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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 institution
Sex and the Sages
I have a girl who took this course. It’s really paid off for us. She often pauses and says, “Rabbi Lookstein teaches…” Or, “I wonder what Rabbi Lookstein would say about this?” Or, “I remember in Rabbi Lookstein’s class, I … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Sex
Tagged 10th grader, haskel, homework assignment, jewish sexual ethics, ninth decade, orthodox institution
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How’s The Kollel Working Out At Beth Jacob?
On the surface, it looks like a mismatch. A source told me in September of 2007: This Kollel will be housed at Beth Jacob — one of the shuls whose black-hatted offspring, as you report, now attend AT. How does … Continue reading
Posted in Beth Jacob, Haredi
Tagged Beth Jacob, Kollel, orthodox institution, rabbi gradon, yeshiva world, YICC
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What Makes The Rabbinical Council Of California The Most Powerful Orthodox Institution In Town?
It’s the killer combination of Rabbi Gershon Bess — the savviest politician among the traditional Orthodox rabbinate in Los Angeles — and Rabbi Avrohom Union, a nasty street fighter who administers the RCC. In my mind, being skilled at politics … Continue reading
Posted in R. Avrohom Union, Rabbis, RCC
Tagged killer combination, loving kindness, nasty street, orthodox institution, orthodox rabbinate, rabbinical council of california, torah study
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Shaking Hands With Women
Many Orthodox Jewish men will not touch women (outside of their spouse and immediate family). I shake hands with women but I don’t enjoy it. Reuven posts: Around 2003 there was that "Ethicist" (Randy Cohen) article about that woman who … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy
Tagged bachur, dead fish, ethicist, hand shake, orthodox institution, randy cohen
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Is Marc Gafni A Rabbi?
His favorite self-description these days is "spiritual artist." He writes on MarcGafni.com: I received Ordination many years ago from a well-regarded Orthodox institution in New York. Contrary to some rumors, that Ordination was never revoked. I retain a letter on … Continue reading
Posted in Marc Gafni
Tagged chief rabbinate, marc gafni, orthodox institution, private exchange, rabbinic ordination, spiritual artist
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