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Phillip Berg is the leading Rabbi of the worldwide Kabbalah Centre organization. Much of his knowledge and teaching is derived from his Orthodox background, but neither he nor his organization are affiliated or recognized by any known Orthodox rabbis and organizations. In the past, when Berg or his center faced criticism that was deemed too harsh, they have sued critics and even subjected them to harassment. Rabbi Berg received his training in Kabbalah from Rabbi Brandwein, who received it from Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag, a widely-respected Kabbalist whose commentaries on the Zohar and the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria are authoritative. FOUNDER OF THE KABBALAH CENTRE See Also: Kabbalah Centre KABBALAH ACCORDING TO RABBI BERG Rabbi Phillip Berg is a popularizer of Kabbalah. Berg draws on various aspects of popular culture for examples that are useful to explain the often archaic and obscure concepts of Kabbalah. He sees these pop phenomena, like all things, as genuine revelations of the "light" (the presence of God, understood as the infinite spiritual reality). All aspects of human life are spiritual but require Kabbalah - especially its concept of "restriction" ''tzimtzum'' in the sense of self-control, nonreactivity and proactivity - to harness them beneficially. The purpose of life is to fully reveal the light. Light fulfills everything that humans desire, especially the infinite desire to share. It is life, power, joy, appreciation, wealth, success, love, and so on. Negative aspects of the world - death, illness, pain, frustration, poverty, failure, loneliness, and so on - result from human mistakes but exist for the benefit of humans: they are opportunities for each individual to reveal light. By sharing their blessings with others, humans reveal more light, thus miraculously generate more blessings, and "make the world a better place" (''tikkun olam''). Ultimately, the whole of Kabbalah can be summed up as the "desire to receive for the sake of sharing". On teaching Kabbalah Berg states it is his destiny to reveal the real truths about Kabbalah. Traditionally, while some parts of the Kabbalah were considered acceptable to teach to younger Torah scholars, most of Kabbalah was held to be forbidden to be taught, or at the very least, severely discouraged, except to very learned scholars over forty years of age. Berg describes Kabbalah as a "universal philosophy", and claims that no one, regardless of religion or gender, should be denied study of it. There are those who pose as religious leaders who, for their own selfish reasons, spread false requisites for the study of the Zohar and discourage people from "indulging" in its sublime treasures. Either these rabbis fear for their positions, because people tasting of the Kabbalah might embarrass them with the incisiveness of their questions, or, perhaps, because their own upbringing deprived them of this because their own knowledge, they see no reason to allow others of "lower standing" to be given the opportunity of partaking of Kabbalah's spiritual elixir....These Many of his ideas have angered other Kabbalists. For example, while most Kabbalists have traditionally taught that Jews must follow Halakha ("Jewish law") as strictly binding, Berg teaches that knowing the purpose behind Halakha is more important. Judaism is not concerned with conforming to a strict religious way of life in which it is perceived that if one wants to be considered a Jew he has to perform certain ritual tasks. On the contrary, the goal is to connect to metaphysical forces through which we can fulfill our Desire to Receive. The Torah, properly understood, can completely fulfill all our needs, and once that goal has been achieved, the barriers that have been created between Jews and non-Jews will collapse Astrology Berg advocates the use of Astrology and Horoscope readings to counsel his students. He refers to Kabbalah, where all living things, all matter, all energy and even space-time itself is a manifest of God. Because of this he believes that cosmic forces have a divine nature, and Judaism was heavily influenced by them, including holidays like Passover and the Hebrew Calendar . However, traditional Judaism is often critical of using astrology in religion. The Talmud records stataments from different figures which both forbid and accept some use of astrology, a tension also present in other rabbinic literature from 600 CE until the enlightenment. See Jewish Views Of Astrology for a fuller discussion. Reward and punishment Berg believes that as living things, and as part of God, we have control over our own actions. Berg holds that God does not reward people for good behavior and punish them for bad behavior. Instead he believes that bad behavior lead to