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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: religious jews
Jewish Law Vs Islamic Law Vs Christian Law
On his radio show today, Dennis Prager says: Sharia is Islamic religious law. Jews have an analogue — halakha. Christianity does not have an all-embracing law that governs everything you do. There was a time in Jewish history when Jews … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Islam, Judaism
Tagged body of law, Dennis Prager, el al airlines, islamic religious law, religious body, religious jews
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Should We Change Jewish Law?
A convert to Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo writes: I teach Jewish Philosophy. I am confronted daily with countless young Jews who search for an authentic Jewish religious way of life, but are unable to find spiritual satisfaction … Continue reading
Posted in R. Ari Kahn, R. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Tagged nathan lopes cardozo, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbi, rabbi ari kahn, rabbi kahn, rabbi nathan, religious jews, spiritual satisfaction
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That Steven Weil Quote
Jewish Journal Editor Rob Eshman emails me: Hey Luke: I read your blog post about our Rabbi Weil quote. In the recent article in question, Roberto Loiderman’s, we indeed mistakenly and inadvertently took the original quote from Amy Klein’s Jan … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Journal, R. Steven Weil, Rob Eshman
Tagged Amy Klein, fraudulent account, Jewish Journal, rabbi, religious jews, shul
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Agunah Hysteria?
Gadi Pickholz (of the Israel Fathers Rights Advocacy Council) emails: Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, Chairman of the Rabbinical Batei Din of Israel (official government Batei Din) contradicts assertions of Aguna hysteria and absurdly inflated numbers of claimed Agunot, as well … Continue reading
Posted in Divorce
Tagged advocacy council, divorce proceedings, fundraising initiatives, legal advocacy, religious jews, statistical accuracy
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Who Is A Jew?
From Hirhurim: Israel displays ancient coins: link Boxer studying to be a rabbi: link When is a rabbi not a rabbi?: link 1890s style back in fashion: link Protests expected against Intel’s opening its Jerusalem office on Shabbos: link The … Continue reading
Posted in Hirhurim
Tagged ancient coins, british traditions, fashion link, jerusalem office, religious jews, who is a jew
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Should You Only Trust A Vaad?
A "vaad" is a council of rabbis, like the RCC, the dominant Jewish law court in California. Marc B. Shapiro blogs: Experience has shown that a rabbi who is financially corrupt can easily win back his reputation (and in some … Continue reading
Posted in Kashrut, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged american orthodoxy, elizabeth new jersey, financial corruption, Marc B. Shapiro, religious jews, vaad
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Lending A Hand On Shabbos
Just a few minutes before Shuvuot, as I was walking to a friend’s home for dinner, I passed two Mexicans in an alley with a beat-up old truck. A middle-aged man and woman were straining and failing to put a … Continue reading
Posted in Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged holy day, jewish men, lending a hand, middle aged man, religious jews, shabbos
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The Danger Of Reporting Names
Michoel Lipman emails: Israeli authorities captured two religious Jews in Jerusalem this week accusing them of being ring-leaders in a high-profile drug smuggling case going on now in Japan. Unfortunately, when the Jerusalem arrests were reported online, secular news portals … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism
Tagged drug smuggling, israeli authorities, religious jews, retractions, ring leaders, secular news
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Taking The Jewish Thing Seriously
I email a friend who’s just moved to LA: You should live in Pico/Robertson or Fairfax/La Brea if you want to do the Jewish thing… If you end up having to drive to shul on shabbos, it is a very … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, RCC
Tagged Aish HaTorah, birthright israel trip, jewish gates, jewish journey, orthodox shul, religious jews
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You Connect The Dots
Jameel writes: 1. Terror attack in Yeshiva Merkaz Harav — who killed the terrorist? IDF officer on leave, David Shapira. 2. Bulldozer attack in Jaffa St, Jerusalem — who killed the terrorist? IDF soldier on leave, "M" (he has requested … Continue reading
Posted in Israel
Tagged abiding citizens, eretz yisrael, jaffa st, king david hotel, observant jews, religious jews
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