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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: observant jew
I Try To Heal The Past By Reconnecting With Old Friends
I want to undo it by reconnecting with people from my past and doing it better. I want a second chance. Shame is a big thing for me. When I think back upon the past, I often wince. It is … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged alexander technique teacher, conscientiousness, frailties, life choices, loser, luke ford, observant jew, reconnecting, second chance
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Chabad Shuls Host The Most Diverse Crowd On Yom Kippur
In popular mythology, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. In most shuls, you have to be a member (or buy a special ticket) to attend these services. Most Jews only go to shul twice a year … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad
Tagged chabadnik, high holiday prayer book, observant jew, observant jews, personal transformation, secular jews
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How Should We Deal With Heretics?
Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro writes: For parashat Metzora (p. 231), he quotes R. Kook’s statement in Ezrat Kohen, no. 21, that even if one expresses heretical thoughts, this doesn’t mean that he really is a heretic. Rather, it could be … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged free thinkers, heretical thoughts, Marc B. Shapiro, observant jew, parashat metzora, torah community
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The Conscientious Objector
I just watched this documentary about Medal of Honor winner Desmond Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist hero from my childhood. And I felt split. My heart warmed to his story but my head said that if more people were pacifists like … Continue reading
Posted in Adventist
Tagged conscientious objector, desmond doss, desmond t doss, false interpretation, honor winner, observant jew, sabbath morning, seventh day adventism, simple faith, sixth commandment, world war ii
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Jewish News
From TorahMusings.com: ▪ The Pollard Spy Case, 25 Years Later ▪ Food Justice and Flaum Appetizing ▪ Rav Nebenzahl: Call off Jerusalem food festival ▪ Survey aims to measure the changing Jewish vote ▪ Jewish Texts Lost in War Are … Continue reading
Posted in Jews
Tagged american jews, georgia roads, jews for jesus, moshe yess, observant jew, personal critique
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Andrea Thompson Commentaries
Steam Chip emails: I just emerged from my cave a few weeks ago and discovered who Andrea Thompson is. Consider anything I write from here on in this particular context — it is NEW news to me. Next week I’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Andrea Thompson, Hollywood, Journalism
Tagged Andrea Thompson, artistic expression, catholic household, google search, marvelous voice, observant jew
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This Week’s Torah Portion Tazria-Metzora 5769
Steve Brizel writes: Yom HaShoah R. Aharon Lichtenstein reminds and exhorts us to respond , but not to offer theodicy-based explanations for the Holocaust: link R. Tamir Granot explores various hashkafic perspectives on anti-Semitism and the Holocaust: link R. Hershel … Continue reading
Posted in Torah
Tagged aharon lichtenstein, berel wein, bris milah, jonathan sacks, observant jew, shlomo riskin
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Rabbis Ethics Initiative Hits Pico-Robertson
The Jewish Journal reports: But Peulat Sachir organizers are preparing for a wave of criticism nonetheless. Much of the debate over the initiative revolves around one question: Is labor ethics a Jewish issue? Fine, the owner of Pat’s Restaurant and … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Modern Orthodox
Tagged correct business, ethics initiative, jewish issue, light unto the nations, observant jew, pico boulevard
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Coming To Judaism
Rabbi Avi Shafran writes: A long, long time ago, when I was much younger, even more foolish and living in California, I used a motorcycle for personal transportation. I remember once riding my mid-sized Honda, tzitzit-fringes flying behind me, into … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avi Shafran
Tagged dark sunglasses, hebrew word, jewish connection, observant jew, shabbat meal, unmistakable evidence
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Accused Spy Cries Anti-Semitism
Lou emails: "Luke, It might interest you to know that at the time David Tenenbaum was accused of being a spy for Israel, he was a member of Rabbi Weil’s synagogue in the Detroit area. Rabbi Weil provided great moral … Continue reading
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Orthodoxy
Tagged david tenenbaum, detroit free press, holocaust survivor, mr tenenbaum, observant jew, wayne state university
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