beard, but now through therapy, I’ve come to embrace the truth because the truth sets you free. The New York Times reports: Blogger Luke Ford had been … Continue reading
Posted in Satire
Tagged black beard, Hancock Park, luke ford, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, peaceful farmlands
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Whatever Happened To The Kosher Status Of Brooklyn Water Bagel?
The short answer I thought was that the kosher supervisor for Brooklyn Water Bagel is EarthKosher, which is not recognized as a valid kosher supervisor by observant Jews. I was wrong. Keep reading. There’s an Italian pizza place on Pico … Continue reading
Posted in Kashrut
Tagged brooklyn pizza, italian pizza, kosher supervision, observant jews, orthodox jews, water bagels, Young Israel
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The Guy Next To You In Shul May Well Be Homeless
Unable to pay the rent or to pay their mortgage, some Orthodox Jews I know in Pico-Robertson are homeless. They’re living out of their cars. They have access to somebody’s bathroom where they shower and relieve themselves and charge their … Continue reading
Posted in Homeless, Orthodoxy
Tagged american jewry, divorced fathers, free wifi, jewish america, laptops, orthodox jews, public library branches, shabbat, tv shows
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