bad effects. The reason for rules in the Torah is to prevent adverse effects. If we all kill, what can happen? We can be killed. If we all steal, what can happen? We can be stolen from. According to Berg, the commandments were put in place by God to bring harmony to a chaotic world, not to judge people. Some claim this teaching is generally considered outright heresy in Orthodox Judaism, as it contradicts one of the Jewish Principles Of Faith according to Rabbis Joseph Albo and Maimonides . Berg writes: We are taught from childhood that if we do something good, God will reward us and if we do something bad, he punishes us. Never believe it. Reincarnation A central part of his theology is a belief in Reincarnation , which he holds is a central tenet of Judaism. To him, the afterlife is a purely Christian belief and has no place in Judaism. He holds that this phenomenon can be proven true by logical argument. This idea is accepted as true by many Orthodox Jews, but some Orthodox Jews, and most non-Orthodox Jews, view the entire idea as false, due to a lack of talmudic sources as well as writings from Rav Saadia Gaon that it comes from the "Indian religions." It is also felt that the concept is philosophically untenable. The issue of how Jews have traditionally understood reincarnation is discussed in Jewish Eschatology . Reincarnation is not a question of faith or doctrine, but of logic and reason...the Bible is its Fountainhead. Spirituality Berg's ideas about the effect of spirituality within Hasidic Judaism are similar to those held by other scholars of Judaism. The fundamental purpose of Hasidism, which borrowed from the example of the Sephardim , was to inject spirituality into the religion, as opposed to the thoughtless formalism prevailing within the liturgy and ceremonies of their fellow Jews in Lithuania , the Mitnagdim . For this reason the Hasidim did not enjoy either credibility nor popularity among Mitnagdim. The place that was assigned to the Zohar in the scheme of prayer and ritual by the Hasidim was one of the basic points at issue between the two sects. It was and is essentially a contest between the formalism of dogmatic ritual, as practiced by Mitnagdim and the spiritually-directed practices of the Hasidim. Subjects commonly viewed as pseudoscience In his book, ''The Wheels of a Soul'', Berg teaches that many concepts often understood as pseudoscience are in fact real, such as Kirlian Photography (p.39), Telepathy , and Clairvoyance , (p.40-41.) Mental illness and possession by evil spirits In chapter six of this book he discusses reincarnation and Kabbalah. Here he writes that most mentally ill people are in fact not mentally ill, but are in fact possessed by evil spirits. (p.50) He commonly refers to these as ''clippot'' or blockages. I know a woman who has been locked away in a psychiactric ward twice because she felt that she was being bomdarded by evil spirits and I can testtify that she is as normal as any who are deemed mentally fit. That definition, in itself, is suspect. I believe that between 70 and 80 percent of all who live display "abnormal behavior" at one time or another and that in most of those cases an invading spirit of evil is the cause. Rites of exorcism might heal far more of the "mentally ill" than all of the drugs and electro-shock therapy employed by the psychiatric community. In chapter 13, recalling past lives, he teaches that Astral Projection is real (p.70). Extra-terrestrial aliens influence Earth Berg writes that all life affects one another, because the all began from the same source and are of the same body (God). What seems to emerge from the Zohar is that seven forms of intelligence which emanate from the seven Sfirot are directly responsible for our universal manifestations. These advanced extra-terrestrial non-corporeal beings living in a solar system similar to ours direct the orbiting structures of our own universe and subsequently display the varied quantified degrees of the Force in varied, specific sections of planet Earth. All life dances to the music of astral influences as more clearly demonstrated by cyclical phenomenon. Unseen extraterrestrial forces affect terrestrial affairs and decidedly determine the ups and downs of terrestrial life.... Applying teachings to daily life Berg emphasises the application of the wisdom of Kabbalah in life, as opposed to text strict study of the Zohar. Students are encouraged to attend courses that explain how "chaos" (i.e. potential and current problems) can be removed from life by understanding and applying a variety of spiritual "truths" that are based upon Kabbalistic concepts. On combatting one's ego A core principle is the importance of sharing, viewed as directly opposing the influence of the ego, defined by the Centre as the "desire to receive for oneself alone". By actively combating