Rabbi Michael Lerner 1943 Leo R Sandy Michael

Rabbi Michael Lerner 1943 Leo R. Sandy

Michael Lerner was born in 1943 and grew up in the Weequahic section of Newark, New Jersey. In his youth, he attended Far Brook Country Day School, a private school which he characterized as having "a rich commitment to interdenominational Christianity. ” While he has written that he appreciated "the immense beauty and wisdom of the Christianity to which [he] was being exposed”, he also felt religiously isolated, as the child of passionate Zionists who attended Hebrew school three times a week, while at the same time being heavily exposed to Christian-oriented cultural activities in school

Lerner cont’d At his own request, in the 7 th grade he switched to a public school in the Weequahic neighborhood of Newark, where his peers were, in his estimation, 80% Jewish. He graduated from Weequahic High School in 1960. Lerner received a B. A. from Columbia University. In 1972 he earned a Ph. D in philosophy from University of California, Berkeley. In 1977 he received a Ph. D in Clinical/Social Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA

Lerner cont’d Lerner was married to Nan Fink until 1991, and married Debora Kohn in July 1998, divorced in 2014 and then remarried to Cat Zavis in 2015. While at Berkeley, Lerner became a leader in the Berkeley student movement and the Free Speech Movement, chair of the Free Student Union, and chair from 1966 -1968 of the Berkeley chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society After teaching philosophy of law at San Francisco State University, he took a job as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington and taught ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of literature and culture, and introduction to philosophy.

Lerner cont’d Angry at the violence-glorifying SDS group called Weatherman, which had introduced violence into the anti-war movement in response to police violence, Lerner created a new organization as an alternative, called the Seattle Liberation Front. After a major demonstration that his organization had called in protest turned violent, he and others were arrested for inciting a riot. The subsequent trial was the second nationally known federal trial, following that of the Chicago Seven, against antiwar activists. Lerner's group became known as the "Seattle Seven".

Lerner cont’d Federal agents testifying at the trial later admitted to having played a major role instigating the violence and the riot. Charges relating to the riot were eventually dropped However, during the trial, which culminated in a courtroom riot with punches being thrown (Lerner was the only defendant to remain seated) the presiding judge sent the defendants to jail on "contempt of court" charges. [ Lerner was sentenced and transported to Terminal Island Federal Penitentiary in San Pedro, California, where Lerner served several months before the 9 th Circuit Federal Appeals Court ordered Lerner released (despite the claim made by J. Edgar Hoover in a public statement repeated on radio and television that Lerner was "one of the most dangerous criminals in America" though he had never engaged in any act of violence).

Lerner cont’d The main charges were eventually dropped by the Federal Government after the 9 th Circuit overturned the conviction for contempt of court. Meanwhile, Lerner's contract was not renewed and the State of Washington Legislature had passed "the Lerner act" requiring that the University of Washington never hire anyone "who might engage in illegal political activity, " a law later overturned by the Washington Supreme Court. During this period Lerner met several times with boxer Muhammad Ali, who was also active in the anti-war movement, at anti-war meetings organized by Lerner recounts that Ali was the first practicing Muslim he had ever met.

Lerner cont’d The two never met or spoke again after this period though in 1995 Lerner received a letter from Ali expressing appreciation for Lerner's book Jews and Blacks Let the Healing Begin. Muhammad Ali included an invitation to Lerner to speak at Ali's memorial, to represent progressive Jewish faith, which took place in 2016. Lerner also learned from Ali's lawyer that Ali had been a "big fan" of the rabbi's work and that Ali was really sorry that he had not made more contact with Lerner over the past two decades. Ali and his wife had intended to do so many times and just hadn't followed through.

Lerner cont’d After completing his Ph. D. Lerner moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he served as professor of philosophy at Trinity College until 1975, when he moved back to Berkeley, joined the faculty at the University of California in the Field Studies program and taught law and economics until 1976 when he accepted a position at Sonoma State University for one year in sociology, teaching courses in social psychology. [ Meanwhile, he completed a second Ph. D. in 1977, this one in social/clinical psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley

Lerner cont’d In 1976 Lerner founded the Institute for Labor and Mental Health to work with the labor movement and do research on the psychodynamics of American society. In 1979 he received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to train union shop stewards as agents of prevention for mental health disorders, and he simultaneously extended his previous study of the psychodynamics of American society. With a subsequent grant from the NIMH he studied American politics and reported that "a spiritual crisis" was at the heart of the political transformation of American society as well as at the heart of much of the psychic pain that was being treated in individual therapy.

Lerner cont’d His writing reflects a transposition of this analysis to economics too, viz. "This focus on money and power may do wonders in the marketplace, but it creates a tremendous crisis in our society. People who have spent all day learning how to sell themselves and to manipulate others are in no position to form lasting friendships or intimate relationships. . . Many Americans hunger for a different kind of society—one based on principles of caring, ethical and spiritual sensitivity, and communal solidarity. Their need for meaning is just as intense as their need for economic security. ”

Lerner cont’d After serving for five years as dean of the graduate school of psychology at the New College of California (now defunct) in San Francisco, Lerner and his then-wife Nan Fink created a general-interest intellectual magazine called Tikkun: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture and Society. Tikkun was started with the intention of challenging the left for its inability to understand the centrality of religious and spiritual concerns in the lives of ordinary Americans.

