Myths and Facts on Wikipedia’s Public Figure Page on Dr. Marc Gafni
Myth and Fact about Wikipedia itself
It’s a well-known fact that the personal public figure pages on Wikipedia are at best, inaccurate and often highly distorted, deceptive and misleading. The literature on Wikipedia points out that these pages are often controlled by a small group of editors. The editors get involved with that page because they have they have personal relationships, directly or indirectly with some of the parties to a controversy about which the page speaks. Or because they have a “woke”, or anti-male, or anti-teacher bias, which causes them to support a particular position regarding is the person who is the subject of a particular page. None of this is stated publicly. So the reader does no know that the page has been hijacked by editors who are using their editorial power to slant or overtly distort the story.
What that means is that, at least in terms of the personal pages, Wikipedia’s neutrality has been shown to be but a myth.
There is a further myth which is that Wikipedia is a public page that anyone can add valid information to, as long as there is a validated source. As the extensive literature on Wikipedia referenced above points out, this as well is an absolute myth.
Setting the Record Straight on Myths of Marc Gafni’s Wikipedia Page
What we’re going to do in this short post is to simply set the record straight in terms of approximately 20 wrong facts, distortions, or deceptions that appear on Dr. Marc Gafni’s Wikipedia page. Before we start enumerating the list of what we might call Myths and Facts (myths that appear on the page, in contradistinction to the facts), perhaps one other point is in order.
There is a very significant, well-researched and detailed analysis of the issues at play on this Wikipedia page on a site called WhoIsMarcGafni.com. On that website there are some 20 well-researched articles that refute—adducing extensive primary sources—virtually all of the claims made on this Wikipedia page. If you’re interested in this issue, it’s well worth going to the site and checking out some of the lead articles.
- This brief refutation section on WhoIsMarcGafni.com leads to several key articles.
- Using the Internet to Attempt Social Murder — by Dr. Kristina Kincaid and Chahat Corten.
- Takedown Culture: Nancy Levine’s Egregious Con-Job, a Modern Day Gaston from The Beauty and The Beast — by Dr. Kristina Kincaid.
- Injustice via the Internet: Myths, Facts, & Smear Campaigns in the Marc Gafni Story — An Exposé by Kerstin Tuschik
- The Hidden Story of the Marc Gafni Smear Campaign and the People Who Want Him Dead — Dr. Clint Fuhs
- A podcast with Dr. Gafni, his partner Dr. Kristina Kincaid and Aubrey Marcus entitled Healing the Wounds of Culture
In this post, we will not cover the issues covered in these and other articles. But for the interested reader, those articles entirely refuted, based on meticulously gathered facts and records, virtually every point made in the deceptive and distorted narrative painted by the Wikipedia editors.
In this section we are simply going to point to some myths and facts in the Wikipedia article on Dr. Marc Gafni in a series bullet points. We will, of course, not attempt to recapitulate the detail and depth in the articles above.
1. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“In 2004 he faced accusations of sexual assault during the 1980s from two women who were teenagers at the time.”
Facts:
Both of these stories were false claims. They are dealt with in depth in articles on the WhoIsMarcGafni.com site. Here is one of several articles that deals with it directly: Using the Internet to Attempt Social Murder, by Dr. Kristina Kincaid and Chahat Corten.
For the purpose of this myth and fact post, suffice it to say:
1. The key story that has been recirculated on the internet again and again involved teenage necking (forty-four years ago).
2. Not only was the woman a teenager at the time, Gafni himself was a teenager at the time. That, of course, is profoundly distorted on the Wikipedia page and left out of both claims.
3. Both claims were refuted by Gafni. His refutation was validated by the best polygraph expert in America, who did the polygraph training for experts at America’s intelligence agencies. You can find the results of both polygraph tests here.
2. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Despite Gafni’s denials and attempts to frame the relationships as consensual, the allegations led to significant fallout including the return on his rabbinical ordination to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin.”
Facts:
1. Gafni did not attempt to frame the relationships as consensual, they were consensual.
2. Gafni’s version of what happened was validated by expert polygraph tests.
3. There are multiple internal contradictions within the stories told by these two people.
4. Gafni on his own initiative returned his rabbinical ordination to Shlomo Riskin, because they had diverged on theological and philosophical issues. Gafni’s decision and initiative had nothing to do with the issues above. Read more on Gafni’s ordination here.
3. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“More allegations emerged in 2006 from attendees of the Bayit Hadash Center, resulting in its closure.”
Facts:
- A student that Gafni had ordained and then evicted from his ordination circle—because of the student’s egregious ethical violations—came together with an angry former wife and an employee who was fired, and together they organized a number of false claims that were made in 2006. Read “Anatomy of a Smear: the Internet Trial of Marc Gafni” by Dr. Clint Fuhs.