the influence of the Ego and increasingly sharing in life (both physically and emotionally), one will experience lasting satisfaction, fulfilment and the removal of "chaos" from life. Sharing is based on the principle that one ultimately lives life with a single ongoing choice - whether to be influenced by the ego or the "light" (viewed both as energy and the Creator). The Centre teaches that the ego, sometimes referred to as " Satan " (pronounced ''sa'tan'') was created by the "light" in order to give humanity free choice. Free will Free choice is present so that each individual can undo "Bread of Shame", a concept describing a state of guilt that was present prior to the Big Bang, when complete fulfilment was experienced without effort due to a state of unity with the light. The creation of the world The world, a domain of separation, was created so that the "light" could be revealed (received) from choice with the application of effort. It is the ego (or satan) that allows humanity to apply effort by acting as an adversary or "opponent". As humanity "reveals" more light in the world, by increasingly sharing and undertaking good deeds (despite the ego's efforts to the contrary), the more Bread of Shame is undone, allowing humanity to return to an original state of unity without the corresponding guilt. Non-reactivity Students are encouraged to understand the importance of non-reactivity, such as when prompted by circumstances to be angry or judgemental towards others. Such behaviour is described as reactive, "disconnecting' the student from the "Light" or more properly called ''en sof''. In such situations, students are strongly encouraged to be "proactive" (i.e. act from love) and to "restrict" what is seen as the ego's attempt to make you "disconnect". Berg teaches that if humanity as a whole continues to be influenced by the ego, exhibiting traits such as "hating for no reason", the "Light" (energy) will be blocked, creating chaos - potentially an armegeddon scenario. This is viewed as avoidable by "spreading" the wisdom of Kabbalah to as wide an audience as possible. CRITICISM Critics of Rabbi Berg express concerns about his kabbalistic pedigree, claims of special authority, adaptations to pop culture, business practices and high-pressure social tactics. Credentials Philip Berg claims to have a Doctorate , and many of his books are listed as being by "Dr." Berg. However, in different interviews he has offered different explanations of what type of Ph.D. he earned. He claimed to have a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion , at another time he claimed to have a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence (in biblical law), and later claimed that his Ph.D. was given as part of receiving ''semicha'', traditional rabbinic ordination. He has never shown his Ph.D. to investigative reporters, and refuses to name the organization that gave him the Ph.D. Berg used to call his center "''Yeshiva Kol Yehuda,''" and claimed that it was affiliated with a genuine Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva , ''Yeshivah Kol Yehuda'', in Jerusalem , Israel. The yeshiva in Israel was founded in 1922 by Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag, and later led by Rabbi Yehudah Tzvi Brandwein . Berg claimed to be a disciple of Rabbi Brandwein, and alleges that he received rabbinical ordination at this yeshiva. However, investigative journalists have interviewed this yeshiva; they deny any relationship between his group and theirs, and deny that Berg ever received rabbinical ordination. They agree Berg studied kabbalah with Brandwein. The Kabbalah Centre advertises Berg as being "the greatest Kabbalist in the world" and "the world's foremost authority on the Kabbalah." However, outside of his organization he is not accepted as an authority on Kabbalah, nor as a rabbi, by any of the Jewish denominations or organizations. According to a report by Rick Ross : Berg, a former insurance salesman from Brooklyn , changed his name from Feivel Gruberger and left his first wife and seven children to become the spiritual leader and pyramid head of the Kabbalah business. Berg, who refers to himself as Dr., enjoys a millionaire’s lifestyle in Los Angeles . He and his current wife, Karen, set up their first center in Tel Aviv , and created a worldwide empire. Miraculous Claims An expose in the ''Canadian Jewish News'' ( March 18 , 1993 , pp. 2, 6-7 and 9.) discussed the case of Berg's claims to be able to cure diseases. He sells sets of the Zohar , an ancient Jewish mystical text written in Aramaic . He claims that by merely opening the book and seeing the spiritual letters, while running one's fingers along the lines and meditating, one can promote miracles such as healing. WORKS BY PHILIP S. BERG AND HIS SONS
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