February 20, 2006 | Events

Tikkun Editor/Rabbi to Speak

By Wendy Leopold

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the bimonthly magazine TIKKUN and author of a newly published book about the need to reclaim America from the religious right, will deliver a lecture Thursday, March 2, at Northwestern University.

Titled “Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right,” Lerner’s lecture will take place at 6 p.m. in Room 107 of Harris Hall, 1881 Sheridan Road, on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. A reception will follow in Room 108 of Harris Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.

Not surprisingly, Lerner’s newly published “The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right” (Harper San Francisco) has earned him plaudits from the left and criticism from the right. A spiritual manifesto for a new kind of change, Lerner’s new book includes a survey of American history and ideology and argues for the adoption of a life of higher purpose rather than a life of materialism.

Lerner’s book was celebrated at the “Spiritual Covenant for America” conference of religious and political liberals and progressives that took place last summer in Berkeley. The conference was designed to launch a spiritual politics agenda and train organizers to bring the conference agenda to their communities. Lerner, with other leaders, will participate in a similar conference scheduled to take place in May in Washington, D.C.

Lerner, who in addition to his work for TIKKUN, a Jewish critique of politics culture and society, is also rabbi of Beyt Tikkun, a San Francisco area synagogue and community. His ideas first received national attention when Hillary Clinton adopted Lerner’s notion of the “politics of meaning.” His attention to healing tensions between blacks and Jews led to his friendship with Cornel West and the publication of their 1995 book titled “Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin.”

For further information about the lecture, call (847) 491-7946 or e-mail hum@northwestern.edu.