- Those claims were utterly refuted by polygraph test. They were also refuted by a recovery of hundreds of emails between Gafni and the persons involved, which indicated, beyond a shadow of the doubt, that the relationships were mutual, honoring and appropriate. Read “Anatomy of a Smear: the Internet Trial of Marc Gafni” by Dr. Clint Fuhs.
- It’s further worth noting that these two groups, the 2004 group (see myth quote 1 above), and this 2006 group, were in relationship with each other, were part of the same social circle, they were part of one coherent group that was coalesced, egged on, and motivated by two specific figures who were visceral political adversaries of Gafni. All of this is, of course, complete absent in the Wikipedia article. Listen to playlist 4: “Truth, Abuse and Malice in the Marc Gafni story.”
4. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“He characterized the relationships as consensual and supported this by posting polygraphs results on his website.”
Facts:
Gafni supported this not only by polygraph results on his website, but there are multiple detailed articles that introduce hundreds of emails between Marc and the two people involved, all of which indicate that the relationships were a billion percent consensual, mutual, respectful and appropriate.
5. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“In 2006 Gafni was accused by five women.”
Facts:
There were two claims made at the time, but not in any formal proceeding. Rather, the claims were made in a closed meeting of Gafni’s community at the time, where Gafni was not present. Gafni was shocked when he heard about the false claims, send evidence to key players refuting it, all of which was ignored. Indeed, the one meeting that took place in May 2006 was carefully organized to take place while Gafni was on a 12 hour plane trip back to Israel, to make sure that Gafni was not even aware of it and would not be able to respond.
There was no formal accusation in any responsible forum that would objectively check facts and gather evidence from both sides of this conflict.
There was never a process of conversation. Instead, all of this played out on the internet. The sum total of this entire 2006 story was an internet story with no formal complaints given to Gafni of any kind, no formal complaints registered in any formal place. There was no formal investigation of any kind that allowed Gafni the opportunity, first of all, to hear the complaints, and second, to refute them. Everything was played out, by intention, on the internet.
6. Myth quote from Wikepedia:
“Because of the allegations Gafni fled the country to avoid prosecution, he was dismissed from Bayit Hadash.”
Facts:
1. Gafni did not flee the country to avoid prosecution. The complaints were not registered at the police. Gafni left the country in order to be able to recover hundreds of emails that were deliberately deleted from his computer to erase evidence contradicting the false claims made on the internet.
All of those emails, Skype messages, and other forms of communication were fully recovered. They’re in the possession of Gafni’s lawyers, and they utterly refute the public claims that were made on the internet. Some of this material, although not all of it, is adduced in Dr. Clint Fuhs article: The Hidden Story of the Marc Gafni Smear Campaign and the People Who Want Him Dead.
2. For Gafni to wage a political, and public, and possibly legal fight in Israel over this issue would have cost at least $2 million. Those funds were not available to Gafni at the time. Gafni therefore decided to remain in the United States to focus on recovering the lost emails, putting up a website that provided the facts that exonerated him, and then go on to create and do good works. The prospect of spending 10 years in a public battle, which would have forced him to attack publicly and besmirch the people making the false claims, did not seem to be a sacred and appropriate use of energy and time. Gafni felt that the highest integrity was to step out of the Israeli context, instead of waging a battle which would quickly degrade, which would cause division and not healing, and which could potentially cost exorbitant sums.
7. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“His rabbinical ordination by Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi was revoked.”
Facts:
- Mordechai was a peer of Zalman Schachters, he was not his student and never received ordination from him, so there was nothing to revoke.
- Zalman’s personal funding also came from a person closely, socially and organizationally affiliated, with the false claims.
8. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Marc Gafni is not a rabbi or a spiritual leader recognized by Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal.”
Fact:
ALEPH in 2006 was an expression of Zalman’s Jewish renewal group. That group was, and is now, closely associated with the key behind the scenes organizers and supporters of the false claims.
9. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Gafni sent a remorseful letter to his congregation, saying he regretted his actions.”
Facts:
Gafni has stated very clearly that this letter was sent in order to stop the dynamic of the false complaints, and give him time to recover the deleted material from his compute. As soon as that was done, Gafni retracted that letter. See Gafni’s letter: “Why I Signed the Letter”.
10. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Judy Mitzner reiterated her assertions on the Dr. Phil show of January 19, 2018, in which Gafni appeared.”
Facts:
- Gafni has addressed Mitzner’s false claims in a detailed article on WhoIsMarcGafni.com site.
- Gafni’s refutation of Mitzner’s claims was validated by a polygraph test.
- The Dr Phil show on which Mitzner appeared was a one-on-one show in which Dr. Phil interviewed Gafni. At the end of the show, Dr. Phil supports Gafni’s continuing teaching.
