THE RAINBOW SWASTIKA - Scattered Seed Ministries

of "Yakar", an Israeli Jewish Renewal center) are recommended by Metivta - all of whom
also happen to teach at Elat Chayyim (see above).
3f. _Tikkun Magazine_: Recent contributors to _Tikkun_ include many featured in this
section, for example Rami Shapiro, Arthur Waskow and Blu Greenberg. The Editor, Michael
Lerner, was ordained as a rabbi by Schachter-Shalomi, but even before that he was a JR
enthusiast who authored _Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation_ [By
equating this Jewish movement with the most popular NA buzzwords available, Lerner was
not only acknowledging the nature of JR but code-signaling his personal credo as well.] In
this book, Lerner follows Waskow's initiative in "renewing" Torah retroactively by observing
that Abraham's supreme act of faith in the Akedah [offering up his son to G-d] was actually a
delusion.
In their editorial statement on "Spirituality", _Tikkun_ reassures readers that they embrace the
pure NA concept of "a recognition of the ultimate Unity of All Being" and a "world [that] is
filled with a conscious spiritual energy". On the other hand, many established religions "have
little to offer in the way of spirituality" except for the "renewal movements... and TIKKUN
tries to support them all." Lerner's "synagogue" in San Francisco is dedicated to "build this
kind of spirituality within the framework of traditional Jewish religious practice." However,
his "community is not specifically a Jewish community... it supports all religous and all
spiritual communities which identify with Emancipatory Sprituality as described in _Spirit
Matters_." This refers to Lerner's book, released in June 2000; his vision of "emancipation"
includes repudiating the "reactionary spirituality that is given to veiling women and
circumcising men." (quoted in the Kirkus Review of the book, found on Amazon) [Since
circumcising men is the primary "traditional Jewish religious practice", the earlier reassurance
is less than reassuring....]
In an excerpt of _Spirit Matters_ posted on the _Tikkun_ website, we are told: "The inner
change that we need most to make is to recognize ourselves as part of the Unity of all Being,
manifesting the goodness and love of the universe." This is accomplished by meditation and
prayer; useful resources to get us there are suggested, none of them from mainstream
Judaism. As for the Jewish G-d (unmistakably identified by the Tetragrammaton), we are
instructed to relate to Him as "the omnipresent possibility of possibility" or "the Force of
Healing and Transformation." Again, learning resources are offered: among them
_Awakening the Buddha Within_ and other Buddhist/Hindu publications, but not a single
Jewish title. In fact, the only Jewish models cited in this 5-page sample as worth
incorporating into _Tikkun's_ brand of "spirituality" are philanthropy (honored with a single
reference) and hospitality (the only value which Lerner attaches to his Shabbat experiences).
Compare this approach with Lerner's "Founding Editorial Statement" in the Fall 1986 issue,
and we can see how far _Tikkun_ has drifted from its initial commitment: "The pressure to be
'universalist' and to reject a particularistic identity 'in order to be taken seriously' is the major
way that Jews were oppressed in the United States.... America offered a seductive deal: 'give
up those elements in your identity that make you stand out and be different and we will let
you fit into the society...' It is no longer clear why we should accept this offer." Editor Lerner
promises here that for those Jews who are "uncomfortable in the presence of another Jew who
is 'too Jewish'... Tikkun's Jewish articles will be a source of embarrassment." [Apparently the
value of Jewish particularism could not compete with the subsequent "seductive deal" of
prominence in NA circles. Now _Tikkun_ is an embarrassment to the same Jews Lerner once
pledged to represent.]