Word: hebrewism
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...teachings) crystallized with the Zohar, the 13th century masterpiece set down in ancient Aramaic by the Spanish Jew Moses de Leon. Superficially, the book was a mystical novel, a kind of Celestine Prophecy precursor. But initiates knew better. Shrouded in its story lines were the keys to unlock the Hebrew Bible--and hence all existence. Whereas standard rabbinic Judaism sometimes seems to look backward to God's most intimate interactions with his chosen people and forward to a Messiah, Kabbalah stresses the Deity's presence as immediate at all times: an ongoing surge of light or energy communicated from...
Then two things changed. A postwar Israeli burst of Kabbalah scholarship yielded modern Hebrew translations and annotations of vital texts. And seekers appeared. Many younger congregants yearning for individual spirituality became impatient with American Reform and Conservative Judaism's longtime emphasis on communal concerns such as Israel and synagogue building. Some left; some explored Eastern meditation. And some, notes author Rodger Kamenetz, decided that "Kabbalah is the poetic language of the Jewish soul...
Berg's Kabbalah is heavier on the pocketbook. Classes are reasonable, as little as $10, but costs escalate with the purchase of the center's books and tapes. For example, its 24-volume edition of the Zohar, in Aramaic and Hebrew, sells for $345, three times the price of similar compilations. Rabbi Michael Skobac, a consultant for Jews for Judaism, has received complaints of aggressive and unethical door-to-door solicitation by center teachers. In addition, some members report feeling squeezed for cash. "At the center, they say you can only make a difference when you give until it hurts...
What Plato called the two sides of a self that search for one another eternally, ancient Hebrew poets call a Bashert (soul mate), one is destined to find. Regardless of your philosophical leanings, it is easy to think of life as a quest for that certain someone who knows when to offer a Kleenex, give a sideways glance or laugh at that joke only you tell just...
...frequent visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he also served on the Board of Governors...