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A Question Of Kabbalah

In fairness, she was already moderately acquainted with it, and aware that Madonna was misrepresenting it. She wanted to make sure she had all the facts available.

And she felt strongly about her religion being misrepresented by wannabes. No matter how well known.
 
anome said:
The Garudian would be an Indonesian newspaper, surely? (And yes, I'm familar with The Graudian.)

I'm more familiar with The Grauniad myself. :)

What's the betting that Madonna will get fed up with it, and take up some other religion instead?
 
I think it is more the case that 'Rabbi Berg' who runs the Kabballah Centre is misrepresenting Kabbalism than Madonna.

Anyway check out a couple of articles by Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok. the first one Madonna's Kabbalah: Not Kosher http://www.koshertorah.com/madonna kabbalah.pdf is quite reasonable and he seems like a fairly decent chap. A couple of years later he writes a completely mental rant blaming her for terrorism. :roll: Seems a little harsh. See http://www.koshertorah.com/PDF/misguided-madonna.pdf
 
Kabbalah leader's Holocaust 'slur'
By John Sweeney
BBC News



A senior figure in the controversial Kabbalah Centre - the sect championed by stars including Madonna and Demi Moore - seems likely to spark a storm of protest by saying Jews killed in the Holocaust brought their downfall upon themselves.
Eliyahu Yardeni, of the London Kabbalah Centre, made the astonishing claim to an undercover reporter investigating high-pressure sales techniques employed by the group, which promotes its own brand of beliefs, part ancient Jewish mysticism and part pseudo-science.

The probe also revealed how Kabbalah Centre representatives claimed bottles of "healing" spring water sold by the group could help cure cancer - and how they sold a batch to a sufferer for hundreds of pounds.

Talking about the wartime massacre of the Jews, Mr Yardeni said: "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."

£860 'remedy'

The claim provoked outrage from Kabbalah scholar Rabbi Imannual Schocket, from Ontario, Canada. He said: "To me this is one of the most obscene statements anybody could possibly make."


The Kabbalah Centre has not seen the BBC programme and is unable to comment accurately on its content
Kabbalah Centre statement

Genuine scholars of Kabbalah, which is a respected branch of ancient Jewish mysticism, reject the Kabbalah Centre as an opportunist offshoot of the faith with charismatic leaders who try to attract the rich and the vulnerable with the promise of health, wealth and happiness.

The Holocaust claim comes in a secretly-filmed BBC documentary. One undercover reporter, who has suffered from cancer, went to the London Kabbalah Centre - a £3.7million building off Oxford Street - seeking help, and was offered a package of remedies for the disease for £860.

The cost included nearly £400 for 10 cases of Kabbalah water, £150 for "extra-strength" water and £289 for Zohar books - the Kabbalah "bible".

The Zohar is also said to have special powers which followers can benefit from by running a finger over the text as if reading Braille.

A second investigator, who worked undercover as a Kabbalah Centre volunteer for four months, was told how the Kabbalah water worked, with a devotee explaining: "We start with the purest artesian water and then we do the various meditations, injecting energy into it."


The Kabbalah Centre website explained that a process called Quantum Resonance Technology "restructures the intermolecular binding of spring water".

The investigation discovered the water actually comes from CJC Bottling, a bottling plant in Ontario, Canada, which was the subject of a public health investigation in 2002 into how its water was tested.

CJC was ordered to improve manufacturing techniques, though there was no suggestion that they ever sold polluted water.

Lucrative market

The film also investigates the background of the sect's founder, "Dr" Philip Berg, who is known to followers as the Rav. He enjoys a millionaire's lifestyle in Los Angeles.

The source of Mr Berg's "doctorate" is not clear, but it is known that he was born Feivel Gruberger in New York, trained as a rabbi and worked as an insurance agent before deserting his first wife and seven children for second wife, Karen.

The couple then set up their first Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv. The lucrative marketing operation for the water, Zohar books, face-creams, candles, videos, and red string bracelets worn by followers came later.

The organisation claims to have Kabbalah Centres in 40 cities worldwide and to be a non-profit-making organisation.

The centre was asked about its views, including those on the Holocaust, and in a statement said: "The Kabbalah Centre has not seen the BBC programme and is unable to comment accurately on its content."

Regarding fundraising, the statement went on: "As a registered charity, the centre has to fund raise to cover administrative costs and outreach work, the effects of which are felt across the world on a daily basis."



