Editing Michael Lerner (rabbi) (section)

==Views==
===Positive Judaism===
Lerner was associated with and promoted [[Jewish Renewal]], having received his ''semikhah'' from the movement's founder, Rabbi [[Zalman Schachter-Shalomi]].<ref name="x525">{{citation | last=Wilensky | first=David A.M. | title=Rabbi Michael Lerner, religious and political visionary, dies at 81 | date=30 August 2024 | url=https://jweekly.com/2024/08/30/rabbi-michael-lerner-a-religious-and-political-visionary-never-stopped-believing/ | language=en-US | access-date=5 February 2025 | page=}}</ref> Jewish Renewal is a small Jewish religious movement that Lerner described as "positive Judaism", rejecting what he considered to be [[ethnocentrism|ethnocentric]] interpretations of the [[Torah]]. His publications promoted [[religious pluralism]] and [[Progressivism|progressive]] or [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] approaches to political problems. He was, for example, outspoken against [[xenophobia in the United States]],<ref>See especially ''Tikkun'' Volume 7</ref> and he attempted to build bridges with [[Christianity|Christian]], [[Buddhist]] and [[Muslim]] leaders around such issues.<ref>Particularly through the Network of Spiritual Progressives.</ref>

Lerner's call for a spiritual transformation of American society was first articulated in ''Tikkun'' and then in his book ''The Politics of Meaning''. Lerner developed his ideas further in his books ''Spirit Matters'' (2000) and ''[[The Left Hand of God (Lerner book)|The Left Hand of God]]'' (2006).

Lerner strongly objected to Israel's occupation of the [[West Bank]]. He supported the adoption of the 2003 [[Geneva Accords (2003)|Geneva Accords]] as a basis for an independent [[Palestinian state]].<ref>His 2004 book ''The Geneva accord: and other strategies for healing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'' elaborates this position. North Atlantic Books, 2004 {{ISBN|1-55643-537-1}}, {{ISBN|978-1-55643-537-9}}</ref>

In February 2007, Lerner published a column entitled "There Is No [[New Anti-Semitism]]," in which he criticized some American Jewish organizations for labeling critics of Israel as antisemites. He was especially critical of the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the [[American Israel Public Affairs Committee]], which he characterized as "Israel-can-do-no-wrong voices in American politics." Lerner wrote that this mentality, which frequently leads to accusations that Jews who oppose Israel's policies toward the [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]] are "[[self-hating Jew]]s," is alienating young Jews who "say that they can no longer identify with their Jewishness."<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/020207LERNER.shtml
|title=There Is No New Anti-Semitism
|first=Michael
|last=Lerner
|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Chronicle]]
|date=February 2, 2007
|access-date=February 14, 2007}}</ref>

===Controversy===
Lerner described some of his views as "very controversial," particularly his views about building peace between Israel and Palestine.<ref name="Tikkun mag Lerner bio" /> In 2003, the ''[[San Diego Jewish Journal]]'' described Lerner as "the most controversial Jew in America," writing that "He is relentlessly critical of Israel. He eulogizes [[Rachel Corrie]]. And he's done more for peace than any conservative we know."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.sdjewishjournal.com/stories/sept03_4.html
|title=Michael Lerner: The most controversial Jew in America
|first=Judd
|last=Handler
|website=San Diego Jewish Journal
|date=September 2003
|access-date=March 26, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061231071732/http://sdjewishjournal.com/stories/sept03_4.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = December 31, 2006}}</ref> That same year, the executive editor of ''[[The Jewish Exponent]]'' wrote that Lerner "supports every measure against Israel short of its immediate destruction and often makes common cause with those who do plot the eradication of Israel's Jews."<ref>{{cite magazine
|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/tobin022403.asp
|title= The darker side of peace protests: Coming to grips with anti-Semitism in the debate over war with Iraq
|first=Jonathan
|last=Tobin
|magazine=Jewish World Review
|date= February 24, 2003 |access-date=March 26, 2007}}</ref>

In 1997, former ''[[Tikkun (magazine)|Tikkun]]'' editors accused Lerner of publishing pseudonymous letters to the editor that he himself had written. While many of the letters were laudatory ("Your editorial stand on Iraq said publicly what many of us in the Israeli peace camp are feeling privately but dare not say."), a few were critical ("Have you gone off your rocker?"). Lerner admitted that he had fabricated the letters but said his only mistake was not informing readers that the authors' names were pseudonyms.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/5763/edition_id/107/format/html/displaystory.html
|title=Tikkun editor calls letter-writing policy 'a mistake'
|date=March 21, 1997
|first=Leslie
|last=Katz
|website=Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
|access-date=April 17, 2007}}</ref>

===Criticism of leftist antisemitism===
For many years, Lerner was an outspoken critic of modern [[antisemitism]] that he perceived to have arisen among some leftists. In 1992, he wrote ''The Socialism of Fools: Anti-Semitism on the Left'', in which he described the manner in which the left often denies the existence of antisemitism, defended [[Zionism]], and distinguished legitimate criticism of the State of Israel from Israel-bashing and antisemitism; and suggested ways in which progressives can fight antisemitism on the Left.

In 2003, Lerner criticized the left-wing anti-war [[Act Now to Stop War and End Racism|ANSWER Coalition]] for the antisemitism that he and others believe is reflected in the rhetoric at ANSWER-sponsored demonstrations. He later claimed that because of his criticism, the ANSWER coalition—of which Lerner's Tikkun community was a member—barred him from speaking at their rallies against the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/tikkun/issue/tik0305/article/030512a.html
|title=Authoritarianism and Anti-Semitism in the Anti-War Movement?
|first=Michael
|last=Lerner
|website=Tikkun
|date=May–June 2003
|access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041019075845/http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/tikkun/issue/tik0305/article/030512a.html |archive-date = October 19, 2004}}</ref>

===Good Friday Prayer for the Jews===
Regarding the ''[[motu proprio]]'' ''[[Summorum Pontificum]]'', which allowed the re-introduction of the [[Tridentine Mass]] and the related [[Good Friday Prayer for the Jews]], he said that the Pope took "a powerful step toward the re-introduction of the process of demeaning Jews. You cannot respect another religion if you teach that those who are part of it [[Forced conversion|must convert]] to your own religion."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007_07_08_revived_latin_mass_N.htm |title=Revived Latin Mass |date=July 9, 2007 |newspaper=USA Today}}{{dead link|date=August 2022}}</ref>