The Rainbow Swastika (PDF book) - Scattered Seed Ministries

The Rainbow Swastika - New Age Missionizing Among Jews
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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".
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) arenetworked 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 of "Yakar", an Israeli Jewish Renewal center) are recommended by Metivta- all of whom also happen to teach at Elat
Chayyim (seeabove).
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
http://philologos.org/__eb-trs/naI.htm
2/26/2012