CALIFORNIA
Monterey County Weekly
Sara Rubin
People who have met Marc Gafni describe him as magnetic, the kind of person who draws you in. The part-time Pacific Grove resident has built a successful career as a spiritual leader, author and speaker. He’s a founder of the Center for Integral Wisdom, an “activist think tank” based on promoting a philosophy of personal and cultural transformation.
Gafni, 55, himself has gone through transformations in his career, working under different names in different countries, in the religious and secular realms.
Judy Mitzner knew Gafni in 1986, when he was Mordechai Winiarz, a 24-year-old orthodox Jewish rabbi, and she was an observant 16-year-old. She was staying with him and his wife, and says he approached her basement bedroom, said “You know what you want,” and climbed into bed naked with her.
“At the time, the rabbinate said, ‘We’re sorry to hear that, but we’re going to deal with it internally,’” Mitzner recalls.
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