Biography
Michael Phillip Lerner was an American rabbi, political activist, and editor known for his leadership in progressive social movements. He was the longtime editor of Tikkun, a bimonthly magazine focused on progressive politics and culture, and a founder of the Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in Berkeley, California. Lerner first became active in politics in the 1960s as a student leader in the Free Speech Movement and the Berkeley chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. He was later one of the “Seattle Seven,” arrested and briefly jailed on contempt charges after a demonstration in 1970 protesting the verdicts in the Chicago Seven trial; his contempt conviction was overturned on appeal and he was released. Lerner became a prominent voice for progressive religious and political thought, advocating for economic justice, peace, and social reform through his writing, teaching, and activism.
Note: Some reference works give February 7, 1943; this record uses February 11 (contemporary Jewish press obituary).