There is very little difference between the way the Kabbalah Centre operates and the other cults
Rabbi Barry Marcus

The centre has launched a US$1m campaign asking followers to donate money so it can send its own brand of Zohar books and water to the victims of the Asian tsunami.
In Israel, the authorities have refused to give the charity a certificate of proper management for three years running because of accounting inadequacies, and in Britain the Charity Commissioners have criticised the centre's accounts for "significant shortcomings in transparency".


Sweeney Investigates: The Kabbalah Centre, BBC2, Thursday 13 January , 2150 GMT
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/4158287.stm

Published: 2005/01/09 00:59:51 GMT

© BBC MMV
 
The Yithian said:
http://www.kabbalah.com/kabbalah/

The Kabbalah Center: Looks like a big slick money-making setup to me.

Madonna, as ever, makes me want to hurl by cheapening everything she touches.

Madonna didn't found 'The Kabbalah Centre', Michael Berg did. So it was already 'cheap' before she discovered it. I'll admit that I am dismayed by her involvement though.

I could play devil's advocate here and ask who can definitely say that Berg's interpretation of the Zohar is wrong? What has thousands of years of study by other scholars achieved anyway? How has it affected those peoples lives and the lives of people around them? What is the point of it all?
 
IIRC, far-right religious politcal elements in Israel consult the Kabbalah from time to time (I remember seeing a documentary some time ago where this was mentioned by one Knesset member). So I guess you could say it had some effect in political fields. On it's own, it won't have wide-ranging appeal, as it's one part of Jewish mysticism and therefore is quite a closed shop.
 
There's a programme on tonight about all of this:

Sweeney Investigates

Thu 13 Jan, 21:50 - 22:30 40 mins BBC2

The Kabbalah Centre

Celebs like Madonna, Britney Spears and David Beckham have all been seen wearing the red string - the badge of the Kabbalah Centre. Madonna - new name Esther - drinks the special Kabbalah water to ward off evil. But there is a darker side to Hollywood's latest craze.

In the first of a new investigative series, reporter John Sweeney travels from London to a hurricane-tossed Miami, to Canada and Israel to examine allegations of quack cures for cancer, group brain-washing and broken families. He also talks to former insiders who claim the Kabbalah Centre movement is a sinister religious cult
 
This sounds like an absurdity - surely test audiences didn't even recognize the bracelet.....

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2005-03-29/

Sony Removes Kabbalah Bracelet from Kutcher's Wrist

Sony spent about $100,000 to use digital imaging technology to remove Ashton Kutcher's red string Kabbalah bracelet from his wrist, which appeared in scenes throughout his latest movie, Guess Who, MSNBC.com's Jeannette Walls reported Monday. Walls quoted a source as saying that test audiences "were really annoyed" by the bracelet. According to a posting on the Kabbalah website, the bracelet "protects us from the influences of the Evil Eye. Evil eye is a very powerful negative force. It refers to the unfriendly stare and unkind glances we sometimes get from people around us." A believer might well have concluded that the removal of the bracelet contributed to the plethora of negative reviews for the movie.
 
Why wouldn't they recognise it? Media attention on this so-called 'Kabbalah' has been pretty high.
 
Jewish mystics to Madonna: Lay off our sage!

Jewish mystics to Madonna: Lay off our sage!
Sun Oct 9, 7:15 AM ET



Word that Madonna's upcoming album includes a paean to a 16th-century Jewish mystic has prompted the rabbis who guard his legacy to accuse the pop idol of sacrilege and hint at divine punishment.

The "Confessions on a Dance Floor" collection includes a song titled "Isaac" -- in reference, entertainment media say, to Rabbi Isaac Luria, founder of the Kabbalah school of mysticism which counts Madonna, 47, as one of its devotees.

The custodians of Luria's tomb and seminary in the northern Israeli town of Safed accused her of breaking a taboo.

"There is a prohibition in Jewish law against using the holy name of our master, the Sage Isaac, for profit," the seminary's director, Rabbi Rafael Cohen, told the Israeli newspaper Maariv on Sunday.

"This is an inappropriate act, and one can feel only pity at the punishment that she (Madonna) will receive from Heaven. The Sage Isaac is holy and pure, and immodest people cannot sing about him," he said.

Catholic-born Madonna, famed for her racy lyrics and on-stage antics, has drawn frequent censure from ultra-Orthodox Jews who say her embrace of Kabbalah debases their religion.

