Mordechai Gafni

Infobox Person
name = Mordechai Gafni


image_size =
caption =
birth_name = Marc Winiarz
birth_date = birth year and age|1961
birth_place = Pittsfield, Massachusetts
nationality = American
other_names = Marc Gafni, Mark Gafni, Mordechai Winiarz, Mordechai Winyarz
website = http://www.marcgafni.com/

Mordecai Gafni (born 1961) is an American bestselling author and former Modern Orthodox rabbi, who was once associated with the Jewish Renewal movement. He is no longer associated with the movement after ongoing personal and theologic controversies.cite web
url= http://www.forward.com/articles/965/
title= Rabbi Fired Over Sex Claims, Defenders Offer Mea Culpa
accessdate= 2008-01-13
last= Siegal
first= Jennifer
date= May 19, 2006
publisher= The Forward] In 2004 and 2005 articles in Haaretz,cite web
url= http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editcolcontent.php3
title= The Re-Invented Rabbi
accessdate= 2008-01-11
last= Rosenblatt
first= Gary
date= September 24, 2004
work= Between the Lines
publisher= Jewish Week
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20040925033511/http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editcolcontent.php3
archivedate= 2004-09-25] he is described as promoting a balance between the erotic and the ethical in Judaism. He is best known for his teachings on the relationship between spirituality and eroticsm, and his claim that all failure of ethics result from a collapse of Eros.cite book
title= The Mystery of Love
last=Gafni
first=Marc
authorlink=
year= 2004
publisher= Simon and Schuster
pages= Ch 3 and 7
url= http://www.marcgafni.com] Eros is defined by Gafni in his teaching as interiority, presence, yearning and interconnectivity.cite journal
last = Gafni
first = Mordechai
year = 2003
month = March/April
title = The Erotic and the Ethical
journal = Tikkun
volume =
issue =
pages =
publisher =
location = Berkeley, CA] He also is described as promoting the integration of the feminine god head with the masculine god head through their integration in the lived life of every individual. He has referred to this process as Yichud. [On the Erotic and the Holy--Sounds True DVD series]

Biography

Gafni, also known as Marc Gafni, Mark Gafni, Marc Winiarz, Mordechai Winiarz, and Mordechai Winyarz, was born to Holocaust survivors in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.cite web
url= http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/arch/ArchSearchEngArt.jhtml
title= Post-Orthodoxy Journey
accessdate= 2008-08-11
last= Livneh
first= Neri
date= March 4, 2004
publisher= Haaretz
archiveurl= http://www.rickross.com/reference/clergy/clergy249.html
archivedate= 2005 Note:Ha'aretz archives show article (#1076999) for cost. This link is a free convenience link to the article.] Gafni was raised in Colombus, OhioFact|date=August 2008 and educated at Modern-Orthodox yeshivas in the New York area. In the 1980s, while attending Yeshiva University, Gafni worked with Jewish Public School Youth, an organization providing Jewish social clubs in public schools.cite web
url= http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/66361.htm
title= Fiend Rabbi On Run
accessdate= 2008-01-13
last= Montefinise
first= Angela
date= May 21, 2006
publisher= The New York Post
pages = pg 25
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20060614154413/http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/66361.htm
archivedate= 2006-06-14] In 1988, Gafni also worked as a Rabbi in Boca Raton, Florida. After making aliya in the 1990s, Gafni served as rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Tzofim.cite web
url= http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3252577,00.html
title= Rabbi Gafni accused of sexual assault
accessdate= 2008-07-25
last= Raved
first= Ahiya
coauthors = Avi Cohen
date= May 18, 2006
publisher= Ynetnews] When Gafni moved to Israel he hebraicized his name. "Winiarz" meaning "winemaker," is related to the Hebrew word " _he. gefen" - grape, thus the name "Gafni". In the late nineties he opened the Bayit Chadash spiritual center in Jaffa. Gafni advocated bringing eros back into Jewish practice. [cite web
url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1080405511.html?dids=1080405511:1080405511&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+14%2C+2006&author=JONATHAN+ROSENBLUM&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=10&desc=%27Sexualizing%27+the+public+square
title = 'Sexualizing' the public square
accessdate = 2008-10-11
last = Rosenblum
first = Jonathan
authorlink = Jonathan Rosenblum
date = July 14, 2006
format =
publisher = The Jerusalem Post
pages = 10
archiveurl = http://jewishmediaresources.org/article/980/
archivedate = 2008 See also Gafni, "The Erotic And The Holy: Kabbalistic Tantra for Everyday Living"]

He was ordained as a rabbi by Shlomo Riskin of Efrat. He also received rabbinical certification from the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel, and from Rabbi Gershon Winkler. Riskin has since expressed his intent to withdraw his rabbinical ordination because Gafni went beyond the bounds of Orthodoxy; when Gafni heard of Riskin's wishes, he wrote a letter returning Riskin's semicha.

