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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
Connecting The Dots In The Rabbi Leib Tropper Story
When you look at Guma Aguiar’s (Israeli billionaire who’s suing Rabbi Leib Tropper) profile, you see that though born Jewish, he was raised Christian, and in Houston he sought out a Christian congregation but met Rabbi Tuvia Singer and became … Continue reading
Posted in Guma Aguiar, Personal, R. Elazar Muskin, R. Leib Tropper, R. YY Rubinstein, Sex, Shannon Orand
Tagged connecting the dots, conversion programs, drunk on power, FailedMessiah, jewish identity, orand, orthodox jews, rabbi, tuvia
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Missing Christmas
“It’s a very personal autobiographical detail,” said Dennis Prager on his radio show Dec. 15, 2009, “but it really shook me up and began my oddysey toward who I am today. I was 20 years old when I went for … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager
Tagged adventurous trip, christmas eve, christmas mass, Dennis Prager, muslim country, orthodox jews
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What’s The Moral Upshot Of Orthodox Judaism?
I’ve been asking Orthodox rabbis if simply knowing that someone was Orthodox told you anything about their ethics. The rabbis say no. What if you knew the person davened three times a day? Does that say anything about their ethics? … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Orthodoxy
Tagged business ethics, orthodox jewish life, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbis, orthodox shuls, religion and business
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How Did Kashrut Become So Sexy?
Twenty years ago, if you met a mashgiach, you assumed he was not smart enough to be a rabbi. Working in kashrut certification was a low-paying, unprestigious job. Now it is a power center. It is a money-maker. The RCC … Continue reading
Posted in Kashrut, RCC
Tagged corn syrup, kosher certification, mashgiach, orthodox jews, orthodox judaism, potato starch
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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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Bad Dog, Big Sky
Assignment: Write about what people always say about you. Give it an Indian name. Bad Dog People always say I’m sarcastic. An Orthodox Jew. Are you Jewish? I get that question all the time. Were you born Jewish? You have … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged big sky, forked tongue, good vibe, orthodox jew, orthodox jews, sweetness and light
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Through A Hole In The Sheet
Everywhere I go, people ask me if Orthodox Jews have sex through a hole in the sheet. I’ve never seen Orthodox Jews have sex in this way. I’ve never heard of any Orthodox Jews I know having sex this way. … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal, Sex
Tagged babies, branches of judaism, camel drivers, erotic possibilities, having sex, orthodox conservative, orthodox jews, rabbi eliezer, Torah
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Change
"I have to admit you’ve changed my image of Orthodox Jews," said the little old secular Jewish lady to me after hearing one of my rants. "I have to admit I put them in a box. I stereotyped them. But … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged jewish lady, Judaism, kiddish hashem, orthodox jews, oy vey
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Rabbi Hecht Says Rubashkin Will Be Vindicated
From Chabad.info: Activist and President of The National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education Rabbi Shea Hecht declared on the Dov Hikind show last night that embattled businessman Sholom Rubashkin will be vindicated. Rabbi Hecht strongly argued that the Rubashkin case … Continue reading
Posted in Agriprocessors, Chabad, Rabbis
Tagged community activist, dov, furtherance, hecht, jewish education, orthodox jews
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My First Time At The Opera
Downtown Los Angeles. Dorothy Chandler music center Wednesday night. "The Elixir of Love". We’re on the main level, row S, seats 44, 45. The story grabs me. Luke, a simple blogger, loves Dina, a haughty YULA graduate from a rich … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged christian missionaries, divrei torah, dorothy chandler pavilion, magic potion, orthodox jews, Young Israel
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