THE RAINBOW SWASTIKA - Scattered Seed Ministries

Of special relevance is Waskow's liberal [mis]use of a central pillar of Judaism - the Shema -
in order to retrofit Torah to Earth-worship: "For example, look at the second paragraph of the
Sh'ma, the one that says, 'And if you act on Torah then the rain will fall, the rivers will run,
and the earth will be fruitful and you will live well. And if you don't act on Torah, if you
reject it, if you cut yourself off from this great harmony of earth, then the great harmony will
cease to be harmony and will cut itself off from you... and you will perish from all this good
adamah that you grew up with.'" (emphasis mine) [All Jews who know the Shema will
recognize a certain artistic license being exercised here, despite its appearance as a direct
quote. But Waskow goes beyond paraphrase to outright misquoting. Compare his caricature
with the real Shema as translated in the Hertz Siddur (with my emphasis to highlight the
removal of G-d): "If you listen diligently to My commandments which I command you this
day, to love the L-rd your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I
will give the rain of your land in its season.... Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be
deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods and worship them; and the anger of the Lrd
be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens, that there be no rain... and you perish
quickly from off the good land which the L-rd gives you." (Deuteronomy 11:13-17) Such
misquoting by an educated Jew like Waskow can only be deliberate. It is an attempt to hide
the fact that Torah condemns Jewish "Renewal". The question then is: If Torah must be
mutilated to lend support to this system, why doesn't JR just leave Torah behind - as they
actually have among themselves? For whose benefit is this pretense of a Torah framework?]
If the "re-invention" of the Shema is not enough, consider the Torah account of Cain
murdering Abel. Waskow's "renewal" process "transforms" it into an example of G-d as the
failing Parent, whose love is so limited He "can respond fully to just one brother." Waskow
invites us to "share Cain's initial anger at his 'parent's' favoritism" which so provoked poor
Cain that he could not express it verbally; "only his face flushed with anger gave a hint - and
in the story, God had no more clue to what that meant than did the teachers and parents of
Littleton [site of a horrifying student-led massacre]." On a par with the worst parenting of
today, G-d cannot listen to His offspring: "God asks Cain the right questions but does not wait
for an answer. And God does not notice when there is no answer. He responds only with a
sermon." But there is hope: "The Bible teaches that even God, or especially God, can learn
from mistakes." ("Cain at Littleton", _Moment Magazine_, Oct-Nov. 1999) [Before
dismissing Waskow as a frum fruitcake with only marginal influence, consider that he is
named by the UN as one of 40 "Wisdom Keepers" of the world - quite a distinction in a global
forum crawling with mystics of all religions.]
3c. Elat Chayyim Jewish Spiritual Retreat Center: As mentioned briefly already, Elat
Chayyim's teaching staff includes masters in Eastern religions. Besides the yoga and Tai Chi
masters, there is a leadership trainer who describes herself as a "faithful Jew and a passionate
Buddhist", an astrologer, a "Jewish shaman", a Jungian psychotherapist, a Zen Master and a
veteran sadhu (Hindu hermit). One yoga teacher works mainly with children. [Those who
think that these children are not being indoctrinated, and that yoga can be practiced without
pagan worship, need to do a little homework. See my comments above.] Another teacher
authored a book about the "myths of Genesis". At least 17 of the 69 Elat teachers are
dedicated to promoting pagan religion, New Age, or some other system which clearly rejects
Torah boundaries, making the "Retreat Center" definitely "Spiritual" but hardly "Jewish".
The main attraction is Reb Schachter-Shalomi himself, whose profile explains that his "belief
in the universality of spiritual truth led him to study with Sufi Masters, Buddhist teachers,
Native American elders, Catholic monks and humanistic" teachers. His position at the
Naropa Institute is proudly included in his qualifications to teach at this "Jewish retreat
center".