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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
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BEST POSTS:
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* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
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* 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)
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Tag Archives: torah scholars
Do Great Rabbis Simply Repeat Talmudic Tractates To Each Other?
Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro writes: R. Avraham knew an enormous amount about the history of great Torah scholars, and while he didn’t have a critical sense, he knew when a story was nonsense.[20] For example, R. Shalom Schwadron told a … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged critical sense, Marc B. Shapiro, schwadron, shefer, torah scholars, tractate
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When The Masses Have Greater Wisdom Than Torah Scholars
Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro writes Let me also return to the issue of the Jewish masses’ natural morality vs. the rabbinically tuned morality of the scholars, and how according to R. Kook the former is superior to that of the … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged jewish masses, Marc B. Shapiro, natural impulse, natural morality, orthodox world, torah scholars
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Can Too Much Torah Study Hurt Your Spiritual Life?
Professor Marc B. Shapiro is out with his first blog post since April. He writes: I have mentioned how R. Kook compares the Torah scholars and the masses, and how the masses have elements of natural morality that are not … Continue reading
Posted in Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged halakhic questions, life professor, Marc B. Shapiro, natural morality, professor marc, prophetic insights, torah scholars, torah study
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This Week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)
I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs this Monday at 12:30 pm PST on my live cam and on YouTube. Facebook Fan Page. This week we study Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11). * Deut. 3:26. Moshe gets mad at … Continue reading
Posted in Torah
Tagged coach taylor, friday night lights, nuts and bolts, spiritual cannibalism, spiritual welfare, torah scholars, weekly torah portion
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Orthodox Judaism Is A Hardball Religion
In the Torah, Moshe and company put to death an Israelite for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Orthodox Judaism plays hardball. This surprises many outsiders who have a picture of religion as primarily a spiritual loving community. Orthodox Judaism has … Continue reading
Posted in Conversion, Orthodoxy, Personal
Tagged jewish questions, orthodox jew, orthodox judaism, shalom bayit, torah scholars, traditional shul
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Luke Ford Torah Study Doll Hits 10,000 Units Sold!
Shomerica, America’s number one company for products for the Orthodx Jewish Shomer community is pleased to announce it has shipped 10,000 units of its Luke Ford Torah Study Companion Doll. “Our demographic research showed that many Shomer Jews sought Torah … Continue reading
Posted in Satire
Tagged fine black suit, luke doll, luke ford, study companion, torah scholars, torah study
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This Week’s Parsha (Exodus 19:1–20:23)
Watch the whole show! I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs every Monday at 7pm PST on my live cam and YouTube. This week’s parsha is Yitro. * What do you think of Sarah Palin saying she was … Continue reading
Posted in R. Rabbs, Torah
Tagged blood libel, orthodox jews, rabbinic tradition, rabbs, Sarah Palin, torah scholars, weekly torah portion
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How Should A Man Relate To Jenn Sterger?
I’ve spent my morning looking at photos of Jenn Sterger and I have come to some very profound conclusions. I’m wondering if she wanted to receive those intimate texts from Brett Favre? I’ve spent a long time looking at photos … Continue reading
Posted in Sex
Tagged brett favre, deadspin, Dennis Prager, family newspapers, looking at photos, new york jets, religious guy, theological insights, torah scholars
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The Sisterhood 50
The Charedim received almost no attention the past few years in Newsweek’s annual listing of America’s top 50 rabbis. Sure, some chareidim complain about this, but few care very much. I get a sense that these feminists care very much … Continue reading
Posted in Rabbis
Tagged feminists, jewish law, jewish world, newsweek, orthodox jewish life, orthodox life, own two feet, passionate marriage, sisterhood, top 50 rabbis, torah scholars
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Where Are The Orthodox?
In the wake of last week’s flotilla mess, numerous non-Orthodox rabbis took to print to critique Israel’s response. Among them was Conservative rabbi Sharon Brous. Her complete lack of expertise in matters of security did not stop her from approvingly … Continue reading
Posted in Dennis Prager, R. Bradley Shavit Artson, R. David Rue, R. Sharon Brous, R. Yehuda Bukspan, Rabbis
Tagged bradley shavit artson, conservative rabbi, Dennis Prager, flotilla, israeli policies, mossad, orthodox clergy, orthodox rabbis, security methods, torah scholar, torah scholars
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