Marc Gafni

Marc Gafni (born Marc Winiarz; 1960) is an American philosopher, author, and rabbi who became a New Age spiritual teacher with a focus on Integral Theory, Eros, and "outrageous love".

He is the president of the Center for the Integral Wisdom, which he co-founded with Ken Wilber and he is the president of the Office for the Future.

Gafni was born in 1960 to Holocaust survivors in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Gafni was educated at Modern-Orthodox yeshivas in the New York City area.

In the 1980s, while attending Yeshiva University, Gafni worked with Jewish Public School Youth (JPSY), an organization providing Jewish social clubs in public schools.

Gafni has been accused of sexual assault multiple times dating back to the 1980s.

In 1988, Gafni also worked as a rabbi in Boca Raton, Florida.

After making aliyah, Gafni served as rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Tzofim.

When Gafni moved to Israel in 1988, he Hebraicized his name.

"Winiarz", Polish for "vintner", is related to the Hebrew word (גפן), which means "grape"—thus the name "Gafni".

Gafni has three children from previous marriages and one child with Mariana Caplan.

Gafni majored in philosophy as an undergraduate at Queens College and earned his Doctorate in Philosophy from Wolfson College at Oxford University.

His doctoral thesis was entitled, "The Theology of Acosmic Humanism: Mordechai Lainer of Izbica."

He is the author of twelve books including the USA Book News Award for Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment and Radical Kabbalah He hosted a National television show in Israel called Tachat Gafno from 1999 to 2002.

Gafni has been the subject of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over many years, which he has denied.

In 2004, Gafni was accused by two women of sexual assaulting them during the 1980s when they were teenagers.

His other rabbinical ordination by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was revoked in 2006.

In 2006, The Alliance for Jewish Renewal has condemned Gafni's behavior stated, "Marc Gafni is not a rabbi or spiritual leader recognized by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal."

Gafni's teachings are described as integral or world spirituality, incorporating traditional religious studies with contemporary themes, and are aimed at spirituality for people who do not identify with one specific religion.

Gafni describes himself and his students as "dual citizens" of both their native traditional religion and the broader themes of "world spirituality".

He advocates a new set of teachings around eros, sexuality, and relationships in his book Mystery of Love and CD set Erotic and the Holy.

At the core of his message is what Gafni refers to as the Unique Self.

Gafni believes that "the sexual is the ultimate Spiritual Master" and has written "I was convinced from an early age that religion had lost what I believed must have been its original erotic vitality. I knew that the sexual, if liberated and ethically expressed, must somehow hold the mystery of return to the much larger-than-sexual Eros."

Gafni states that he currently holds ordination from non-denominational Rabbi Gershon Winkler, received in 2008.

Gafni had received Orthodox semikhah from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Renewal semikhah from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

However, as a result of the various allegations against Gafni, Gafni returned his rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin to spare his former teacher "any further embarrassment" after Riskin expressed he wanted to revoke Gafni's ordination on the grounds that Gafni's theology had extended "beyond the bounds of Orthodoxy".

In 2011, Gafni, Mariana Caplan, Sally Kempton, and Lori Galperin founded the Center for World Spirituality, which later evolved into the Center for Integral Wisdom.

At the Center, Gafni and Ken Wilber founded a Wisdom Council to envision a spirituality based on Integral Principles.

The Wisdom Council,, included members such as Gafni, Wilber, Tony Robbins, Warren Farrell, Lori Galperin, Sally Kempton.

The co-chair of Center for World Spirituality was Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.

Gafni was a Scholar in Residence at the Integral Institute and the Director of the Integral Spiritual Experience but was asked to leave after the 2011 allegations of his sexual misconduct.

, Gafni is the author of twelve books on spirituality and religion.

He wrote Radical Kabbalah, a two-volume work published by Integral Publishers in 2012.

In 2012, he published Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment with a foreword written by Wilber, which won a 2012 USA Best Book Awards in Spirituality: General category.

In 2017, he published A Return to Eros: The Radical Experience of Being Fully Alive, co-authored with Dr. Kristina Kincaid.

In 2020, A Return to Eros was narrated by actress and producer Gabrielle Anwar.

Dr. Zak Stein wrote an academic review of A Return to Eros, published under the title "Love in a Time Between Worlds: On the Metamodern 'Return' to a Metaphysics of Eros" in the peer review journal Integral Review.

Stein writes: "At the heart of A Return to Eros is a new metaphysical narrative about love and sex."

While in Israel, Gafni hosted (תחת גפנו), a television program broadcast on Israel's Channel 2.

Gafni also did a series of weekly television spots with Israeli comedian Gil Kopatch on biblical wisdom for every day life.