He also possesses a Ph.D from Oxford University.Fact|date=August 2008

Gafni has been married and divorced three times,Fact|date=August 2008 and has three children from his marriages.

Writing

He has written a series of bestselling books on the subjects of Judaism, eroticism and spirituality.cite web
url= http://www.jewishtucson.org/page.html?ArticleID=42781
title= Israeli rabbi and best-selling author Marc Gafni to lecture in Tucson
accessdate= 2008-01-13
publisher= "Arizona Jewish Post"] His book "Soul Prints" was the subject of a PBS special. "Who is afraid of Lilith? Rereading the Kabbalah of the Feminine Shadow", a book Gafni cowrote with Ohad Ezrachi, was described by the publisher as offering "the much-needed perspective of the male feminist viewpoint." [cite news|title=PR Newswire Europe|date=July 11, 2005]

His books were published by "Simon and Schuster".cite web
url= http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=360232
title= Marc Gafni
accessdate= 2008-01-13
publisher= Simon and Schuster] He released an audio lecture series in 2004, entitled "The Soul Prints Workshop: Wisdom Teachings from the Kabbalah Illuminating Your Unique Life Purpose".

Allegations of improprietry

Gafni has been accused of sexual improprieties for years. Allegations resurfaced in 2006 after three women accused Gafni of sexual harassment. Within a few days of the allegatiions, Gafni admitted to improprieties, left his position at Bayit Chadash in Israel, and left Israel. The ramifications of the accusations and subsequent removal from Bayit Chadash led to its closure.cite journal
last= Ner-David
first= Jacob
year = 2006
month = December
title = Genug: Time for a Change
journal = Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility
publisher = [http://www.jflmedia.com/templates/about.php?title=text/abt_t_ovrvw.txt&content=text/abt_ovrvw.txt Jewish Family & Life!]
location = Boston
url = http://www.shma.com/dec_06/genug.htm
accessdate = 2008-01-13] Once in the United States, Gafni sent a remorseful letter to his congregation,cite web
url= http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=717530&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7
title= Rabbi Mordechai Gafni accused of sexually exploiting women
accessdate= 2008-01-13
last= Singer-Heruti
first= Roni
date= May 18, 2006
publisher= Haaretz] causing his former supporters to express regret. Gafni, on his personal website, later explained that the letter was to cool the controversy and was not an admonition of fault; Gafni maintains that the allegations are untrue.cite web
url= http://www.marcgafni.com/?page_id=419&lan=english
title= Why I Signed the Letter
accessdate= 2008-07-25
last= Gafni
first= Marc
year= 2007]

In July 2008, an article published in the magazine Catalyst, a publication for which Gafni himself had written anonymously, attempted to counter earlier accusations, in particular the claims of harassment by the three women and of sexual predation, citing new evidence including recovered emails and lie detector tests.cite journal
last = Bell
first = Jeff
coauthors = Greta Belanger deJong
year = 2008
month = July
title = Trial by Internet: An archetypal spiritual drama
journal = Catalyst Magazine
volume = 27
issue = 7
pages = pp. 20–25
publisher = Catalyst Magazine
location = Salt Lake City, Utah
url = http://www.catalystmagazine.net/pdfs/0708/catalyst_0708.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2008-07-25] The article also quotes former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson as supporting Gafni's contention that the allegations of harassment are untrue, and that the relationships were mutual and consensual.

Bibliography

Books

*A Certain Spirit; {Vadai} Re-Defining Certainty. Hebrew, Modan Publishers, 1999

*A Uncertain Spirit, {Safek} Reclaiming Uncertainty as as Spiritual Value, Hebrew Modan Publishers, 1999

*"Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment" (Paperback - January 29, 2002)

*"The Mystery of Love" (Paperback - March 16, 2004)

*"The Erotic And The Holy: Kabbalistic Tantra for Everyday Living" (February 2006)

*"Seelenmuster" (Paperback - June 1, 2002)

*Gafni and Ohad Ezrachi. "Who is afraid of Lilith? Rereading the Kabbalah of the Feminine Shadow" (Modan Publishing House - 2005)

Audiography

*"The Soul Prints Workshop: Wisdom Teachings from the Kabbalah Illuminating Your Unique Life Purpose" Sounds True (2004)
*"The Erotic and the Holy: The Kabbalistic Tantra of Everyday Life" Sounds True, 2005

References

External links

* [http://www.marcgafni.com/ Marc Gafni's personal web site]

Persondata
NAME = Gafni, Mordechai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Marc Gafni, Mark Gafni, Mordechai Winiarz, Mordechai Winyarz
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American Jewish Renewal rabbi
DATE OF BIRTH = 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH = Pittsfield, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =