Kabbalah Centre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kabbalah
Centre at 1062 S Robertson Blvd in Los Angeles, California
The Kabbalah Centre is a non-profit
organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that
provides courses on the Kabbalah online, and
through its local centres and study groups. The modern-day presentation of
Kabbalah was developed by its current leader, Philip Berg (a traditionally
trained orthodox rabbi who had left the religious clergy and became an
insurance salesman before learning Kabbalah) and his wife, Karen Berg.[1] The Kabbalah
Centre includes Jewish and non-Jewish teachers and students.[2]
Kabbalistic
tradition has long held that Kabbalah is so complicated and so easily
misunderstood that students may only begin to approach it with a strong
background in Jewish law and only after age
40, the age of wisdom according to the Mishnah.[3] Some see the
Centre as a perversion of Judaism's ancient and secretive mystic tradition.[4]
As a religious
not-for-profit organization, it is exempt from federal income taxes under
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.[5]
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Kabbalah
Centre in New York City in 2008
The Kabbalah
Centre was founded in the United States in 1965 as The National Research
Institute of Kabbalah by Philip Berg (born Feivel
Gruberger) and Rav Yehuda Tzvi Brandwein.[6] Brandwein in turn
was the Dean of Yeshivah Kol Yehuda in Israel (a precursor of the US Kabbalah
Centres) which was founded in 1922. After Brandwein's death, and after several
years in Israel, Philip Berg and his wife Karen Berg,
re-established the U.S. Kabbalah Centre in New York.
The current
headquarters of the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles was opened in
1984. Karen and their sons Yehuda and Michael act
as directors and spiritual leaders of the organization. The organization is a
registered non-profit[5] with over fifty
branches worldwide, including major ones in Los Angeles, New York City,London and Toronto.
The Kabbalah
Centre's approach to teaching is to start students with practical methods that
do not make previous knowledge of Hebrew and
Jewish texts a prerequisite for understanding.
According to its
views, all widely-held spiritual or religious belief systems are merely
specific branches of a universal wisdom. The effect of this is a resemblance of
religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism, as well as
new-age teachings, to Kabbalah. In accordance with this belief, the Kabbalah
Centre does not present itself as an alternative to any religion in particular, but
rather, as a supplement to it.
According to the
Kabbalah Centre, the Hebrew Bible is not to be taken literally,
as it is wholly a code, and can only
be truly understood in this context.[citation needed] The Kabbalah
Centre claims that its teachings, based largely on the text and understanding
of the Zohar, provide the conventions to unlock and
understand this code. This includes the true meaning of the days of creation
and the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis.
Some biblical
passages, such as the Passage of the Red Sea, are spoken of as actual
historical events.
One should
primarily be concerned with their relationship with the essence of God, rather than God himself, as he is beyond
comprehension. The essence of God is referred to in its teachings asLight.[7] In the beginning,
there was only Light, but its nature was to share and it had no recipient for
this natural desire. Therefore the Light created a vessel to be the recipient
of the Light. Upon receiving this Light, the vessel came to inherit some of its
properties, just as a glass, when filled with cold water, becomes cold itself.
Chiefly, the vessel inherited the desire to share. To accomplish this, the
vessel refused the Light, an act called Restriction, and thus broke into two
parts so that it could share with itself. It is from these two parts that the
souls of all males and females are derived, respectively. The breaking of the
vessel created ten unique sefirot, all of
which have a particular relationship to humans and the perceivable universe.[citation needed]
The five senses provide access to
a mere 1% of reality, which is the byproduct of a 99% reality that cannot be
accessed by the senses.[8] Since the
circumstances of the unperceivable 99% of reality dictate those of the 1%
normally perceived, one must use kabbalistic wisdom to access the 99%, thereby
providing context to the 1%. No occurrence in life, in the 1%, is accidental or
random; rather it is completely the calculated result of the 99%. All confusion and appearance of chaos is an illusion
created by the absence of such context. The 99% is characteristic of pure joy,
understanding, and truth.[citation needed]
Naturally, an
event occurs, which triggers an emotional response, which
one then acts on. To truly control a situation, one must consider one's
emotional reactions themselves as the enemy, and not one's cause. If one is
able to restrict himself from acting on his primary emotional reactions, the
best possible course of action will come to him naturally. Only by restricting
one's emotional reflexes to negative situations can one consciously remove the
impact of his ego.[citation needed] One's instinct to
egotistically react to a situation is referred to as the Opponent, or "The
Satan". For example, when one is standing in line at the automated teller machine for twenty
minutes, it is not the person in front of him, but his frustration that is the
enemy. If one does not practice restriction, his existence becomes the automatic outcome of our
circumstances, rather than a proactive experience of his creation.[citation needed]
Kabbalah Centre
teaches the Kabbalistic concept of Klippot. The idea is
that everyone has a direct and clear connection to the upper
metaphysical-spiritual world of the Light (Ein Sof, unbounded
God), but that this channel is blocked by Klippot, restricting the spiritual
energy from entering the physical body. It is through meditation and practice
of Kabbalah teachings and Jewish law (which the Kabbalah Centre says is early
Rabbinistic construction to aid in practicing Kabbalah without revealing its
secrets) that one removes Klippot, and it is by violence and negative behaviour
that one adds Klippot.[9]
The Kabbalah
Centre has a strong belief in astrology and asserts that
astrology has been part of Judaism since its inception. The Centre claims
astrology was lost in Jewish tradition as part of the suppression of Kabbalah
by rabbis nearly
2000 years ago (evidence of this includes ancient synagogues with zodiac rings).
