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‘CELEBRITY’ KABBALAH GOD COMPLEX

THE kabbalah of A-Rod and Madonna, of the gossip columns, is far from synonymous with the theosophical doctrines developed under that name (kabbalah literally means “received tradition”) by Jewish mystics in medieval Spain.

It is a vulgar distortion and shamelessly self-promoting abuse, by Hollywood’s Kabbalah Centre, of an ancient, noble and highly esoteric canon of Jewish mystical teachings.

Real kabbalah followers quietly devote themselves to the study of the sacred Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the Torah and rabbinical literature, and their profound teachings about the nature of God.

The two most prominent principles of real kabbalah, shared by all devotees, is a strong reticence, bordering on secrecy, and a stoically unforgiving denial of the basest yearnings of their egos, to say nothing of their loins.

Hollywood kabbalah is directed to our basest and most narcissistic impulses – its barely literate books and Web site are filled with breathless promises of eternal bliss and every imaginable form of personal gratification.

Take, for example, the centre’s “Kabbalistic Book of Sex” (surely a bargain, at $17.95!), which promises the reader “more than instruction on the ins and outs of great sex. Through the ancient wisdom revealed here, the floodgates of passion and desire will open wide.”

Beginners who show up for classes at the Kabbalah Centre are greeted by “kabbalah teachers” who assure them that they “don’t have to know what they’re doing,” and not to be intimidated by the Hebrew letters of the holy texts upon which it is based. If they merely scan the letters illiterately, and of course pay the fees and play the games that the center demands, in an amazingly short time, they will succeed in “Becoming Like God,” the title of Michael Berg’s book.

As the book’s blurb explains: “For the first time in history, an incredible opportunity is available to humanity: the opportunity not simply to pray to God, obey God, fear God . . . but in fact, to Become Like God.”

Placing such supreme value on feeling good – literally, divine – about oneself, looking good and garnering the best and most visible publicity, is about as diametrically opposed to the deeply humble and God-fearing ideals of classical kabbalah as one can imagine.

While the latest misadventures of A-Rod and Madonna may be no more than an ephemeral source of trivial amusement to the millions, their identification with “kabbalah” is unfortunately a source of deep anguish to many pious Jews who genuinely revere the lofty teachings of Jewish mysticism.

Rabbi Allan Nadler is professor of religious studies and director of the program in Jewish Studies at Drew University in Madison, NJ.