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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
Whatever Happened To Pico-Robertson?
Joe emails: I grew up in Pico Robertson – I was probably the first customer of Nagilla Pizza. When you went there on a saturday night, it was the who’s who of YICC (already the self important place it is), … Continue reading
Posted in Pico/Robertson
Tagged icarly, isfahan iran, Jewish Journal, orthodox jews, persian family, YICC
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What Converts Can Teach Us About Judaism
Oy, if only some lofty journalist would write such sentiments about me! Adam Dickter writes in The Jewish Week: But what struck me most was one line from Yoseph himself that he posted on his website bio, that he chose … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Orthodoxy
Tagged conversion status, difficult childhood, jewish teachings, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, relationship with god
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An Orthodox Rabbi Cheers The Overturning Of Prop 8
Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky was the only Orthodox rabbi in California, to the best of my knowledge, who went public with his opposition to Prop 8. I don’t agree with the rabbi on this but he argues his case well in … Continue reading
Posted in Homosexuality, R. Yosef Kanefsky
Tagged life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi, rabbi yosef, religious connotation
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Chandler Convalescent Hospital
I hope I don’t end up in a nursing home. I hope I don’t end up at Chandler Convalescent Hospital (5335 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91607). Calqualitycare.org rates it one star out of five and says its quality … Continue reading
Posted in Los Angeles, Sanford Deutsch
Tagged attentive staff, boulevard north, cash businesses, chandler convalescent hospital, jewish los angeles, laurel canyon boulevard, moral character, north hollywood ca, orthodox jews, types of businesses
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Chabad – Judaism With Muscles
I’ve gone a lot to Chabad shuls over the past few months and they’re totally different from the Modern Orthodox shuls I am used to. For one thing, many of the Chabadniks I meet have muscles. Few Modern Orthodox Jews … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Modern Orthodox
Tagged chabad judaism, chabadnik, Modern Orthodox, orthodox jews, orthodox shuls, professional code of conduct
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‘Tova is a breath of fresh air, Rabbi Rabbs a problem’
Greg emails: Hi Luke, I really enjoyed your post about Tova Schreiber. After so much troubling commentary, it is such a relief to hear a Jewish voice that offers possibility for rapprochement between goys and Jews. I used to be … Continue reading
Posted in Israel, Orthodoxy, R. Rabbs, Tova Schreiber
Tagged benjamin netanyahu, Dennis Prager, heshy, jewish neighborhood, orthodox jews, protestant work ethic
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Rabbi Rabbs’s Controversial Statements
Rabbi Rabbs writes on his Facebook page: Today’s Controversial Statement #1: G-d, His Torah, and His children the Jews form a trinity. We are One. Thus, anybody that hates us Jews, hates G-d. Anybody that hates G-d or trashes Judaism … Continue reading
Posted in Jews, R. Rabbs
Tagged comedy routine, conservative jew, controversial statement, jewish neighborhood, orthodox jews, rabbs
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‘I Saw Your God’
A friend emails me from the Republican Jewish Coalition dinner last night in Beverly Hills: “I saw your god. Should I ask Prager about pedophile rabbis?” Robert J. Avrech blogs: The food was strictly kosher and I was heartened to … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, Robert J. Avrech
Tagged easy conversation, friend emails, jewish coalition, orthodox jews, two couples, Young Israel
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Why I’m Jewish
I talk the other day to a non-Jewish pal. Pal: “I know you’ve had serious issues being accepted in Orthodox Judaism. Is it because you’re a convert?” Luke: “No. It’s because I’ve been obnoxious. I’m an outlaw. I used to … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged alarm bells, concentration camp, evangelical christianity, freedom of expression, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, rebellious attitude
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