Deemed especially provocative was Madonna's music video for "Die Another Day", in which she wove phylacteries around her arm, a custom usually reserved for Jewish men, before escaping from an electric chair on which Hebrew letters spelling out one of the 72 names of God appeared.

"This kind of woman wreaks an enormous sin upon the Kabbalah," said Rabbi Yisrael Deri, caretaker of Luria's tomb.

Madonna
 
Madonna defends her beliefs

Madonna defends her beliefs
By Adam Sherwin



Madonna has provoked anger from Jewish groups after defending her devotion to kabbalah beliefs with the assertion that “it would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi party”.



The 47-year-old singer defended the ancient Jewish mystical tradition after the house arrest in Israel of one of its leading figures and called for greater tolerance of its devotees. But she lashed out at kabbalist rabbis who criticised her decision to release a song apparently about the faith on her latest album, saying: “What are they doing commenting on pop songs? Don’t they have synagogues to pray in?” Describing her faith to the New York Daily News, Madonna said: “I find it very strange that it’s so disturbing to people. It’s not hurting anybody. It would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi party.”

She said that she could relate to the actor Tom Cruise, who has been ridiculed for being a Scientologist. Madonna said: “If it makes Tom Cruise happy, I don’t care if he prays to turtles. And I don’t think anybody else should.”


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/ ... 26,00.html
 
I'm fascinated by Kabbalah but also deeply scared by it. I have this excellent book but managed only a few pages before being overwhelmed:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...ah?from_search=true&from_srp=RJlvElrLUj&qid=1

Those folks dare to look over the shoulder of God during the creation. What chutzpah!

Today I've found another reason to be scared. The ten sefiroth have a dark mirror image!

In the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah, and Hermetic Qabalah, the qlippoth (Hebrew: קְלִיפּוֹת, romanized: qəlippoṯ, originally Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: קְלִיפִּין, romanized: qəlippin, plural of קְלִפָּה qəlippā; literally "peels", "shells", or "husks"), are the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, the opposites of the Sefirot.[1][2] The realm of evil is called Sitra Achra (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: סִטְרָא אַחְרָא, romanized: siṭrā ʾaḥrā, lit. 'The Other Side') in Kabbalistic texts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qlippoth

They were mentioned in this excellent book of modern British landscape mysticism. Very much recommended:

The English Heretic Collection: Ritual Histories, Magickal Geography
https://repeaterbooks.com/product/t...llection-ritual-histories-magickal-geography/
 
My only knowledge of this subject is an X-File episode where a grieving Jewish wife losing her husband makes a Golem out of clay but destroying her husband’s Golem because he was imperfect.

I assume Wonder Woman is a Golem because Zeus made her out of clay.
 
Good call, JW. The Sledge website, ESOTERICA, has a dedicated playlist of 14 lessons on Jewish Kabbalah.
I've listened through about 4 times so far and it never gets boring. It's mostly a historical timeline of the development of Jewish Mysticysm from day dot right up to now, and he is so detailed and explains core concepts so well - his day job is a Philosophy lecturer at a university in Detroit. It's one of two I often throw on as I'm working my jigsaw puzzles. I am slowly grasping how The Kabbalah system is purported to work. The main thing I've come away with is that you won't be able to plumb the true depths of the practice without founding it all on a daily dedication to the Mitzvot - the everyday Jewish customs that all practising Jews are encouraged to maintain. That's kind of what the Rabbis went after Madonna about - in their opinion she wears it like a fashion object, which is a total misrepresentation of their deep-held lifeways.

IMO if you let this spooky stuff out into the world, you gotta let it be what it becomes. The historical pitfalls of the release of the secret sacred core of the practice into broader public life are well-attested in the playlist. It really did almost destroy several communities several centuries ago. The story of the development of Kabbalah would make a banging TV series, ... however, expect a massive upheaval from the Fundos. They don't got no sense of haha about this stuff. Rightly so. It's their most solemn quest as Jews, and is purportedly designed to bring in the conditions for no less than the return of the Jewish Messiah and the full realisation or even recreation of the world as God intends it. Faithful kabbalists have basically dedicated their every life action to this outcome. It ain't just for Sundays. Anybody fiddling about with it without this entire Faith dedication are insulting not just the kabbalists, but God himself.

Check it out. It's an enormously fascinating story.

