As I mentioned earlier the resurgence of the new interest in
Kabbalah coincides with the emergence of New Age Phenomena. In various New
Age movements, especially in Israel, but also elsewhere, there is interest
in and use of Kabbalistic themes. Articles about Kabbalah are published in
the main Israeli New Age Journal Hayyim Aherim
[1],
sections and forums dealing with Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism appear in
many Hebrew New Age portals and web sites,
[2]
and many Kabbalistic services and products are sold in the major annual New
Age fair in Israel, `Alternativa`.
[3]
Many of the leaders and clients of the new Kabbalah movements belonged
previously to New Age movements, and many still participate in New Age
activities. Thus, for instance, Yigal Aricha, the author of the 1996 best
seller `Kabbalah be-Or Bahir`, published a typical New Age book, entitled
`Passport for the time traveler, one year earlier. Rabbi Michael Leitman,
the leader of the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah movement, who immigrated to Israel
from Russia in the 70's, and studied with R. Yehuda Ashlag's son, Rabbi
Baruch, recently sponsored public screenings of the recent New Age Movie,
`What the Blip Do We Know`[4]. A
center for alternative medicine, called Elima[5]
operates in Or ha-Ganuz, a Kabbalistic communal village in the upper
Galilee, whose members study and live according to the Kabbalah of R.Yehuda
Ashlag. Some of the contemporary Kabbalah movements, including Bnei Baruch
and Or ha-Ganuz, participated in the New Age `Alternativa` fair, which I
mentioned above.
Several New Kabbalah movements integrate explicit New Age terminology and
themes in their doctrines and practices. R. Shraga Philip Berg, who studied
Kabbalah with R. Yheuda Ashlag's principal disciple, R. Yehuda Brandwein,
and founded the Kabbalah Center[6]
after his death, used typical New Age terminology in his very first
publications in the 70`s, and identified the messianic era as the Age of
Aquarius. Yigal Aricha, whom I mentioned above, used extensive New Age
themes in his best Seller, `Kabbalah be-Or Bahir`. The chapters in his book
deal with: `Kabbalah and Astrology`, `The Age of Aquarius`, `Kabbalah and
Science`, `Soul Energy`, and `Channeling Mystical Energy`. Major
characteristics of New Age Spirituality, such as the anticipation of a
spiritual cosmic transformation, the use of meditative and healing
techniques to achieve such transformation, the holistic perception of
reality, and the use of scientific language, are central in the teachings of
the Kabbalah Center, as well as in the writings of Yigal Aricha.
New Age themes appear also in the cultural productions of R. Michael
Leitman and Bnei Baruch group[7],
who concentrate on the study and dispersion of R. Yehuda Ashlag`s Kabbalah.
The belief in consciousness` power to change reality, a typical New Age
idea, is central to teaching of Bnei Baruch (as well as to the Kabbalah
Center). Like many New Age authors, Leitman (similar to Aricha and Berg)
uses scientific vocabulary extensively, and claims that his Kabbalistic
teachings are compatible with contemporary science.
The use of modern scientific vocabulary and the claim that
Kabbalah and modern science are compatible is also characteristic to the
teaching of R. Isaac Ginsburg, the ultra National-Hasidic Kabbalist[8],
notorious for the book he edited in praise of the mass murderer Baruch
Goldstein. Although Ginsburg rejects Yoga, Reiki and Tai Chi[9],
he develops typical New Age meditative and healing practices, and one of his
recent books is entitled `Body, Mind, Soul – Kabbalah on Human Physiology,
Disease and Healing (2004). The struggle against one's Ego, and the
aspiration to connect with one's inner, sanctified self – typical of what
Paul Heelas called New Age `self spirituality`[10]
- are central themes in the teaching of Ginsburg, as well as of other
contemporary Kabbalists. The psychological emphasis of Ginsburg's Kabbalah
(which comes to the fore in the title of his book, `Transforming Darkness
into Light: Kabbalah and Psychology` 2002), is not derived only from his
Hasidic sources, and reflects a typical New Age tendency.
Integration of New Age themes appears also in the teachings of the Ashlagian
Kabbalists of Or Ha-Ganuz. Thus, Yuval Asherov, the head of Or ha-Ganuz`s
center for alternative medicine, teaches courses concerning `Chinese
medicine in light of the Kabbalah`. The recent popularity of Kabbalists with
prognostic and healing powers, foremost amongst them Yakov Ifargan, the
X-ray, is in my opinion, a New Kabbalistic expression of the centrality of
healing in New Age movements. Although the ceremonies of the X-ray may seem
distant from typical New Age practices, some of his admirers recognize a
resemblance between them. Thus, Zvi Alush, an Israeli journalist who
published recently a hagiography of the X-ray, compares a house cleansing
ritual performed by Ifargan, to Feng shui, and describes the X-ray's
supernatural powers as `alternative medicine`.
[11]