The Assassination of Osama Bin Laden: A Spiritual Response

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Tuesday May 03, 2011 · 10:59 AM PDT

2011/05/03 · 10:59

The Jewish tradition has much to say on the killing of our vicious and even murderous enemies.

When Pharaoh's troops were drowning in the Red Sea as they sought to re-enslave or kill the Israelites, the angels began to sing praises (the Hallel prayers: Psalms 113-118). According to the Talmud, God chastened them: "My children (the Egyptians) are sinking in the sea, and you are singing praises?"

Rabbilerner

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Tuesday February 01, 2011 · 10:47 AM PST

2011/02/01 · 10:47

Originally Posted on Tikkun Daily Blog

Ever since the victory over the dictator of Tunisia and the subsequent uprising in Egypt, my email has been flooded with messages from Jews around the world hoping and praying for the victory of the Egyptian people over their cruel Mubarak regime.

Though a small segment of Jews have responded to right-wing voices from Israel that lament the change and fear that a democratic government would bring to power fundamentalist extremists who wish to destroy Israel and who would abrogate the hard-earned treaty that has kept the peace between Egypt and Israel for the last 30 years, the majority of Jews are more excited and hopeful than worried.

Rabbilerner

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Wednesday January 19, 2011 · 12:04 PM PST

2011/01/19 · 12:04

The attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords and the murder of so many others in Arizona has elicited a number of policy suggestions, from gun control to private protection for elected officials, to banning incitement to violence on websites either directly or more subtly (e.g., Sarah Palin's putting a bull's-eye target on Giffords' congressional district to indicate how important it would be to remove her from the Congress).

Rabbilerner

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Monday January 10, 2011 · 9:43 AM PST

2011/01/10 · 09:43

Shooting of Jewish Congresswoman Giffords is Not Just a "Tragedy"--It's Part of a Right Wing Assault on Government and the Liberals & Progressive Who Support It

Liberals and progressives are hated in many Red States because they support government policies that put restrictions on corporations; challenge the racism, sexism, homophobia and hatred of foreigners that has been part of the traditional conception of white male power; and tend to be insensitive to the legitimate fears that many have about the collapse of families, religious traditions, and the triumph of materialism and selfishness. This last set of concerns is totally valid, and the willingness of liberals and progressives to only see the hateful side of right-wing ideology infuriates many who are drawn to the right not because of hatred of government or because of the various hatreds, but because they feel that their legitimate concerns about the selfishness and looking out for number one are never heard by the Left. Yet, there are a core of haters in the Right, we've seen them not only on Fox t.v., Glenn Beck and company included, but also in the faces of some who were attracted to the Tea Party or who now rally around the anti-immigrant movement.

Rabbilerner

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Tuesday December 14, 2010 · 9:35 AM PST

2010/12/14 · 09:35

While making a deal to protect billionaires from $145 billion in taxes that they might otherwise have used to solve pressing domestic problems or to create over 3 million jobs at $30,000/yr., some Democrats and their advisors pointed out that the progressives who dissented from the deal Obama had worked out with the Republican leadership -- and which, despite the non-binding vote in the Democratic caucus on Thursday to oppose the deal, is likely to retain most of its giveaways to the rich -- had really no place to go in 2012 but to blindly support Obama, so why take seriously all their huffing and puffing about Obama's list of betrayals?

Rabbilerner

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Thursday December 02, 2010 · 10:55 AM PST

2010/12/02 · 10:55

By Rabbi Michael Lerner, originally published by Tikkun

Christmas and Chanukah share a spiritual message: that it is possible to bring light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair. But whereas Christmas focuses on the birth of a single individual whose life and mission was itself supposed to bring liberation, Chanukah is about a national liberation struggle involving an entire people who seek to remake the world through struggle with an oppressive political and social order: the Greek conquerors (who ruled Judea from the time of Alexander in 325 B.C.E.) and the Hellenistic culture that they sought to impose.

