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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
- 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
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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 life
He Left It All On The Field
“If you keep writing as you’re writing, will you accomplish the things you want to accomplish in the rest of your life?” his therapist asked him. He thought about that for a long time and finally, reluctantly, quietly, answered, “no.” … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged deep sense, evenings, gatherings, happy things, orthodox life, rest of your life
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I’ve Never Dated An Orthodox Girl
I don’t fear so often these days that I’m losing control. Therapy is calming. I can bounce my life off someone sharp and get greater clarity. It also gives me accountability. My therapist names things I’m going through such as … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged fear of abandonment, orthodox jews, orthodox life, orthodox shul, orthodox woman, orthodox women
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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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I’d Never Seen So Much Of Her Flesh
Returning home from Rosh Hashanah services around 2 pm Saturday, I spied a friend walking off in the distance. My normal greeting to my friends these days is "Marriage Equality!" This day I just yelled her name. She didn’t answer. … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Pico/Robertson
Tagged conversion program, cross tattoo, god king, marriage equality, orthodox judaism, orthodox life, pound of flesh, rosh hashanah services
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Should One Say Gut Shabbos To A Member Of The Opposite Sex Who You Don’t Know?
In my experience, saying "Gut Shabbos" to a member of the opposite sex who you don’t know too often leads to the grossest forms of immorality. As I walk down Pico Blvd on a Shabbos, I only say hello to … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Pico/Robertson
Tagged jewish members, orthodox life, pico blvd, shabbos, shiksas
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Orthodox Life In Northern California?
Michael emails: I stumbled across your site today, and got a sense that you have a good feel for Jewish life in Northern California. Is there no Orthodox life to be found north of SF and Berkeley? Seems so beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in California, Orthodoxy
Tagged jewish life, northern california, northern frontier, orthodox life, wife and kid
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The F— Train To Brandeis
I just finished the 2005 book called "Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels." On page 153, the author Hella Winston writes: "Brandeis…accessible to him only by commuter rail — or, he later learned, the "f— truck" from Harvard, named … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Sex
Tagged baal teshuva, brandeis students, chicago study, conservative christianity, hang ups, libertinism, orthodox life
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Dignity Is A Jewish Virtue
So I can sleep at night, I like to whip myself on my blog until I’m bleeding. That way I don’t feel so bad about the gashes I deliver to others during the day. I feel that if I’m rougher … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged commitments, demons, dignity, foolishness, God, hammer, hands and feet, jewish tradition, lashon hara, nails, oblivion, oh wretched man, orthodox life, orthodox shul, pulpit, self flagellation, sleep, sleep sleep, thane rosenbaum, virtue
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