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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: torah scholars
It Sucks To Be Me
All these great rabbis are marrying off their daughters. And here I am, 43 years old, almost 44, and I am still unmarried. Is it not a tradition in Jewish life to marry off the most worthy daughters to the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged jewish life, male guests, shabbos table, tefillin, torah scholars
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In 20 Years, The Haredim Will Dominate Pico-Robertson
Los Angeles has little culture of Torah learning (except among the Haredim aka the traditional Orthodox). There are only two first-rate Modern Orthodox Torah scholars in Los Angeles — rabbis Yehuda Bukspan and David Rue. L.A.’s Modern Orthodox shuls don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Abner Weiss, Anshe Emes, Beth Jacob, Bnai David-Judea, Modern Orthodox, Nachum Sauer, Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Kalman Topp, R. Yehuda Bukspan, YICC
Tagged Beth Jacob, marriage prospects, orthodox shuls, rabbi search, torah scholar, torah scholars, touro college
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Saul Lieberman’s Attempt To Take Over The Jewish Theological Seminary
In his second class on Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel for Torah in Motion, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says: Saul Lieberman attempted to get anyone of stature to come to JTS. Lieberman posited JTS as an institution that accepts the binding … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Judaism, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged jewish theological seminary, Marc B. Shapiro, saul lieberman, torah in motion, torah scholars
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Do Rabbis Avi Weiss, Saul Berman Deserve To Be Called ‘Amalek’?
Yehuda posts to Hirhurim: Gil, it’s lovely you’re so tolerant. I’m glad you know what they mean. Despite your tolerance, I think anyone calling you, Rabbis Weiss or Berman, or any other Torah opinions "Amalek" deserves a public rebuke, and … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Orthodox, Orthodox Union, Orthodoxy, YCT, Yeshiva University
Tagged beit midrash, lawrence kaplan, public apology, rabbi david, rabbi dovid, torah scholars
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Roman Catholics Far More Interested In Truth Than Orthodox Jews
I always laughed inside when I listened to Orthodox rabbis preach about their religion’s great commitment to truth. What’s most interesting to me about a religion is not its theory but how it is practiced. I’ll give you two examples … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Orthodoxy, Rabbis
Tagged european jewry, joseph berger, making of a godol, orthodox judaism, rabbi nathan, torah scholars
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Almost Every Gadol Of The Early 20th Century Had A Child Who Left The Path
In his third lecture on Rav Elazar Schach for Torah in Motion, historian Marc B. Shapiro says that Rav Schach’s son became a religious Zionist aka Modern Orthodox as opposed to Chareidi aka traditional Orthodox (who are not Zionists, don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, Israel, Marc B. Shapiro, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy
Tagged lubavitcher rebbe, Marc B. Shapiro, marc shapiro, rabbi moshe, religious zionist, torah in motion, torah scholars, torah study, two generations
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Jewish News Roundup
From Hirhurim: R. Menachem Genack tells readers that his cousin, Julius Genachowski, is on Obama’s transition team (Jewish Press). R. Genack also writes: "When people asked me whom to vote for, I would respond, ‘Vote for the person you think … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Journalism, Jews
Tagged arutz 7, charles hynes, jonathan sacks, sir jonathan, stanley fischer, torah scholars
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Torah Scholars Stuck Behind The Iron Curtain
Professor Marc B. Shapiro blogs: R. Shemariah was one of many great talmidei hakhamim who were stuck behind the Iron Curtain, and even if not killed by the regime, lived out their days in what can only be described as … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged iron curtain, lubavitcher rebbe, Marc B. Shapiro, religious zionist, stalinist terror, torah scholars
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Who’s Editing Danielle Berrin?
Somebody is asleep at the wheel of the Jewish Journal. Don’t they ever edit their writers? I like Danielle Berrin. She’s really hot. But she badly needs a strong disciplinary hand. I find myself paging through the Jewish Journal these … Continue reading
Posted in Calendar Girls, Danielle Berrin
Tagged dissenting voice, dose of reality, Jewish Journal, jewish religious life, journal article, orthodox woman, religious conflict, torah scholars
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