- 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: reform rabbi
Spiritual Highs Are Hard To Come By In Judaism
A lot of people want to know what I was feeling when I was converting to Judaism. On that last day as I stood naked in the mikveh and saying the blessings in Hebrew that would officially make me Jewish, … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion
Tagged chronic fatigue syndrome, converting to judaism, orthodox rabbi, orthodox rabbis, orthodox shul, reform rabbi
Comments Off on Spiritual Highs Are Hard To Come By In Judaism
How I Discovered The Alexander Technique
September, 2010 “What’s the matter, Luke?” asks the hostess at the end of the meal. “You haven’t said anything inappropriate all meal? We even have two single women here.” I am at Shabbos lunch with friends. I’ve known them for … Continue reading
Posted in Alexander Technique, Personal
Tagged chronic fatigue syndrome, conversion to judaism, Dennis Prager, Neil Strauss, reform rabbi, two little books
Comments Off on How I Discovered The Alexander Technique
Casino Jack
I enjoyed this new film about disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It reminded me of myself. Like Jack, I converted to Orthodox Judaism (he was born Jewish but came to Orthodoxy later in life) but simultaneously yearned to be a big … Continue reading
Posted in Hollywood, Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged cbs evening news, crossing boundaries, damn fool, indian tribes, orthodox jew, orthodox judaism, reform rabbi
Comments Off on Casino Jack
Lesbian Reform Rabbi Leads Student Life At Milken Community High School
I interrupt my fascination with the Lingerie Football League Friday afternoon to bring this important news update on Rabbi Heather Miller. She grew up in a Unitarian home. Her mom is Jewish. Her dad is Unitarian. She learned about Judaism … Continue reading
Posted in R. Heather Miller
Tagged hebrew union college, jewish american princess, lingerie football league, milken community high school, reform rabbi, shabbat dinner
Comments Off on Lesbian Reform Rabbi Leads Student Life At Milken Community High School
Cold Showers
I get up every weekday at 5:56 a.m. when my alarm sounds and I stumble into the shower and turn on a stream of cold water for 60 seconds (70 seconds when I am feeling particularly hardy). As I stood … Continue reading
Posted in Personal
Tagged alarm sounds, cold shower, cold showers, days of awe, iniquities, leafblower, reform rabbi, water cascade, wickedness
Comments Off on Cold Showers
Rahm Emanuel’s Orthodox Rabbi Does NOT Condemn Clinton-Mezvinsky Intermarriage
Rob Eshman emails: In an under-the-radar but utterly groundbreaking post at the blog “Morethodoxy,” Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the Orthodox leader of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Chicago– which White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel attends– … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy
Tagged marc mezvinsky, nai israel, orthodox rabbi, orthodox synagogue, Rahm Emanuel, reform rabbi
Comments Off on Rahm Emanuel’s Orthodox Rabbi Does NOT Condemn Clinton-Mezvinsky Intermarriage
Dull Books For Yom Kippur
I afflicted my soul on Yom Kippur by reading a couple of very dull, poorly written academic books on Judaism. The first one had the exciting title: Between Redemption and Doom: The Strains of German-Jewish Modernism. I gave up on … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Germany, Judaism
Tagged academic books, conversion to judaism, dull books, gideon klein, hebrew prayers, jewish modernism, jewish neighbors, jim zorn, orthodox rabbi, public identity, rabbi robert, reform rabbi, washington redskins, yom kippur
Comments Off on Dull Books For Yom Kippur
A Miracle Of Grace
I emailed my Christian mother Sunday: "I finished my Orthodox conversion today [with the Los Angeles Beit Din]…more than 16yrs after finishing my conversion with a Reform rabbi…" She responded: "It’s a miracle of grace." Joe emails: "Welcome to the … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged Beth Jacob, century city mall, christian mother, conversion to judaism, davening, miracle of grace, orthodox conversion, reform rabbi, sephardic temple
Comments Off on A Miracle Of Grace
Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal by Reform Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan
We talk by phone Tuesday, June 2. (Previous interviews with Rabbi Kaplan here.) Luke: "You have a note in the beginning that some of your language in this book is a bit sharp." Dana: "I’m trying to make certain points. … Continue reading
Posted in Author Interviews, Judaism, Rabbis
Tagged american judaism, dana evan kaplan, rabbi kaplan, reform rabbi, transformation
Comments Off on Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal by Reform Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan