Given my past posts about Tikkun (especially here, here and here), it may come as no surprise that I have no sympathy whatsoever for the current plight of the illustrious Rabbi Michael Lerner. There are any number of extremely apt old saws that cover this situation. But rather than rambling on about flea-bitten dogs or roosting chickens, I'd like to point out that, up to now, Rabbi Lerner's alleged campaign against anti-Semitism on the left has been particularly muted compared to his passionate advocacy of the "rights" of palestinian supporters of terrorism and murder (though he doesn't support such activities himself) and his insistence upon inserting his personal dogma and self-flagellation into Jewish rites and rituals.
And let's be clear about Lerner's support for Israel as a Jewish State. It's a temporary evil, hopefully to be disposed of once a portion of the human race has outgrown its parochial ways.After what Jews have been through, it is not reasonable to expect them to be the first to give up the protections of an armed state. On the other hand, we see nationalism as a perverting influence in Jewish life—and one that must be overcome.
To be fair, Lerner then goes on to advocate the eradication of all "trappings of national chauvinism, militarism, and excessive focus on boundaries" worldwide. So he's an equal opportunity anti-nationalist. But he also suggests that a "truly" Jewish state would be one that didn't make petty distinctions between the religious, ethnic and cultural background of its citizens. In other words, it would be just the sort of multi-cultural secular democratic state that Israel's enemies have always advocated.
In the meantime, A.N.S.W.E.R. is claiming that Lerner was blackballed, not because of his "support" for Israel or his "campaign" against anti-Semitism, but because he called A.N.S.W.E.R. nasty names (well, that's not the way they put it, but that's the general gist). Personally, as utterly distasteful as it is to agree with A.N.S.W.E.R. about anything, I'd be more inclined to accept this explanation. In fact, the more interesting story here (because I couldn't give a flying f*&^ about whether Lerner's allowed to speak at this hate-fest or not) is that A.N.S.W.E.R., by their own admission, appears to be trying to close ranks and silence all dissent. It'll be interesting to see who else in their "peace camp" has the balls to criticize them now that Lerner's been made an "example."
