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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: torah jew
Talmud Study Vs Daf Yomi
Joe emails: To me, daf yomi is a necessary semi-good, semi-evil. There is this belief that knowledge of the entire Talmud is part of being a torah jew. I would begrudgingly concede that it is a neat thing to have … Continue reading
Posted in Talmud
Tagged blitz chess, credit card receipt, daf yomi, talmud study, torah jew, understanding the talmud
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This Week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Shofetim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9)
I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs Mondays at 7:00 pm PST on the Rabbi Rabbs cam and on YouTube. Facebook Fan Page. This week we study Parashat Shofetim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9). Watch the video. * I want to talk … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Torah
Tagged Facebook, orthodox rabbis, parashat shofetim, torah jew, torah perspective, weekly torah portion
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My Anthony Weiner Moment
I was breaking the Tisha B’av fast in 1999 at a fine kosher establishment on Robertson Blvd, just south of Pico. I ran into a woman a few years my senior. “I’ve got somebody for you,” she said. “This woman … Continue reading
Posted in Personal, Sex
Tagged anthony weiner, breast man, conversion to judaism, hiv test, mark steyn, tisha b av, torah jew
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My Other Half
When Cathy Seipp died in March of 2007, much of my world died with her. I dropped out of most writer gatherings, lost most of the connections I had around her, and sent my life in a different direction — … Continue reading
Posted in Cathy Seipp
Tagged Alexander Technique, appointment book, becoming a teacher, bosomy, cathy seipp, gatherings, halloween party, orthodox jew, torah jew, yahoo maps
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The Torah Hour Of Power
This week’s Torah portion is Vayeira (Genesis 18:1–22:24). We discuss my Torah Talk with Joey Kurtzman last week. Rabbs emails: Here is the dude I spoke about. Here’s his daughter Jessica. Here are my notes for the show with Rabbi … Continue reading
Posted in R. Rabbs, Torah
Tagged cancer survivor, great dance music, pet shop boys, shock and awe, torah community, torah jew
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I Made ‘Technology Review’
Chaim Amalek emails: What? This is a fairly high-brow title. There is a piece in the Sept Oct issue by Scott Fayner on so-called “tube” sites, bemoaning the fall in revenue due to free sites that stream content that a … Continue reading
Posted in Internet
Tagged Google, luke ford, oct issue, patent work, scott fayner, torah jew
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The Hasidim Conquered America
From a Jewish Press interview with Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff: Today we all wear uniforms. What is the concept of wearing a uniform? What is chassidus all about? It’s beautiful. You have a social order, you build a wall around yourself … Continue reading
Posted in Hasidim, R. Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff
Tagged black hats, chassidic rebbe, rabbi aaron, rosh yeshiva, roshei yeshiva, torah jew
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I Loved The Movie ‘An Education’
This was my favorite movie of 2009. I was enraptured by it from the minute I read its plot summary: “A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of … Continue reading
Posted in Hollywood, Personal
Tagged forties, innocent girl, life changes, sophisticated gentleman, suburban london, torah jew
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Luke Ford’s Secret Diary
I’ve been keeping a journal since July 15, 2009. Here are some excerpts: July 15. I met a new friend in yoga. She’s tall and meaty. I like her body. I like how fit and flexible she is. She meditates … Continue reading
Posted in Dating, Judaism, Personal
Tagged colorful clothes, luke ford, secret diary, social cues, torah class, torah jew
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Clueless Jews Campaign To End Hunger In Los Angeles
I’d love to see some evidence that anyone is dying in Los Angeles of malnutrition. I walk around Pico-Robertson and see all my favorite Orthodox shuls promoting GiveLifeMeaning.org, a campaign to solve a problem that does not exist. I’ve seen … Continue reading
Posted in Jews, Los Angeles
Tagged duke helfand, learning hebrew, marriage equality, neighborhood food, orthodox shuls, torah jew, trash cans, yummy desserts
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