This article appeared in the July 22, 2004 Jewish Advocate.

Tikkun to sponsor DNC series

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

The Berkeley, California-based Tikkun movement will be sponsoring a series of events at the Boston Social Forum during the weekend preceding the Democratic National Convention, as well as a session with DNC Delegates on Monday, July 26 in Cambridge.

The Boston Social Forum, held from Friday-Sunday, July 23-25, at the UMass-Boston Campus, will feature hundreds of workshops, panels and discussions. Tikkun’s talks and workshops, says organizer Joshua Bernstein, will advocate “a spiritual vision for inner healing and world transformation.” Other New England organizers are Hayyim Feldman and Julie Oxenberg. Workshop speakers will include Roger S. Gottlieb, author of “Joining hands: Politics and Religion together for Social Change,” Erbin Crowell of Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee’s Interfaith Program, Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun magazine and Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Keiner of the Compassionate Listening Project. Workshop themes will be “Overview: Politics of Meaning,” “Interdependence and Ecological Sanity,” “The Globalization of Spirit: Global Democracy and Sustainability,” “Emancipatory spirituality: Building a spiritual-political movement,” and “Caring for One Another’s Well-Being: Social and Economic Justice.”

Lerner will lead a Sabbath service on Friday night. Over the weekend, he will speak on healing Israel and Palestine as well as on building community and making connections. Lerner has voiced opposition to Kerry’s recent embrace of the policies of Ariel Sharon, and is advocating for Kerry to show more support for the Israeli peace movement.

Lerner, Cornel West, the author of “Race Matters” and co-chair of the Tikkun Community, Medea Benjamin, founder of Global Exchange and the United for Peace coalition, Thomas Moore, author of “Care of the Soul” and “The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life,” Tikkun Executive Director Robyn Lundy and others will speak at Monday’s event, held from 1-4 p.m. at the Hotel Marlowe (Serrano Ballroom) in Cambridge, a few miles from the convention site.

For information, email Josh jgbern@yahoo.com, hf@theworld.com, joxenberg@hotmail.com) or visit www.tikkun.org.