Lerner cont’d With his associate editor Peter Gabel, Lerner developed a "politics of meaning" (that is, that Americans hunger not only for material security but also for a life that is connected to some higher meaning, and that the failure of the liberal and progressive movements to win a consistent majority support was based on their inability to understand this hunger and to address it by showing Americans and middle income working people in other advanced industrial societies that it was the values of the competitive marketplace and its Bottom Line of money and power that is the fundamental source undermining ethical and spiritual values in the public sphere and then undermining friendships and marriages when these values are brought home into personal life ).

Lerner cont’d This was intended to speak to the hunger for meaning that was characteristic of the thousands of people that Lerner and his colleagues were studying at the Institute for Labor and Mental Health. Tikkun was formed to educate the public about the findings of the Institute and to develop some of the implications of that work. However, because it also had an interest in being an "alternative to the voices of Jewish conservatism, " Tikkun was criticized by some Jewish groups. n 1993, then First Lady Hillary Clinton included the "politics of meaning" in her synthesis of political and social philosophy she was forming

Lerner cont’d Lerner received rabbinical ordination in 1995 through a beth din (rabbinical court) composed of three rabbis, "each of whom had received orthodox rabbinic ordination”. According to j. the Jewish news weekly, "mainstream rabbinical leaders of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements" have questioned private ordinations such as Lerner's, arguing that non-seminary ordinations risk producing poorly educated or fraudulent Rabbis Similarly, some rabbis have challenged Lerner's decision to not be trained for the rabbinate in a classical Jewish seminary (although Lerner did spend three years as a student at Jewish Theological Seminary). Lerner has been quoted in Jewish Weekly as saying that the non-seminary track is one that "every Chabad rabbi takes, & every ultra-Orthodox rabbi".

Lerner cont’d Lerner pointed out that none of the rabbis in Jewish history ever attended a "seminary" until the middle of the 19 th century, and that most rabbis in Israel today did not attend a seminary. They all got their ordination in the same way Lerner did, through a Beth din composed of three rabbis. When Lerner attacked seminaries for being "more interested in producing organizational men for Jewish life than spiritual leaders connected to the deepest spiritual and social-justice minds", Rabbi Alan Lew said "That is arrogant nonsense. . . I spent six years in extremely rigorous, round-the-clock study in the classic texts of our tradition. Authentic Jewish spirituality is in the texts, not in some fancy New Age ideas or watered-down kabbalah"

Lerner cont’d Lerner's synagogue 'Beyt Tikkun' became an embodiment of what he described as "neo-Hasidism, " passionately pursuing the spiritual dimension of the prayers rather than rushing through them. The goal, he insisted, is to connect to God, not simply mouth every prayer in the prayerbook. His synagogue grew, according to members, not only because of Lerner's willingness to take the social justice message of the prophets seriously, but also because the actual experience of being involved in prayer, meditation, singing and dancing in the synagogue became an ecstatic experience of transcendence for many of those who attended.

Lerner cont’d Lerner's 1994 book Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation published by Harper. Collins (and in paperback as a Harper Perennial), became a national best-seller and brought thousands of young people into the emerging Jewish Renewal movement. After studying his background and qualifications, the Northern California Board of Rabbis accepted Lerner as a full member and he has remained a member ever since Lerner was the first Jewish Renewal to achieve membership in a local American Board of Rabbis, but since that time in 1997, many local Boards of Rabbis have accepted Jewish Renewal rabbis into full membership.

Lerner cont’d Lerner is the spiritual leader of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in Berkeley, and a member of the Board of Rabbis of Northern California. He is also a member of Ohalah, the organization of Jewish Renewal Rabbis. In 2005 Lerner became chair of The Network of Spiritual Progressives whose mission was to "challenge the materialism and selfishness in American society and to promote an ethos of love, generosity, and awe and wonder at the grandeur of the universe. ” They have since sponsored national conferences on both the East and West Coast. In 2007 Lerner launched a campaign for a "Global Marshall Plan”.

Lerner cont’d In February 2009 Lerner publicly announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and mentioned this in many promotional mailings and published pieces. He was treated with surgery in March 2009 which was apparently successful. Lerner, a rabbi in ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, promotes the concept of Jewish Renewal, a small Jewish movement which he describes as "positive Judaism", rejecting what he considers to be ethnocentric interpretations of the Torah. His publications promote religious pluralism and progressive or liberal approaches to political problems. He has, for example, been outspoken against attacks on immigrant communities in the United States, and has attempted to build bridges with Christian, Buddhist and Muslim leaders around such issues.

