Luke Ford writes Lukeford.net, principally about such topics as Judaism, Hollywood, entertainment, books, novels, movies, TV.

http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/wendy_shalit.htm

Wendy Shalit embraced Orthodox Judaism in her late teens and wrote a book on modesty.

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3123 In recent decades U.S. Middle East policy has been strongly influenced by the political activities of the "Israel lobby," a loose coalition of groups and individuals   more...that works openly to encourage the "special relationship" between the United States and Israel. This talk will identify the main features of this special interest group, explain how it works to shape U.S. policy, and suggest that its influence has been unintentionally harmful to Israel itself.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3124 Two months ago, the Rev. Eric Lee and Daphna Ziman were embroiled in a high-profile feud. Ziman, a Jewish philanthropist, had written a widely circulated e-mail accusing   more...Lee of having launched into a hateful tirade attacking Jewish influence in Hollywood at a banquet she attended.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3112 I've made a massive media buy in all the major markets to launch this attack ad on myself. I'm mad as heck and I'm not going to take it anymore. Here's why I hate myself.

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3072 An Orthodox Jewish vigilante group, under fire in Brooklyn after one of its members attacked a black man, uses "Soviet-style tactics" and continues to operate   more..."outside the boundaries of the law," critics said yesterday.  less

http://lukeford.net/ Your Moral Leader celebrates his joy with HaShem. Live from the hovel. Just look into his eyes and you'll know what you need to do to change your life.

http://lukeford.net/ How to wrap tefillin (phylacteries). A step by step guide with all the blessings and instructions for the right kavannah (mindset).

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3029 My friends have a pure love? Not the friends I know. Trembling with excitement? Yeah, they’re trembling with excitement to get out from under the thumb of the rabbis.   more...They’re trembling with excitement to no longer be vulnerable to the machinations of a Beit Din. They’re trembling with excitement to take back control of their lives.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3020 And what the heck would happen if I started to get some of the things I was putatively praying for — fear of G-d, love of G-d, love of Torah, obedience to G-d’s commandments,   more...distancing myself from evil men and slutty women?  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2993 Monday’s raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was the Bush administration’s largest crackdown   more...on illegal workers at a single site. It has upended this tree-lined community, which calls itself "Hometown to the World."  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2999 What’s going on with pioneer blogger and charismatic Internet personality Luke Ford? The Woodstein of the pornography industry-turned-conflicted Orthodox Jew has always   more...been a controversial figure, but as long as we’ve known him, he’s also been a well-groomed, camera-ready media star.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2976 Yossi Klein Halevi reflects on Israel's 60th birthday. The Jews are still a people who dwell alone. God's chosen people. Israeli pop music turns to God.

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2924 Everyone I meet, I have this internal scorecard for how much I should cringe based on what I’ve published about them. I know, I do it to myself.

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3133 I had a good time. How embarrassing? How nerdy? How Modern Orthodox. Moshav Band. I start slinging around the circle faster and faster. "Which part of my body will   more...give out first?" I wonder. "Will it be my knees or my heart? I’m gonna have a heart attack right here on the dance and they’re going to call an ambulance and rush me to Kaiser and then we’ll find out it was just a panic attack."  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3133 Should I wear my tzitzit in or out? Should I wear my tefillin? My Borat speedo? Should I book a room at the Beverly Hilton? Should I take a taxi or jog? Should I talk   more...to people or stand apart and read a book?  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3095 My travails as a babysitter remind me of the need to keep Jews strapped in their halachic seat-belts so they don’t run around our spinning globe infecting the dumb goyim   more...with transgressive notions of socialism and sodomy.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3073 As long as I’ve been Jewish — 15 years — I’ve been poor. I’ve never been treated badly because of it. On the contrary, on countless occasions, Jews (and goys) have helped   more...me out. I’ve had countless occasions to bemoan my poverty. Some years I haven’t been able to afford a lulav and etrog so I’ve had to borrow one at shul. It sucks not being able to go out with your friends, but I’ve never found "materialism" a problem in Jewish or goyish life.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3077 A young man came into my chat room seeking moral leadership. He lives in West Virginia with his friend and his wife. The Mrs. has been coming on to him. What should he   more...do? In the short term, he should practice onanism, thus using one sin to fight another. In the long run, he should move out.  less

http://lukeford.net/ The son of a preacher man, I became interested in Judaism through listening to Dennis Prager on KABC AM 790 in Los Angeles.

http://lukeford.net/ I was raised a Christian. I flirted with atheistic communism. I came to Judaism through Dennis Prager. Here are arguments I find compelling for belief in God. I have no proof.

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3036 Following the lead of Israel’s haredim, the largely haredi Conference of European Rabbis has voided every conversion done by Rabbi Haim Druckman and Israel’s Conversion   more...Authority.  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/ A lot of people wonder why I am so focused on Orthodox Jews aka frum (religious) Jews. I'm an intense unbalanced man. I find Orthodox Judaism more interesting than the non-Orthodox   more...streams. Is that so wrong?  less

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=2998 In Modiin, Israel, the first state-funded non-Orthodox synagogue has just opened. Though Orthodox congregations routinely get funding from the government for buildings,   more...upkeep and even rabbi’s salaries...  less