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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 world
Get Ready For Female Modern Orthodox Rabbis
Historian Marc B. Shapiro writes: Leaving aside the issue of serving as a dayan, it is obvious to me that women rabbis are coming to Modern Orthodoxy, even if the powers that be are standing firmly against it. Yet they … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Orthodoxy
Tagged agudah, halakhah, Marc B. Shapiro, orthodox world, torah study, women scholars
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Murder For Pious Reasons
Marc B. Shapiro writes: What is new is that parents are now beginning to stand up. Here is a passage from a nineteenth-century memoir from which we see that in the past even murder was covered up. (The case described … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged angry teachers, detroit 2002, knotted hair, Marc B. Shapiro, melamed, orthodox world
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When The Masses Have Greater Wisdom Than Torah Scholars
Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro writes Let me also return to the issue of the Jewish masses’ natural morality vs. the rabbinically tuned morality of the scholars, and how according to R. Kook the former is superior to that of the … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged jewish masses, Marc B. Shapiro, natural impulse, natural morality, orthodox world, torah scholars
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Need help finding an Orthodox Synagogue!
Jane emails: “I’m a prospective Jewish convert. I’ve spent the past 4 months or so studying at a Conservative Temple here in Los Angeles. Although I really enjoyed my experience, I want to experience and learn more, however this time … Continue reading
Posted in Bnai David-Judea, Orthodoxy
Tagged Google, orthodox shuls, orthodox synagogue, orthodox synagogues, orthodox world
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Making God Look Bad To The World
In his fifth lecture on Rabbi Joseph Elijah Henkin (the leading posek in America during the 1940s and 1950s) for Torah in Motion, Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro says: Rav Henkin says Jews must be careful about how they speak about … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Hasidim, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged David Kelsey, haredi world, Marc B. Shapiro, noahide laws, orthodox jews, orthodox world, pearl gluck, rabbi joseph, torah in motion, traditional judaism
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Voice On Tape Clearly R. Leib Tropper
A poster named “Former Friend” writes: I have known, met with, spoken dozens and dozens of times to Leib Tropper over the past 30 years. His voice is very identifiable. His personality is very identifiable. It pained me to listen … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Journalism, Journalism, R. Leib Tropper
Tagged boruch, conservative clergy, credibility, immense power, jewish world, liberal jews, movers and shakers, NCSY, orthodox world, prestige, salvage, slifkin, unorthodox jew, vos iz neias
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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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The Rav Vs. The Eruv
Dr. Marc B. Shapiro blogs: In Boston, as long as R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik was active, there was no eruv. The Rav publicly declared: I am opposed to the establishment of eruvin. An eruv in American means the abolishment of … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged bostoner rebbe, Eruv, joseph b soloveitchik, Marc B. Shapiro, orthodox world, r joseph
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Guard Your Eyes
From Hirhurim: Dear Rabbi *******, As you are certainly aware, addiction to Internet pornography is a very serious problem in the Orthodox world today. It affects all spectrums of Orthodoxy, from Modern Orthodox to Chassidish. It is unknown how many … Continue reading
Posted in Internet, Pornography
Tagged e mail account, free internet filter, internet pornography, life preserver, orthodox world, remarkable website
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Shining A Light
Shira emails: Dear Luke, I am thinking of you, while working. What comes to mind is that things are coming together. Your important work and service to the community is bearing fruits. In the past, I have stated that it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Los Angeles
Tagged agunah, amalek, civil court, corruptions, gaining momentum, koach, moment in the sun, orthodox world
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