Lerner cont’d Lerner's call for a spiritual transformation of American society was first articulated in Tikkun and then in his book The Politics of Meaning. Lerner developed these ideas further in his books Spirit Matters (2000) and The Left Hand of God (2006). Lerner strongly objected to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. He supports the adoption of the Geneva Accords as a basis for an independent Palestinian state In February 2007, Lerner published a column entitled "There Is No New Anti-Semitism, " in which he criticized some American Jewish organizations for labeling critics of Israel as anti-semites. He was especially critical of the Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which he characterized as "Israel-can

Lerner cont’d Lerner wrote that this mentality, which frequently leads to accusations that Jews who oppose Israel's policies toward the Palestinians are "self-hating Jews, " is alienating young Jews who "say that they can no longer identify with their Jewishness. ” Lerner describes some of his views as "very controversial, " particularly his views about building peace between Israel and Palestine. In 2003, the San Diego Jewish Journal described Lerner as "the most controversial Jew in America, " writing that "He is relentlessly critical of Israel. He eulogizes Rachel Corrie. And he's done more for peace than any conservative we know. ”

Lerner cont’d While at the Seminary, Lerner was elected national president of Atid, the college organization of the United Synagogue of America. Lerner was chosen by Utne Reader in 1995 as one of the world's "100 top visionaries" along with Vaclav Havel and Noam Chomsky. In 2005 Lerner received the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Prize from Morehouse College in Atlanta in recognition of his work in forging a "progressive middle path that is both pro -Israel and pro-Palestine" in his book Healing Israel/Palestine and in his writing in Tikkun magazine.

Lerner cont’d Tikkun magazine, which Lerner continues to edit, received from the mainstream media organization RNA The Religion Newswriters Association, the "Best Magazine of the Year" Award in both 2014 and 2015. Lerner delivered a eulogy at the memorial service for Muhammad Ali on June 10, 2016, praising Ali's stances on social justice and calling for an end to antisemitism, homophobia, and Islamophobia. Lerner said "the way to honor the memory of Muhammad Ali is to be Muhammad Ali today in our own lives. ” "Tell the leaders of Turkey to stop bombing and murdering their Kurd minority. Tell the U. S. to stop sending military supplies to Saudi Arabia, which is the sponsor of some of the most hate-filled teachings in the Islamic world and is one of the most repressive regimes on the face of the earth.

Lerner cont’d Lerner is one of a small group of Jewish leaders who supported Judge Richard Goldstone after Goldstone released his United Nations report that accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the winter 2009 Gaza War. After Tikkun magazine announced that it would award Goldstone with its Tikkun Award, Lerner's home was vandalized several times, with posters caricaturing him as a Nazi.

Books Published Surplus Powerlessness: The Psychodynamics of Everyday Life and the Psychology of Individual and Social Transformation (1986) The Socialism of Fools: Anti-Semitism on the Left (1992) Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation (1994) Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin (1995) - by Michael Lerner and Cornel West The Politics of Meaning: Restoring Hope and Possibility in an Age of Cynicism (1996) Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul (2000) Healing Israel/Palestine: A Path to Peace and Reconciliation (2003) The Geneva Accord: And Other Strategies for Healing the Israeli. Palestinian Conflict (2004) The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right (2006)

Quotes “Whoever you are—whether you are a postal worker, autoworker, lawyer, doctor, high-tech expert—there are multiple ways you can advance the cause of love, kindness, and generosity. ” “The new world will be created by people who know better than to be realistic. Realism is crumbling all around us. We will learn what is possible by struggling for the world we desire. ” “In a dog-eat-dog world it makes sense to bite before bitten. But in a cooperative world gone awry, it makes sense to extend empathy and a hand of friendship, and seek healing. ”

Quotes cont’d “The environmental crisis is the no. 1 spiritual challenge facing the human race in the 21 st century. Spiritual Progressives should provide leadership in this struggle. ” “…. my love for Israel has manifested in my vocal criticism of Israeli policies that defy the tradition of Jewish ethics and Torah commands —particularly, “Thou shalt love the stranger. ”…. “Instead of a bottom-line based on money and power, we need a new bottom-line that defines productivity and creativity as where corporations, governments, schools, public institutions, and social practices are judged as efficient, rational and productive not only to the extent they maximize money and power, but to the extent they maximize love and caring, ethical and ecological sensitivity, and our capacities to respond with awe and wonder at the grandeur of creation. ”

Videos Muhammad Ali Memorial: Rabbi Michael Lerner Rabbi Michael Learner: Occupy the Mind

References Quotes by Rabbi Michael Learner. Retrieved from http: //www. awaken. com/2012/12/quotes-by-rabbi-michaellerner/ Michael Learner (rabbi). Retrieved from https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Michael_Lerner_(rabbi) Muhammad Ali Memorial: Rabbi Michael Lerner. Retrieved from https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=JXFx. E 46 mt 4 g

Reference cont’d Rabbi Michael Lerner: Occupy the Mind. Retrieved at https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=L 2 J 1 HEg-ax 4

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