- Mitzner did not appear on the show. There was a video of an interview with Mitzner, which appeared on the show, which Gafni publicly on the show directly refuted.
11. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Also in January 2016, a woman wrote that she was married to Gafni from 1999 to 2004 in an anonymous opinion peace in The Times of Israel. The article was in response to New York Times article about Gafni the preceding week.”
Facts:
- The woman in question, Chaya Lester, was Gafni’s former wife. Gafni initiated the divorce with Lester. Lester was bitter and was one of the three people who organized the false claims in Israel in 2006. Lester has been at the forefront for two decades of attacking Gafni. Read “Marc Gafni’s Response to Chaya Lester: Marc’s Former Wife.”
- It should be noted that three months before Lester organized the false claims of 2006, she contacted Gafni, imploring him to remarry her, which he refused.
- What’s perhaps worth noting, Lester was highly physically and emotionally abusive to Gafni, for the entire length of the relationship, which is the reason that Gafni initiated the divorce.
12. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Gafni commented ‘She was 14, going on 35 and I never forced her.’”
Facts:
- That quote is completely taken out of context and distorted. Gafni was describing Sara Kabakov to a journalist in the year 2001. He had said that they had a teenage relationship, that Sara was 14 and he was still a teenager. Then in a positive and supportive comment, he said that Sara was wise beyond her years, insightful and perceptive, which he described in the terms “14 going on 35.”
- When that journalist suggested that that there was some dimension of coercion in the relationship, Gafni categorically refuted that. His refutation is supported by an extensive polygraph test, and by a long letter written by Kabakov at the time in which she characterized their relationship as mutual and beautiful.
13. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“A number of new-age spiritual leaders, who had previously worked with and endorsed Gafni, publicly withdrew their support and wrote a public statement disavowing him, including Deepak Chopra, Joan Borysenko, Andrew Harvey, Jean Houston, and Stephen Dinan.”
Facts:
- Steven Dinan organized the smear campaign of 2015 in conjunction with the key figures who organized the false claims of 2006.”
- Dinan did so because he was furious with Barbara Marx Hubbard, who was a leading teacher in his system, for leaving his system to partner and write with Dr. Gafni. [ put link on this – to the Barbara video on whoismarcgafni who tells this story..and to my article eight steps in crowd sourcing a witch hunt..]
- None of those teachers, Chopra, Borysenko, Harvey, Houston, or Dinan ever worked with or endorsed Gafni. That simply never happened.
- All of those teachers were in for-profit relationships with Dinan, either working directly with him, for him, or in mutually beneficial, financial relationships with him.
- Deepak Chopra wrote Dinan and asked him to remove his name from the statement against Gafni, saying he wanted nothing to do with this. Read the email here.
14. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“[…] a petition from over 100 rabbi’s denouncing Gafni.”
Facts:
- Gafni does not know virtually any of those rabbis.
- Of the few that he does know, not even one has had any direct conversation with him on any of these issues.
- All of them are mutually interdependent professionally, and therefore operate with a kind of professional “group think”. If they challenge the organizers of these attacks, they risk significant social and professional damage.
15. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“A group of Gafni’s close former students published a public letter disavowing him as a teacher, accusing him of multiple forms of abuse, deceptions and betrayals, explaining why they consider him to be dangerous.”
Facts:
- Gafni barely knows these students. They were part of a group of people in a large course that Gafni gave.
- They are, personally, professionally and socially, close to the key figures that organized false complaints and were encouraged to publish this letter as part of the 2015 smear campaign again. Again, Gafni barely knows them, and they’ve had no direct contact with him, inquiring or seeking to clarify any issues or facts.
16. Myth quote from Wikipedia:
“Gafni was a Scholar in Residence at the Integral Institute and the Director of the Integral Spiritual Experience but was asked to leave after allegations of sexual involvement with a student were raised. Integral Life, one of Gafni’s promoters, deleted his contributions from its website and announced that it was distancing itself from him.”
Facts:
- 1Gafni was not a scholar in residence at the Integral Institute. He was the director of Integral Spiritual Experience, where he worked closely with Ken Wilber. Gafni continues to work closely with Ken Wilber. Read Ken Wilber’s Statement of Support to Marc Gafni and the Center here.
- Marc and Ken founded together the Center for Integral Wisdom.
- The co-owner of Integral Life and Integral Institute Robb Smith, worked closely with the organizers of the false claims in Israel in 2006, in order to assert full control over the integral scene. Gafni was uninterested in a political conflict with Robb Smith. As a result, Gafni together with Zak Stein and a group of other significant teachers, stepped away from the integral scene. Marc, together with Ken Wilber, opened the Center for Integral Wisdom.