- https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback
"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: rabbi avi weiss
Women’s Prayer Groups Are Passe
In a 2010 lecture on R. Joseph Messas and R. Avraham Shapiro, Marc B. Shapiro (no relation) says that the Sephardim have always had a positive view of the return to Israel. Sephardim have never been anti-Zionist. Rav Messas wrote … Continue reading
Posted in Feminism, Marc B. Shapiro, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy
Tagged Marc B. Shapiro, mechitza, prayer groups, rabbi avi weiss, sefer torah, traditional judaism, upper west side
Comments Off on Women’s Prayer Groups Are Passe
Did Rabbi Avi Weiss Invent Women Saying Kaddish?
Kaddish is the memorial prayer traditionally said only by men. Left-wing Modern Orthodox shuls allow women to say kaddish, while right-wing Modern Orthodox shuls usually don’t allow women to say this prayer publicly. I’m listening to a Torah in Motion … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Torah
Tagged Marc B. Shapiro, ovadia yosef, professor shapiro, rabbi avi weiss, rabbi eliezer, reb moshe
Comments Off on Did Rabbi Avi Weiss Invent Women Saying Kaddish?
The Jewish Inquisition
On Torah Talk at 7pm PST Monday, Rabbi Rabbs and I will discuss controversial Orthodox rabbis on the left: Chaim Seidler-Feller, Avi Weiss, Yitz Greenberg, Joseph Telushkin and Yosef Kanefsky. For too long, the rabbis have judged me. Now I … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal, R. Rabbs
Tagged Conservative Judaism, journalistic perspective, orthodox rabbi, petty grievances, rabbi avi weiss, religious denominations
Comments Off on The Jewish Inquisition
Will Bnai David-Judea Follow Suit?
Bnai David is the most liberal Orthodox shul on the West Coast. I wonder if it will copy these developments in New York? My yetzer hara says: “Do you remember Lamelle from when she was at Bnai David? She has … Continue reading
Posted in Bnai David-Judea, Modern Orthodox
Tagged hebrew institute of riverdale, kabbalat shabbat, mail letter, orthodox shul, orthodox synagogues, rabbi avi weiss
Comments Off on Will Bnai David-Judea Follow Suit?
Rabbi Avi Weiss’s Bridge Too Far On Female Orthodox Rabbis
Rabbi Avi Weiss miscalculated. He thought he could get support on this issue without talking to anyone. His approach was the opposite of Chana Henkin‘s. She created a limited semicha (rabbinic ordination) for women to rule on Jewish law. She … Continue reading
Posted in Chana Henkin, Haredi, Orthodoxy, R. Avi Weiss, R. Yosef Kanefsky, YCT
Tagged chief rabbi, family purity, marc angel, orthodox rabbis, purity laws, rabba, rabbi avi weiss, rabbi weiss, s bridge, semicha
Comments Off on Rabbi Avi Weiss’s Bridge Too Far On Female Orthodox Rabbis
Jewish News
From Hirhurim: Rabbi Avi Weiss backs off ‘Rabba’ title ‘for sake of peace’: link Should he be the last Chief Rabbi? (chalilah ve-chas!): link Latest issue of Jewish Action: link R. Steven Pruzansky: The Rise of Orthopraxy: link A literary … Continue reading
Posted in Hirhurim
Tagged aharon feldman, aharon lichtenstein, chief rabbi, Hirhurim, peace link, rabbi avi weiss
Comments Off on Jewish News
If Orthodoxy Has Moved Right, Why Are Jewish Women Wearing Pants In Teaneck?
Rabbi Gil Student says that the ordination of a woman by Rabbi Avi Weiss has shaken Modern Orthodoxy like no issue he’s ever seen. He writes: “Good to know that “one source in Rabbi Weiss
Posted in Blogging, Hirhurim, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy
Tagged gil student, injecting cocaine, rabbi avi weiss, rabbi weiss, rabbinical council of america, short sleeve shirts, swing to the right
Comments Off on If Orthodoxy Has Moved Right, Why Are Jewish Women Wearing Pants In Teaneck?
Jewish News
From Hirhurim: In scandals, a wake-up call for Orthodoxy: link Rabbi condemned for ordaining woman: link R. J. David Bleich, R. Adam Mintz and R. Avi Weiss on women rabbis 12 years ago: link Haredi rabbis vs. the Internet, and … Continue reading
Posted in Hirhurim
Tagged adam mintz, herman wouk, j david bleich, overflow crowd, rabbi avi weiss, salmon link
Comments Off on Jewish News
Training Women To Become Orthodox Spiritual Leaders
From a JTA blog (link): Rabbi Avi Weiss announced last week he was creating Yeshivat Maharat, "an Orthodox Yeshiva of Higher Learning … [to] train women to become Orthodox Spiritual Leaders – full members of the Rabbinic Clergy – in … Continue reading
Posted in Feminism, Modern Orthodox, Orthodoxy, R. Avi Weiss
Tagged bayit, full complement, pastoral duties, rabbi avi weiss, semicha, university campuses
Comments Off on Training Women To Become Orthodox Spiritual Leaders
Should The Orthodox Ordain Women?
Orthodox rabbi Gil Student writes: On Sunday March 21st, 2009, Rabbi Avi Weiss conferred Yoreh Yoreh ordination on his congregational intern, Ms. Sara Hurwitz. The official certificate does not use the term rabbi but instead Rabbi Weiss invented a new … Continue reading
Posted in Feminism, Orthodoxy, Rabbis
Tagged gil student, orthodox rabbi, rabbi avi weiss, rabbi weiss, rabbinic intern, traditional synagogue
Comments Off on Should The Orthodox Ordain Women?