Michael Lerner Solves our Debt Ceiling Crisis

Michael Lerner, a faux rabbi who never graduated from a theological rabbinic school, has done it again. In his latest emailing he has his own unique solution to the debt ceiling crisis.

Here is what he says;
“Instead of being such a wimp, Obama could even now simply announce the following plan for what will happen if the debt limit isn't reached: he will pay the social security, medicare and other benefits to those Congressional districts whose representatives voted to raise the debt limit and not to those which did not.”

Let me understand this. If a particular Congressman did not vote to raise the debt limit, Lerner would have all the seniors of his district thrown off the Medicare rolls, no matter how sick or in need of health care they were, and these people would also be denied their Social Security checks, meaning destitution for many. Talk about collective punishment!

Let me be clear. According to the First Amendment to the US Constitution, Lerner is entitled to say whatever he believes. But this sort of “solution” is what Lerner has been warning us would happen if the “right wing” is allowed to take over our nation. (Lerner always uses the term “right wing” pejoratively; in his demonization of the American voting public, it applies to all Americans who support Israel)

The hypocrisy and sanctimony should not be surprising. This is a man who ostentatiously trumpets his spirituality, and who claims to deplore the political game which he has played for his entire adult life. And yet he suggests playing hardball in a way that not even Chris Matthews would suggest.

There is a pattern here. A few years ago. Alan Dershowitz wrote a piece for the Jerusalem Post in which he pointed out that Michael Lerner had concurred in a call for his (Dershowitz’s) assassination.

Dershowitz recounted that Norman Finkelstein, a strong supporter of Hezbollah and an opponent of justice for Holocaust survivors, had published an article entitled "Should Alan Dershowitz Target Himself for Assassination?" In his article, Finkelstein justified Dershowitz's assassination as a war criminal, based on his support for Israel.

Finkelstein's piece was accompanied by a cartoon showing Dershowitz masturbating while viewing images of dead Lebanese civilians with a Jewish Star of David prominently featured.

Michael Lerner then approvingly circulated the Finkelstein article from his Tikkun e-mail account and under the Tikkun letterhead. This is the rabbi who promotes himself as head of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, who claims to be devoted "to peace, justice, non-violence, generosity, caring, love and compassion." This is a man who purports to observe the Jewish values against evil words (lashon hara) and bearing false witness. This is a man who ardently opposes Israel's targeted assassination of Hamas terrorists, but supports the assassination of a pro-Israel academic.

Here are some of Dershowitz's comments in response:

“Why would a rabbi circulate an article by an anti-Semite suggesting that the assassination of a pro-Israel professor might be justified? Because the "rabbi" is himself an Israel-basher who has gotten into bed with Hezbollah supporters, advocates of divestment from Israel and other Jew-haters. I'm describing, of course, Rabbi Michael Lerner, whose magazine Tikkun is quickly becoming the most virulently anti-Israel screed ever published under Jewish auspices.”

Lerner has never graduated from a theological rabbinic seminary, and many do not consider him a rabbi. After dropping out of the Jewish Theological Seminary, he prevailed on three buddies to “ordain” him, a so-called private ordination. Mainstream rabbinical leaders of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements have expressed concern that private ordinations, not granted by seminaries, can produce insufficiently educated or fraudulent rabbis.

Lerner’s response to this is boilerplate Lerner. He attacks seminaries for being "more interested in producing organizational men for Jewish life than spiritual leaders connected to the deepest spiritual and social-justice minds".(presumably and immodestly meaning himself)

In response to this, Rabbi Alan Lew, a genuine spiritual being, stated, "That is arrogant nonsense. I spent six years in extremely rigorous, round-the-clock study in the classic texts of our tradition. Authentic Jewish spirituality is in the texts, not in some fancy New Age ideas or watered-down kabbalah”.

Whether or not Lerner is a rabbi, whether or not he is devoted "to peace, justice, non-violence, generosity, caring, love and compassion.", whether or not he advocates assassinating a political rival, his latest screed makes one thing crystal clear. Lerner supports severe collective punishment for those who live in districts in which their representative takes positions different from those of Lerner. This has all the hallmarks of a tyrannical approach to policy making.

Whether liberal, conservative or centrist, this is not the way we solve problems in America. These are not the words of a spiritual, compassionate, above-the-political-fray person. Nor is this the language of a believer in democracy.

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