CLEAN THIS UP! Most of the content is a personal attack on Lerner, Jewish Renewal, and his political and spiritual views.

I agree. While I'm not a huge fan of lerner, this page is a mess. He has done important things, and has been a significant leader in the Jewish left. What about his writing or his other social activism, or his congregation? This article is disgrace.

Michael Lerner is a political activist, and the editor of Tikkun, a prominent left-wing Jewish bimonthly magazine based in San Francisco, California. He was the leader of the prominent anti-Vietnam War group Seattle Liberation Front ("Seattle Seven"). He was in favor of the Gulf War in 1991. ^{[citation needed]} Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... Tikkun is a bi-monthly English-language magazine published in the United States. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... For details about the famous earthquake, refer to the article 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. ... Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began slowly and in small numbers in 1964 on various college campuses in the United States. ... The Seattle Liberation Front, or SLF, was a radical anti-Vietnam War organization in the United States. ...

Lerner, a pseudo-rabbi in the 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. Lerner in fact never graduated from any rabbinic seminary and has no rabbinic ordination, at least that would be acknowledged by any terrestrial branch of Judaism. He claims that three hippies placed their hands upon his head to grant him rabbinic ordination. All actual branches of Judaism would regard this as about as authentic as a diploma from the Rolling Stones magazine mail order service. Lerner's publications promote anti-Zionist, extremist politics, religious pluralism and left-wing 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 Muslim leaders around such issues. He has never spoken out against Islamofascist terror attacks on Jews. After9-11, he urged Americans to feel Osama bin Laden's "pain". The term Jewish Renewal refers to a set of practices within Judaism that attempt to reinvigorate Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices. ... Ethnocentricity is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of ones own ethnic culture. ... Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish:Müslüman, Persian:مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ...

Lerner’s approaches have resulted in challenges to his religious, as well as political, credentials. Though Lerner identifies himself as a duly-ordained rabbi, many of his critics dispute that claim - on grounds that he was given a controversial private rabbinic ordination by a beit din consisting of three "Jewish Renewal" pseudo-rabbis, whose ordinations are recognized only by those within the Jewish Renewal cult and not even by those in Reconstructionist Judaism, the smallest of American Judaism’s major congregational bodies. Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... A Beit Din is a Jewish court of law comprised of three Jews. ...

Orthodox Judaism, the Reform movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly typically consider such an ordination invalid. Although that process, known as semicha, was common in the past after years of independent study, it is much less frequent in the United States these days. To pursue the structured rabbinic training seminary or institution background is more typically the norm. Lerner was accepted into the Jewish Theological Seminary’s formal rabbinic program, but declined to pursue it in favor of years of study under private tutelage in a variety of fields. These included Jewish mysticism with the Hasidic rebbe, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who had been introduced to Lerner by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, at least according to Lerner's own claims. Semicha (סמיכה) (meaning leaning [of the hands]) is a Hebrew word referring to what may be roughly translated as the ordination (in Hebrew: semichut סמיכות) of a rabbi within Judaism. ... Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907, Warsaw, Poland - December 23, 1972) was considered by many to be one of the most significant Jewish theologians of the 20th century. ...

Lerner considers himself an anti-Zionist, and does not really believe in a Jewish homeland in Israel. Lerner strongly objected to Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip, and continues to object to its occupation of the West Bank. He supports the adoption of the Geneva Accords as a basis for an independent Palestinian state, which would result in Israel's annihilation. The Draft Permanent Status Agreement, better known as the Geneva Accord or Geneva Initiative, is an extra-governmental and therefore unofficial peace proposal meant to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ...

Criticism of leftist anti-Semitism

Lerner has had run-ins with left-wing opponents of Israel. Recently, Lerner accused the anti-war group International ANSWER of anti-Semitism, claiming that their decision to bar him from speaking at their rallies against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, was due to his outspoken support for the continued existence of Israel.[1] That said, Lerner spoke at a September 2005 anti-war rally in Washington, DC sponsored by ANSWER. In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Combatants Coalition Forces (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland) Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 The 2003 invasion of Iraq, termed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the US administration, began on March 20. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in September September 28 : Constance Baker Motley September 25 : M. Scott Peck September 25 : Don Adams September 20 : Simon Wiesenthal September 14 : Robert Wise September 10 : Hermann Bondi September 8 : Donald Horne September 7 : Moussa Arafat... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ...

Lerner has signed the 911 Truth Statement [2], organized by conspiracists claiming the US itself bombed the WTC towers on 9-11, calling for new investigations of unexplained aspects of the 9/11 events, including the failure of US intelligence to act on warnings of upcoming attacks, the breakdown of military air defense, and the nature of the investigations.

Lerner has also signed the call of the antifascist group The World Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime. [3] The statement condemns the Iraq war, torture, the abrogation of habeas corpus, theocracy, the suppression of science, the attacks on abortion rights, and "a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance." It advocates resistance to, and repudiation of, the Bush agenda. World Cant Wait (WCW) is a non-profit organization of political activists in the United States. ... For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ...

He recently wrote The Left Hand of God. He appeared on C-SPAN to discuss the book on March 5, 2006. He appeared on NBC's Meet the Press with Tim Russert as one of a panel of various religious leaders on April 16, 2006. He, is also the co-founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives. The Left Hand of God can mean: The movie The Left Hand of God The Angel Gabriel as the Angel of Death A derogatory term for one who performs objectional acts in Gods name. ... C-SPAN (the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming. ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... NBC, the National Broadcasting Company, is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945, as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, and was later adapted for television. ... Timothy John Russert, Jr. ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Many consider Lerner a Buddhist clergyperson or a pagan, and not even a Jew.

External links

• Tikkun community website
• Tikkun magazine
• Rabbi Michael Lerner: Bringing God Into It
• Interview with The Nation
• Network of Spiritual Progressives website
• Interview with Grist Magazine