Kabbalah Centre
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The Kabbalah Centre is a worldwide educational non-profit [1] organization with headquarters in Los Angeles, California that offers a number of beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses on Kabbalah, both online and through its locally established centres. To its proponents, the Kabbalah Centre is a spiritual organization which teaches the principles of the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a unique and user-friendly system accessible to anyone, regardless of religion, race or gender. [2] This contemporary presentation of Kabbalah was developed by its current leader, Philip Berg and his wife, Karen Berg, with opposition from the traditional religious establishment.[3] The Kabbalah Centre comprises Jewish and non-Jewish teachers and students.[4] Some Jewish organizations distinguish it as non-Jewish and consider its patronage by Jews problematic as some forms of Judaism forbid Jews from participating with non-Jews in religious rituals.[5]
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[edit] History
The Kabbalah Centre was founded in the United States, by Philip Berg (born Feivel Gruberger) and wife Karen Berg, who established the first U.S. Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles 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 .[1] with over fifty branches worldwide, including major ones in Los Angeles, New York City, London and Toronto.
[edit] Locations
The Kabbalah Centre provides international locations to its students for community and the learning of Kabbalah. The most notable locations include its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, its prominent location in Manhattan, NY, and its active centre in Tel Aviv, Israel.
[edit] Teachings
[edit] Courses
The Kabbalah Centre offers its teachings through various courses available at its centers and online. They include: Power of Kabbalah I/II/III, Wheels of a Soul, DNA of Success, Writings of the Zohar, and Ten Luminous Emanations.
[edit] Approach
Kabbalah is a collective of knowledge with roots in great antiquity. As with all knowledge, various methods of teaching it are possible. 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. In addition to having no knowledge-based barrier-to-entry, the Kabbalah Centre's accessibility is uniquely enhanced by the absence of any religious, gender, age, or marital status discrimination.
The Kabbalah Centre often attempts to relate teachings and truths to the historical and modern developments of the sciences. This includes, in particular, The Big Bang, String Theory, atomic structure, and Newton's Third Law. Some teaching analogies utilize a folk understanding of science, rather than an academic one. For example, that humans use only a minor percentage of their brain, as a parallel to Kabbalistic human potential.
The following present the Kabbalah Centre's basic teachings.
[edit] Relation to Religions
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 Catholicism, 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.
[edit] Philosophical Tenets
Several philosophical tenets of the Kabbalah Centre are not unique to its teaching of Kabbalah, but actually studied independently. These include: moral skepticism, causality, presentism, and psychological egoism. Briefly - there is no right and wrong, as these are subjective terms; everything is the result of cause and effect; there is no time, only the distance between cause and effect; and all human motivations are ultimately selfish.
[edit] The Bible
The Bible is not to be taken literally, as it is wholly a code, and can only be truly understood in this context. 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 in Genesis, and the story of Adam and Eve.
[edit] The Light
We should primarily be concerned with our 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 as Light. 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 we know.
[edit] 99%
The "99%" is a frequently referenced terminology in Kabbalah Centre teachings which refers to the division of true reality. Moreover, our five senses provide us with access to a mere 1% of reality, which is the absolute byproduct of a 99% reality that our senses cannot access. Since the circumstances of the unperceivable 99% of reality dictate those of the 1% we live in, we must use Kabbalistic wisdom to access the 99%, thereby providing context to the 1%. No occurrence in our lives, 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.
[edit] Restriction
Naturally, an event occurs, which triggers an emotional response, which we then act on. To truly control a situation, we must consider our emotional reactions themselves as the enemy, and not their cause. If we are able to restrict ourselves from acting on our primary emotional reactions, the best possible course of action will come to us naturally. Only by restricting our emotional reflexes to negative situations can we consciously remove the impact of our ego. Our instinct to egotistically react to a situation is referred to as the Opponent. For example, when you're standing in line at the automated teller machine for twenty minutes, it is not the person in front of you, but your frustration that is the enemy. If we do not practice restriction, our existence becomes the automatic outcome of our circumstances, rather than a proactive experience of our creation.