The other set I frequent in relation to JS and the Kabbalah is one in which he pairs up with Australian/Israeli Hassid mystical scholar, Zevi Slevin, to take a sweet ride through one of the books of the sacred Sefir Zohar (a key Kabbalah text), The Yanuka. It's so much fun to hear two Jewish guys from very different tribes riffing on it from an insider perspective. It's often hilarious, but always engaging.

This is not a playlist as such, but you can click through the 9 episodes easily enough. Enjoy. I know you will.
 
Iyyun Circle.jpg


Anybody tripping?

This is the Sephirot ... also poorly translated as a tree of life.
 
Excellent series on the Kabbalah. I know a tiny bit about it as a layperson, and he's telling absolutely no nonsense. And he's a very good speaker.
I'm Catholic and I had a deep talk with my wife about his statement that "revelation is still ongoing". I'm a bit jealous now, because that's not our Catholic dogma :) (revelation ceased with the death of the last Apostle, the rest is just clarification)




 
"revelation is still ongoing". I'm a bit jealous now, because that's not our Catholic dogma :) (revelation ceased with the death of the last Apostle, the rest is just clarification)
That's such an interesting point. It's a pretty strong divergence, isn't it. As a non-Catholic, there's still the idea of the mission of Christifying the world, not in any imperial way but through doing God's will in the outworking of The Plan, whatever that may be. So I suppose there's an opening for revelation in that process.

But the Kabbalists are literally the embodiment of the messianic goal. Through daily mitzvot and rituals, the mystic intent seems to be the realisation of the highest through plumbing the depths, as the journey through the sephirot is a descent. I'm probably wrong, but I understand the cycling of the sephirotic process to be akin to sloughing layers of skin in pursuit of the kernel of revelation. Historically, that seems to have branched away into personal breakthroughs, such as seeing God, sitting on the throne, or what have you. However, I think that the core of community practice is aimed at the more global goal which is to raise the world to a state of readiness in anticipation of the promised Messiah. So every waking action can be tuned in to doing good as part of that fulfilment.

That's pretty cool. I totally get the envy. It's heavy and bright.
 
That's such an interesting point. It's a pretty strong divergence, isn't it. As a non-Catholic, there's still the idea of the mission of Christifying the world, not in any imperial way but through doing God's will in the outworking of The Plan, whatever that may be. So I suppose there's an opening for revelation in that process.

But the Kabbalists are literally the embodiment of the messianic goal. Through daily mitzvot and rituals, the mystic intent seems to be the realisation of the highest through plumbing the depths, as the journey through the sephirot is a descent. I'm probably wrong, but I understand the cycling of the sephirotic process to be akin to sloughing layers of skin in pursuit of the kernel of revelation. Historically, that seems to have branched away into personal breakthroughs, such as seeing God, sitting on the throne, or what have you. However, I think that the core of community practice is aimed at the more global goal which is to raise the world to a state of readiness in anticipation of the promised Messiah. So every waking action can be tuned in to doing good as part of that fulfilment.

That's pretty cool. I totally get the envy. It's heavy and bright.
That's a good comment!
I agree with your messianic interpretation and you've set me thinking if Hegel knew about Kabbalah with his "spirit" idea ...
 
That's pretty cool. I totally get the envy. It's heavy and bright.

joining in the envy here!

From my point of view it's the appeal of the Manichean Heresy* where the battle isn't won and all your deeds go to one side or the other. Vast oversimplification there!


* Other heresies are available.
 
if Hegel knew about Kabbalah with his "spirit" idea
He's a sticky dude in relation to all of this, for sure. I can't assume he was consciously riffing on the Kabbalah. but you're not the first to recognise the parallels in his system of progressive logic. It is akin.
 
Excellent series on the Kabbalah. I know a tiny bit about it as a layperson, and he's telling absolutely no nonsense. And he's a very good speaker.
I'm Catholic and I had a deep talk with my wife about his statement that "revelation is still ongoing". I'm a bit jealous now, because that's not our Catholic dogma :) (revelation ceased with the death of the last Apostle, the rest is just clarification)




I've been listening to the series for hours today. He is engaging and thorough. He seems to not only respect and revere the ideology of his subject, but at points he's almost awestruck by the magnitude of its meaning to his Jewish audience. Dave Solomon is a great teacher.
 
your deeds go to one side or the other
Sitra achra, right? the qlippoth?
I’ve heard that The Other Side naturally gets its agreed due, but it still makes me hesitant to go near it. I’m fascinated but timid. Always have been. Natural disinclination to darknesses as a result of my sunbeam for Jesus upbringing I expect.
 
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