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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:
- Jim Goad (1961-2026)
- Moira Greyland
- Robert Oscar Lopez: The Inconvenient Witness
- Two Ledgers: Decoding the Gurus and the Price of Talk
- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
- Mark Helprin: A Life Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
- Strange Bedfellows in the Academy: Alliance Theory and the Straussian Schism
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
- The Self-Hating Jew
- The Alliance Theory in the Academy
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- A Place For You
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: torah in motion
Marc B. Shapiro: The Worst Thing Chabad Did
According to Wikipedia: “[Yosef Yitzchok (Joseph Isaac), the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe] Schneersohn argued against his Hasidim leaving Russia[in the 1920s, 1930s], even if they were able do. He explicitly forbade his followers from leaving, describing those who did as “deserters”.” … Continue reading
Posted in Chabad, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged getting involved in politics, Hasidim, joseph isaac schneersohn, Marc B. Shapiro, rebbes, torah in motion
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Historian Marc B. Shapiro: “Luke Ford reports all of the ‘juicy’ quotes, and has been doing it for years.”
History professor Marc B. Shapiro emails FailedMessiah: The conversation in my class was not designed to be broadcast all over the world so people can join in and heap abuse on a great Torah sage (and I have to say … Continue reading
Posted in FailedMessiah, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged elyashiv, haredi world, luke ford, Marc B. Shapiro, torah in motion, torah sages
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What’s The Difference Between A Torah Scholar And A Gadol?
In a lecture on rabbinic biographies for Torah in Motion, Orthodox rabbi and history professor Marc B. Shapiro says: “In the haredi world [ultra-Orthodoxy], [Rav J.B. Soloveitchik] is recognized as a Torah scholar but not as a gadol [great rabbi]. … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Orthodoxy, R. J. B. Soloveitchik, Rabbis
Tagged chazon ish, haredi world, Marc B. Shapiro, orthodox rabbi, torah in motion, torah scholar
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Was Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg The Only Gadol In History To Have A Real Friendship With A Non-Jew?
In his first lecture on the Sridei Aish (Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg) for Torah in Motion, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says: Rabbi Weinberg was friends with Paul Kahle, a leading [non-Jewish] scholar of masoretic studies of the Targum. He was … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Orthodoxy
Tagged gadol, intimate friendship, jewish scholar, Marc B. Shapiro, paul kahle, torah in motion
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Is James Kugel Orthodox?
James Kugel is a famous Bible scholar who takes unorthodox approaches to understanding the origins of the Torah. Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says in a 2007 lecture for Torah in Motion on Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman: “The idea that the … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, James Kugel, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged bible scholar, James kugel, louis finkelstein, Marc B. Shapiro, shomer, torah in motion, umberto cassuto, unorthodox approaches
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The Rav Forbade Congregational Singing
In his part two lecture on Rabbi Esriel Hildesheimer for Torah in Motion, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says: “Congregational singing wasn’t even done in Germany. It was choir singing. It’s an American thing. It might be a development of the … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro, Orthodoxy, R. J. B. Soloveitchik
Tagged israel movement, Marc B. Shapiro, torah in motion, yeshivish, Young Israel
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Hasidim Don’t Study Torah On Christmas Eve
In a lecture for Torah in Motion on Christmas Eve, 2009, Professor Marc B. Shapiro says: This has got to be the strangest thing that Hasidim do and they do a lot of strange things. Some of you might have … Continue reading
Posted in Benyamin Cohen, Christianity, Hasidim, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged Benyamin Cohen, Marc B. Shapiro, slate magazine, study torah, torah in motion, word christmas
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When The Chofetz Chaim Wore Rabbenu Tam Tefillin
In a lecture Dec. 21, 2009 for Torah in Motion, Professor Marc B. Shapiro says: One of you asked me to talk about the Chofetz Chaim and the forged Talmud Yerushalmi. You can find the information in here, The Writings … Continue reading
Posted in Hafetz Hayim, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged chofetz chaim, Hasidim, Marc B. Shapiro, professor marc, torah in motion
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Outreach For Orthodox Judaism
According to Wikipedia: Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim (1896 – 1981) (Hebrew: יצחק נסים) was a former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel. Rabbi Nissim was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Palestine in 1925. In 1964, Pope Paul VI visited Israel but … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged chief rabbi, Marc B. Shapiro, nissim, orthodox judaism, pope paul vi, torah in motion
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Extremism In Aleppo, Syria
In his Oct. 25, 2010 lecture on R. Elijah Benamozegh for Torah in Motion, Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says: There has been a trend of extremism in Aleppo for a long time… The Aleppo Syrian [Jewish] community burned this book … Continue reading →