[edit] Klippot
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. Klippot can be removed by rolling in the snow naked. [6]
[edit] Astrology
The Kabbalah Centre has a strong belief in astrology, and asserts that astrology, including the Zodiac, has been part of Judaism since its inception. The Centre claims astrology was lost in Jewish tradition (the Talmud loosely prohibits it[citation needed]), as part of the suppression of Kabbalah by Jewish rabbis nearly 2000 years ago (evidence of this includes ancient synagogues with zodiac rings). As such, 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 Center, is himself an astrologer and has written numerous books on astrology during his career.
[edit] Sex
The concept of sex and kabbalah is perhaps the single most controversial and misunderstood subject, even as it relates to the Centre. This is partially due to the preponderance of seemingly contradictory messages online and in classes. But one must remember that online forums are not being presented as official policy, but rather are the results of well-intentioned efforts by a wide range of volunteers. Senior teachers at the Centre however maintain that the only fundamental rule Kabbalistically is that sex is a potentially powerful tool to reveal Light -- and since acts of sharing reveal Light, it stands to reason that sexual acts of sharing are more attuned to Kabbalistic goals... It is this larger conceptual paradigm that is then used to discern and delineate between any number of sexual questions. And the answers are generally neither absolute nor closed to personal and subjective answers...
Therefore, while forums on the site might include seemingly black and white edicts like the ones below:
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.[6] The man should not orgasm before the woman, as it injects selfishness into the act of love making.[6] 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.[6] The most Light is derived from sex that occurs in the early AM of Saturday morning.[6]
[edit] Celebrity followers
[edit] Madonna
The media has paid much attention to celebrity devotee Madonna who, joined by her husband Guy Ritchie, studies regularly with a personal Kabbalah Center rabbi, no longer gives concerts on Friday night (which is the onset of the Jewish Sabbath), wears the red string around her left wrist for protection and to ward off the "Evil Eye" (Ayin Hara), has introduced Jewish ritual objects such as tefilin ("phylacteries") into her videos and tithes regularly to the Kabbalah Centre.[7] Madonna was raised as a Catholic. In July, 2006 the media reported an unfounded rumour that Madonna was leaving the Kabbalah Centre.[8] One media columnist speculated that one of reasons was due to alleged financial irregularities of donations to the centre.[7] When Madonna tried to partner "Raising Malawi" with UNICEF, due to this project's close association with the Kabbalah Centre, UNICEF demurred.[9]
[edit] Others
Britney Spears was introduced to the Kabbalah Centre by Madonna, though her ongoing relationship with the organization remains a matter of speculation. At one point, Spears was ridiculed for getting a Hebrew tattoo on the back of her neck which translated into nothing - presumably motivated by her Kabbalah studies. Lindsay Lohan has also recently been associated with the faith, wearing red string on her wrist. She is said to have formed a friendship with Madonna and reportedly has taken the name of Rose following her conversion from Catholicism.[10] Other celebrities that have been associated with the Centre include Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Donna Karan, Anthony Kiedis, and David Beckham.[5]
[edit] Controversy and Criticism
[edit] General
The authenticity of the organisation's teaching is disputed, particularly by traditional religious leaders who do not approve of the Centre's open door policy of allowing non-Jews and women to study its teachings. By its detractors, 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." [11]
[edit] Holocaust
There was also 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." This claim caused international outrage, with one scholar calling the statement "obscene".[11]
[edit] Accounting
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. [11]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Internal Revenue Service.", United States Department of treasury.(Insert Kabbalah word in search).
- ^ Michael Berg - Interview by Rebecca Phillips. Kabbalah for Everyone. Beliefnet. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
- ^ "What's Behind Hollywood's Fascination with Kabbalah?", ABC News, June 17, 2005. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
- ^ FAQ. The Kabbalah Centre. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
- ^ a b "Madonna due to join Israel trip", BBC News. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Yehuda, Berg (September 18, 2006). The Kabbalah Book of Sex: And Other Mysteries of the Universe. Kabbalah Publishing. 1571895442.
- ^ a b "Madonna Gives Her Money Away", Fox News.
- ^ Kabbalah: is Madonna losing her religion? (July 9, 2006).
- ^ UNICEF shuns Madonna's donation. New Kerala.
- ^ "Lindsay Lohan flirts with Kabbalah", Life Style Extra.
- ^ a b c The Centre is also known to teach many things most Orthodox Jews would consider heritical to traditional Judaism. "Kabbalah leader's Holocaust slur", BBC News, January 9, 2005. Retrieved on October 31, 2006.
