A New Age retreat center in rural Northern California canceled a Hanukkah concert after the Jewish musician leading the event came under attack online for being a Zionist.
Harbin Hot Springs, a self-described “clothing optional” retreat center on 3,000 acres of “sacred land” about 20 miles north of Calistoga, features a network of spring-fed pools, meditation classes and sessions on “heart consciousness,” its guiding philosophy. Harbin, whose origins as a resort date back to 1870, is run by the Heart Consciousness Church, a religious nonprofit that describes itself as the “practical, living embodiment of Oneness.”
A nonprofit spokesperson said Monday in a statement to J. that Harbin’s leaders felt compelled to cancel the “sacred Chanukah concert” due to safety concerns. The Dec. 26 event, scheduled for the second night of the holiday, was canceled on Dec. 20.
“This decision was not made lightly,” according to the email from Lia Findley Jennings, managing director of the Heart Consciousness Church. “In recent days, we became aware of escalating concerns regarding the event, including heightened rhetoric and potential threats of violence on social media. After thorough consideration and out of an abundance of caution, we determined that proceeding with the event under these circumstances posed an unacceptable risk to everyone involved.”
The statement added that Harbin would welcome the Jewish musician, Mikey Pauker, a former Oakland resident who lives in Orange County, in the future “when appropriate security measures are in place.”
The incident is only the latest example of a Jewish musician, writer or artist who has faced opprobrium or cancellation due to real or perceived support for Israel since Oct. 7 of last year, when the ongoing Israel-Hamas war began with an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israeli soil.
One of the most prominent examples has been Matisyahu, the popular Jewish reggae and hip-hop artist who has visited with and played music for Israeli soldiers. Earlier this year, three Matisyahu concerts in the U.S. were canceled due to threats of protests. His February concert in Berkeley faced protesters outside the venue but went on as planned.
At a music camp in the Bay Area this past summer, an Israeli guitarist who had served in the Israel Defense Forces was protested by high-level staff. The camp rescinded his employment offer citing administrative problems with his employment paperwork.
In the literary world, San Francisco’s Book Passage canceled a February appearance by actor and short-story writer Brett Gelman, who is an outspoken Zionist. And a talk at a Brooklyn bookstore was canceled in August because one of the speakers is a Zionist.
Pauker is a guitarist, singer and composer who plays what he calls “devotional” Jewish music, akin to Christian rock but with Jewish lyrics and themes.
He is very much a part of the New Age scene, he said, and performs at festivals across the country that embrace spirituality, mysticism and environmentalism. He sings in both English and Hebrew, borrowing from prayer liturgy, such as the traditional Friday night song “Shalom Aleichem,” which appears on his album “Extraordinary Love.” Pauker is currently studying to become a rabbi and cantor online at the nondenominational Academy for Jewish Religion based in Yonkers, New York.
As a Jewish artist who supports Israel, he said, it’s been a trying period in the New Age music scene.
“I’ve been canceled from multiple festivals in the past couple years. I’ve had a lot of artists sending death threats, hate messages,” he said. “All I’ve been doing is putting my head down and just trying to move forward, but I can’t anymore. I need to tell people.”
After Harbin Hot Springs began promoting the concert on social media, a flurry of angry responses accused Pauker of being a “terrorist” who supports genocide.
“This Christmas Eve, you can listen to the project genocide music of Mikey Parkour,” one post from an anonymous account said, misstating the concert date and misspelling Pauker’s last name. “Ask Harbin not to support genocide and cancel him!”
Many of the posts came from Derek Cyr, a California man who has visited Harbin and feels a connection to it. In one post from his Facebook account, Cyr called Pauker’s work “devotional terrorist music.”
J. spoke with Cyr on the phone. He was triumphant that, in his view, he was able to convince Harbin to cancel the event.
“My main thing is I really dislike hypocrisy,” Cyr said. “For him to be going around claiming to be a peace-loving musician, sending positive vibes into the world, and then posting pictures of tanks on his wall — it’s just not going to work for me.”
Cyr was referring to a social media post from Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, when Pauker published a photo of an Israeli tank kicking up a cloud of dust. Superimposed over the image were the words “I stand with Israel.”
Cyr said that anyone who supports Israel, in his view, supports genocide.
One angry Facebook post, which responded to a promotion of Pauker’s concert by calling the musician a “terrorist lover,” came from a Facebook account for Sinergy Events, which hosts adult sex parties in California. A background check indicated that Cyr at one time worked for Sinergy Events as a “tantrapaneuer.”
During his interview with J., Cyr called the publication an “evil Israeli newspaper.” Asked about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, he said he believes that Israel was behind it and called it a “false flag” operation. Similar false conspiracy theories are rampant in far-left and far-right circles.
Soon after Pauker’s event was canceled, Cyr sent him a gloating email under the subject line “Canceled Bitch!” Pauker shared the email with J., and Cyr acknowledged that he had sent it.
“Winner winner canceled dinner!” the email said. “Keep your psychotic Zionist genocidal shit out of our peaceful communities!!! I am watching you and will have canceled [sic] anywhere you go.”
Pauker said he has contacted law enforcement about the email and other threats tied to his support for Israel.
“His website’s public,” Cyr said when asked about the phrase “I’m watching you.” “If he plays anywhere, I’m gonna let them know.”
On social media, Pauker has been open about his Zionism. He considers himself a “religious Zionist,” in the sense that he embraces the Jewish longing for Zion as part of his Jewish identity and practice.
He sometimes wades into the politics and history of the region on social media. On Oct. 7 — the first anniversary of the Hamas massacre — he posted about the topic on Instagram.
“I am Zion and Zion is within me,” his post said. “Our birthright is to be the guardians of Israel and of paradise. A small people yet with the strength of our God we will prevail.”
Pauker said he wishes for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and is involved with interfaith work between Muslims and Jews.
“I do everything I can to build bridges and not be a part of the polarization,” he said.
After he learned his event was canceled, he sent a lengthy email the same day to Harbin expressing his disappointment and asking for a reversal of the decision.
He wrote that the “complaints” against him “stem from misinformation and a misunderstanding of Zionism,” which he said for most Jewish people is “intrinsic to our faith” and reflects a “spiritual and historical connection to the land of Israel.”
He asked center leaders not to succumb to “cancel culture.”
“I believe Harbin Hot Springs has the capacity to stand as a beacon of fairness and understanding in these divisive times,” Pauker said in the email, which he shared with J. “Discrimination against individuals for their faith identity must be addressed. I am committed to standing against such injustice.”