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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: lashon hara
Racism In The Orthodox Community
Bill McCaulley writes: Dear Mr. Ford: I would wish to respond to a posting concerning racism among Orthodox Jews. I came upon the post recently I realize my reply is not timely, but I am greatly intrigued by the subject. … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Race
Tagged chabad rabbi, jewish observance, lashon hara, orthodox conversion, rabbi akiva, talmud torah
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Congregants Stand By Randy Rabbi
As I pointed out in my previous post, Rabbi Marc Schneier was not engaged in illicit behavior when he was photographed in Israel kissing a comely speech pathologist not his wife. Rather, the good rabbi was engaging in routine and … Continue reading
Posted in R. Marc Schneier
Tagged genetic predisposition, lashon hara, multiple sex partners, pathology training, sabbath service, westhampton beach
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He Called Me Levi!
My Hebrew name is “Levi Ben Avraham.” My goyisha name is Luke Carey Ford. When Orthodox Jews, particularly Orthodox rabbis, call me “Luke” or “Mr. Ford”, I always feel like I am in trouble. Why? Because I can’t reconcile the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged carey ford, lashon hara, luke ford, orthodox jew, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi
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Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff Mentions Me In A Lecture On German Rabbis
The mention comes about 44:40 into his lecture. Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff says on YuTorah.com: “You would think was an article in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles one week ago… What’s that guy? Luke Ford? You might think that this … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, R. Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff, Rabbis
Tagged aaron rakeffet rothkoff, Jewish Journal, lashon hara, luke ford, orthodox world, rabbi aaron
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Does Facebook Lead To Defamation?
Orthodox rabbi Gil Student blogs: In this week’s The Jewish Press, R. Mordechai Weiss writes [on page 25]: Then came Facebook and Twitter, which took the Internet to a new level of impropriety. Things are written on Facebook that end … Continue reading
Posted in Gossip, Internet, Orthodoxy, The Jewish Press
Tagged abe froman, Facebook, facebook home, gil student, impropriety, jewish press, lashon hara, orthodox rabbi, rabbi moshe, rabbi weiss, twitter
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Beth Am Chooses Elliot Dorff’s Son-In-Law As New Rabbi
Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff is the rector at American Jewish University and a key member of Temple Beth Am (he’s a regular at the Library Minyan downstairs). Scores of Conservative rabbis were inspired to take up their calling by Elliot … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Am, Conservative Judaism, R. Adam Kligfeld, R. Elliot N. Dorff, Rabbis
Tagged conservative rabbi, jewish theological seminary, kabbalat shabbat service, lashon hara, rabbi adam, shabbat experience
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Does Judaism Sanction Journalism?
Orthodox rabbi Gil Student writes: R. Eliezer Melamed is active with Arutz Sheva and is the rabbi of the weekly newspaper Be-Sheva (link). In one of his columns (13 Tammuz, 5765/ July 20, 2005), he responded to a question about … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Judaism, Orthodoxy
Tagged benjamin brown, constructive purpose, gil student, improper action, lashon, lashon hara, melamed, orthodox rabbi
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The Lashon Hara Picture Show
From "A Taste of Limmud" Sunday night in Valley Vilage: Danielle Berrin rose to give her talk. (Listen) Danielle spoke about her cover profile of director Brett Ratner. She said that she did not publish the worst things he did … Continue reading
Posted in Danielle Berrin, Jewish Journal, Jewish Journalism
Tagged commercial films, director brett ratner, hollywood director, lashon hara, Limmud, upper echelons
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I Love Therapy
I walk in filled with shame and despair. I see my life squeezed of hope. There are so few options. I’m doomed to repeat my sins. Then I speak and stammer and close my eyes and shift in my seat … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged american nanny, lashon hara, luke ford, orthodox jews, rabbi yisrael, yom tov
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Blogs, Rabbis & The Power Of Information
"Rabbis are the rock stars of Jewish life," says Jewish Journal Editor Rob Eshman. At the top of the Jewish social circle, the best rabbis get access to the best information. People feel it a privilege to share hot scoops … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Blogging, Rabbis
Tagged Aron Tendler, hechsher, Jewish Journal, lashon hara
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