This claim is historically inaccurate, as astrology was studied by Jewish
scholars throughout the Middle Ages, though it was opposed by more
philosophically inclined thinkers such as Maimonides.[citation needed]
There is a strong
belief in the Kabbalah tradition that cosmic forces
affect everything, and knowing how to understand them can prove to be valuable
to the aspiring Kabbalist. Philip Berg, the founder of the Kabbalah Centre, is
himself an astrologer and has written
numerous books on astrology during his career.[citation needed]
It is not
recommended that men masturbate, as the sperm are abandoned
souls that become demons. When a woman's insides come into
contact with a man's sperm, they are coming into contact with the essence of
their energy and
are affected by this for several years.[9] The man should notorgasm before
the woman, as it injects selfishness into the act of love making.[9] A couple should
not engage in sex with the woman positioned above the man, as she is then
drawing energies into herself from below, instead of above.[9] The most Light is
derived from sex that occurs early Saturday morning.[9]
Painting
of Madonna Practicing Kabbalah called Madonna and God in Mystical Oneness by
Peter Reynosa
Madonna studies
regularly with a personal Kabbalah Centre rabbi, no longer gives concerts on Friday
night (which is the onset of Shabbat), wears thered string around
her left wrist for protection and to ward off the "Evil Eye" (Ayin
Hara), has introduced Jewish ritual objects such as tefillin("phylacteries")
into her videos and tithes regularly
to the Kabbalah Centre.[10] In July, 2006 the
media reported an unfounded rumour that Madonna was leaving the Kabbalah Centre[11] and one media
columnist speculated that one reason was alleged financial irregularities of
donations to the centre.[10]Despite
the uncorroborated allegations of financial irregularities, the rumour turned
out to be false, and Madonna continues to attend Kabbalah Centre events. In
fact, Madonna has collaborated with the Kabbalah Centre on a new project called Raising Malawi,
which will provide relief aid to the African nation of Malawi.[12] When Madonna tried
to partner Raising Malawi with UNICEF, UNICEF demurred due to this project's
close association with the Kabbalah Centre.[13]
Lindsay Lohan has also had some
involvement with the organization, and has been seen wearing the associated red
string on her wrist.[14] Other celebrities
that have been associated with the Centre include Roseanne Barr, Sandra Bernhard, Anthony Kiedis, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Lucy Liu, Alex Rodriguez, Rosie O'Donnell, Naomi Campbell, Donna Karan, Elizabeth Taylor, Mischa Barton, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, [15] Nicole Richie, James
Van Der Beek, and Heather McComb.
Britney Spears and
Jerry Hall left the movement in 2006 and 2005. Jerry Hall, ex-wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick
Jagger, left the Kabbalah Centre after she was asked to tithe ten
percent of her revenues. Paris Hilton also left, and has gone back to the Roman
Catholic faith.[16]
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This article's Criticism or Controversy section may
compromise the article's neutral
point of view of the subject. Please integrate
the section's contents into the article as a whole, or
rewrite the material. (February 2013)
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The Kabbalah Centre
has been described as an "opportunistic offshoot of the faith, with
charismatic leaders who try to attract the rich and the vulnerable with the
promise of health, wealth, and happiness." [17] Some Jewish
organizations distinguish it as non-Jewish and consider its patronage by Jews
problematic.[18] The Centre's
self-help teachings and its sale of Kabbalah-themed merchandise has been
criticized as a perversion of Judaism's ancient and secretive mystic tradition.[4]
There was media
controversy in 2005 related to a recorded comment by a Kabbalah Centre leader
regarding the Holocaust. According
to a BBC news
article, Eliyahu Yardeni, a senior figure in the London Kabbalah Centre has
been quoted as saying, "Just to tell you another thing about the six
million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust: the question was that the Light
was blocked. They didn't use Kabbalah." [17]
A probe by an
undercover journalist working for the BBC revealed that the Kabbalah Centre had
made claims that spring water sold by the group had among its effects a
curative effect on cancer. Reportedly, 10 cases of Kabbalah water were sold to
cancer sufferers for £400.[17]
In Israel,
authorities have refused to give the organization a certificate of proper
management for three years running (as of 2005) because of accounting
inadequacies. [17]
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