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"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
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- 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
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- Dominic Cummings: A Biography
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- Stephen Kotkin: A Life in Power
- William T. Vollmann: An American Life in Excess
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- * 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)
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Tag Archives: orthodox jewish life
The Sisterhood 50
The Charedim received almost no attention the past few years in Newsweek’s annual listing of America’s top 50 rabbis. Sure, some chareidim complain about this, but few care very much. I get a sense that these feminists care very much … Continue reading
Posted in Rabbis
Tagged feminists, jewish law, jewish world, newsweek, orthodox jewish life, orthodox life, own two feet, passionate marriage, sisterhood, top 50 rabbis, torah scholars
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Aftermath of rescue: boy’s father sues
Much of the best reporting on Orthodox Jewish life these days occurs on The Jewish Star. Michael Orbach writes: A Brooklyn father who sent his son to an abusive boot camp for delinquents in the Caribbean is suing a Far … Continue reading
Posted in Isaac Hersh, The Jewish Star
Tagged jewish star, life these days, orthodox jewish life, rosh yeshiva, son isaac, tranquility bay
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Why Do Jewish Day Schools Cost Three Times As Much As Roman Catholic Day Schools?
You can send your child to a Roman Catholic day school for $6,000 a year. If you want to send your child to YULA or Shalhevet and you have to pay full price, that will cost you about $20,000 a … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged orthodox jew, orthodox jewish life, orthodox judaism, priests and nuns, shabbat dinner, traditional jewish life
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Is Dennis Prager The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ?
I read The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism in 1989 and found it so persuasive that I converted to Judaism in 1993. Then I found out that it’s ideas are largely absent from Jewish life, even Orthodox Jewish life. … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager
Tagged david hartman, Dennis Prager, herman wouk, orthodox jew, orthodox jewish life, rabbi david
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Does David Rubin Have Enemies In Orthodox Life?
Often when an Orthodox Jew falls from grace, it is easy to see his enemies rejoicing. Orthodox Jewish life is close. We know each other pretty well. We have feuds. And when people fall, there is often rejoicing. I have … Continue reading
Posted in David Rubin, Don Etra
Tagged David Rubin, ehud olmert, keynote speaker, orthodox jew, orthodox jewish life, scholarship banquet
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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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Repentance
I can’t remember the last time I made a meaningful apology to someone. I must be a great tzaddik who never does anyone harm. I hate empty ritual. I hate it when someone says, "If I have done anything bad … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged empty ritual, mishna, orthodox jewish life, paraplegics, pious words, tzaddik
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