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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:
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- A Place For You
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- 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
- 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)
BEST POSTS:
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* 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)
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Tag Archives: conversion to judaism
My Conversion To Judaism Story
This guy in shul was told my story, and so he asked me for chizuk, for strengthening. He was Orthodox from birth but he struggled with some typical guy stuff. He knew I had chosen Torah. He wanted to know … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Personal
Tagged conversion to judaism, davening, orthodox jew, orthodox jews, reform jews, shuls
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How I Discovered The Alexander Technique
September, 2010 “What’s the matter, Luke?” asks the hostess at the end of the meal. “You haven’t said anything inappropriate all meal? We even have two single women here.” I am at Shabbos lunch with friends. I’ve known them for … Continue reading
Posted in Alexander Technique, Personal
Tagged chronic fatigue syndrome, conversion to judaism, Dennis Prager, Neil Strauss, reform rabbi, two little books
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My Anthony Weiner Moment
I was breaking the Tisha B’av fast in 1999 at a fine kosher establishment on Robertson Blvd, just south of Pico. I ran into a woman a few years my senior. “I’ve got somebody for you,” she said. “This woman … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Sex
Tagged anthony weiner, breast man, conversion to judaism, hiv test, mark steyn, tisha b av, torah jew
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Bombing At Shul
Growing up a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian, I got used to speakers being introduced with a little prayer. You can see some of that action here at Loma Linda last Sabbath. Christians will often say a word of prayer along the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged Beth Jacob, conversion to judaism, David Klinghoffer, Dennis Prager, distinctive personality, pre marital sex, sephardic educational center, YICC, Young Israel
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Abide With Me
“Abide With Me” and “Nearer My God To Thee” are my two favorite Christian hymns. I wonder why. I guess one reason is that there is nothing explicitly or uniquely Christian about them. I identify with being on the Titanic … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Personal
Tagged christian hymn, christian hymns, christians, conversion to judaism, desires, enough lifeboats, henry francis, Judaism, sarah flower adams
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She Looked Like Julia Roberts
April 24, 1970. Two days after her 40th birthday, my mother pressed my father’s hand and said, “Thank you for a lovely life.” Then she slipped into a coma and died from bone cancer. I was not yet four. May, … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged big breasts, chronic fatigue syndrome, conversion to judaism, loose girls, northridge earthquake, sierra community college, spunky woman
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Finding An Orthodox Wife
A young man converting to Judaism tells me: “The problem I have is that most orthodox women (90% +???) won’t recognize a ger (a convert to Judaism) unless he has an RCA-approved conversion.” I don’t think that’s true. Unless you … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Marriage, Orthodoxy, R. David Rue, R. Michael Melchior
Tagged conversion status, conversion to judaism, converting to judaism, orthodox conversion, orthodox women, rabbi michael
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Shannon Orand’s Conversion To Judaism
From The Jerusalem Post: However, when news broke of her relationship with Tropper in the final stages of her court battle, she was forced to sign a settlement that would allow her ex-husband visitation rights with their son. In parallel, … Continue reading
Posted in R. Leib Tropper, Shannon Orand
Tagged conversion to judaism, eliyahu, jerusalem post, jewish school, orand, tropper
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The Return
Over the past 18 months, I spent less time in synagogue than at any point since I started going to shul regularly in the fall of 1993. Until September 14, I was going through my Orthodox conversion to Judaism and … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Synagogue
Tagged alexander technique teacher, conversion program, conversion to judaism, harmonious relationship, orthodox conversion, orthodox judaism
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Orthodox Conversion Programs In Los Angeles Working Well
According to what I hear, all of the Orthodox conversion programs in Los Angeles boast better than a 90% success rate (when success is measured by its converts staying Sabbath-observant after becoming Jewish). I’ve not encountered an Orthodox rabbi in … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, R. David Rue, R. Gavriel Cohen, RCC
Tagged conservative conversions, conversion controversy, conversion programs, conversion to judaism, orthodox conversion, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi, rabbi cohen
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