THE RAINBOW SWASTIKA - Scattered Seed Ministries

Besides Schachter-Shalomi's direct teaching, his influence is felt at Elat Chayyim through the
fact that nearly half the teaching staff (31 of 69) are networked with him in some way -
having been personally mentored by him and/or serving on his "Aleph" staff. Another notable
entry is Rabbi Arthur Waskow, considered by many to be Schacter-Shalomi's equal in JR -
here we are told of his title of "Wisdom Keeper" at the UN. [Since the UN is clearly
promoting New Age "Wisdom", this title does not bode well for Jewish fans of Waskow... or
even for Waskow himself, if he should come to realize what this "Wisdom" advocates for all
Jews.] The spiritual reach of Elat Chayyim extends to Israel through seminars conducted there
by at least 10 of these teachers; three of them are actually based in Israel. Last, but certainly
not least, "orthodox" teachers Yitz and Blu Greenberg are both happy members of the Elat
Chayyim teaching staff [see below for the significance of this fact].
3d. Rasheit Institute for Jewish Spirituality: Rabbi Rami Shapiro (yet another teacher at the
Elat Chayyim Center) takes yogic practices and TM philosophies into Jewish prayer, claiming
he has discovered this common ground in Kabbalistic meditation. But the parallel becomes
contrived when, for example, he teaches his disciples that "Kavvanah is focused attention
whereby 'a person empties the mind of all thought and sees the self within the greater
presence of the Divine.' (Maimonides)" Whether or not such a quote from Rambam exists is
an open question, since Shapiro gives no proper reference by which to check it. [But he
completely clashes with the mainstream Jewish concept of kavanah, described as the
elimination of all exterraneous thought and the awareness of standing before the presence of
G-d (Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin, _To Pray As a Jew_, p.19, emphasis mine.) Notice how
radical a change is effected by editing the two lone words which I emphasized here. The
subtle alteration would go undetected by Jews with a thin background in Judaism.] Shapiro
also has no scruples about mistranslating key Hebrew phrases to insert NA notions; examples
are "Ribbon shel Olam" [sic], normally meaning "Master" or "Lord" of the Universe, is
changed here to an impersonal "Source of the Universe"; gerushin becomes not withdrawing
from earthly distractions but the "practice of repeating a sacred phrase [mantra]"; and dvekut,
literally meaning "clinging" to G-d and the commandments, is equated with the central NA
goal of "God-consciousness", recognizing the "Godliness" of the sand and air. For
recommended reading on the discipline of musar (ethical conduct), Shapiro's first title is
_Krishnamurti's Journal_, guidance from a Hindu who became a NA channel for Maitreya.
(See "MINYAN", Soul Craft Directory) In his "Brief Introduction to Jewish Meditation"
(same site), Shapiro calls the Amidah prayer a form of rabbinic "yoga", citing unspecified
"rabbis" who taught that the custom of bowing was not to honor G-d but "loosened the spine
and opened the body to the flow of divine energy" (a clear reference to the Hindu kundalini
doctrine). The Hassidic teaching of avodah be-bittul is defined as "self-annihilation - a Jew is
no longer a Jew", or even a human being. [Since I am not sure what Hassidism teaches about
this, I hope some authority will contact me to either verify or refute Shapiro's claim.]
3e. "Metivta Center for Contemplative Judaism": Located in Beverly Hills, California, most
of the Metivta seminars are conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man, a member of the JR
dialog delegation visiting the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama. At the 1990
meeting in Dharamsala, Omer-Man expressed interest in the Buddhist "meditational practice
known as 'deity-yoga', wherein the practitioner visualizes an aspect of divinity and then
proceeds to identify with the mind-created deity." (from the diary of delegate Nathan Katz,
published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Mar. 1, 1991) Not surprisingly, Metivta
offers a curious selection of books for "contemplative Judaism": not only Kabbalah and
"Jewish meditation", but a "Shambhala Guide" to Jewish mysticism. [The concept of
Shambala is anything but Jewish.] We can see the networking effect, as the names Rami
Shapiro (see above), Melinda Ribner (author of _New Age Judaism_) and David Zeller (head