Rabbilerner

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Thursday September 30, 2010 · 9:59 AM PDT

2010/09/30 · 09:59

Shortly before the California Democratic primary in 2008, the San Fransisco Chronicle invited me to write a short article explaining why I, chair of the interfaith Network of Spiritual Progressives, was supporting Barack Obama. Like most other progressive activists, I understood that a president is limited in what s/he can accomplish in limiting the power of America's economic and political elites and in restraining the military-industrial complex, the pharmaceutical and health care profiteers, the oil industry's relentless destruction of the environment, or the selfishness and materialism that had become the hallmark of Wall Street and increasingly the "common sense" that was conveyed by the media and advertising into the consciousness of many Americans.

Rabbilerner

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Wednesday September 08, 2010 · 11:28 AM PDT

2010/09/08 · 11:28

Now that the Iraq war is supposedly winding down, America needs a period of reflection, repentance and atonement before rushing into more of the same mistakes we've been making globally and domestically. So I'd like to invite my non-Jewish neighbors and friends and allies in the struggle to heal and transform America to join with Jews to use the ten days of repentance from Rosh Hashanah (Sept.9) through Yom Kippur (Sept. 18) for that purpose-to create an All-American version of the Jewish High Holidays!

Rabbilerner

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Friday August 06, 2010 · 9:20 AM PDT

2010/08/06 · 09:20

The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) publicly opposes the construction two blocks from Ground Zero of the Cordoba House (also known as Park 51), which the planners imagine as hosting a range of activities similar to those offered at the 92nd Street Y and would include a Mosque at which Muslims could worship. The plan, supported by Mayor Bloomberg, is opposed by some who have consistently used the attack on the World Trade Center as justifications for war and for stoking fear and hatred of Muslims.

Rabbilerner

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Thursday August 05, 2010 · 12:09 PM PDT

2010/08/05 · 12:09

Homosexuals were with us in Auschwitz and were persecuted along with Jews throughout Western societies for the past several thousand years, so we stand with them in the struggle for full acceptance and full legal equality, including marriage equality, in the 21st century. But even had they not shared our fate, the denial of rights and the double standards used to justify such denials are always a threat to Jews as well as to everyone else on the planet!

Rabbilerner

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Wednesday May 26, 2010 · 4:26 PM PDT

2010/05/26 · 16:26

Progressives have been blessed in the past two years with three significant opportunities to change the fundamentals of American society. We've already blown the first and are missing the second and third.

Rabbilerner

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Friday May 07, 2010 · 12:41 PM PDT

2010/05/07 · 12:41

The media once again has failed to cover attacks on the Left from the Right. This time it came in the form of an assault on the home of Tikkun Magazine's editor Rabbi Michael Lerner. Lerner had announced that Tikkun would give the prestigious Tikkun Award for Human Rights at Tikkun's 25th anniversary celebration in the Spring of 2011 to Judge Richard Goldstone, whose report on Israeli (and Hamas) violations of human rights and alleged war crimes during Israel's war in Gaza in 2009 has been rejected by Israel and the US government though it had also criticized Hamas. Judge Goldstone was also the person who did similar investigations for the U.N. of human rights violations in Rwanda and then in Bosnia. Rabbi Lerner received death threats on the phone and he and Tikkun received much hate mail. But attacking his home crossed a new line--attacking the individual. So, Tikkun magazine issued the following statement about what people could do in this situation:

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When Generosity, Love, and Kindness are Public Policy, the Violence We Saw in Arizona will Dramatica

Shooting of Congresswoman is more than a Tragedy

Why Progressives Should Run Against Obama and "Blue Dogs" in the 2012 Democratic Party Primaries

The Spiritual Messages of Chanukah and Christmas — and Their Downsides

Obama (and Biden) Have No Clue About What's Bothering Their Political Base

Americans Need National Repentance and Atonement

Shame on the ADL for Opposing the Mosque Two Blocks from Ground Zero

Jews Rejoice at Overturn of Gay Marriage Ban

American Liberals and Progressive Never Miss an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity -- or Are We read

After Attack on Rabbi Lerner's Home: What you Can do to Help?