c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Singing icon Madonna, who lately refers to herself by the Hebrew name Esther, publicly touts her devotion to Kabbalah, a mystical Jewish philosophy. But traditional Orthodox Jewish leaders say this popular spirituality is a religious imposter.

With fashionable “red string” bracelets said to ward off evil, a book that claims you can become like God and the high-profile support of celebrities like Madonna, Demi Moore and Donald Trump’s former wife, Marla Maples, Kabbalah has broken through the spiritual milieu into the marketplace of trendy ideas.

Devotees say it has given their lives new meaning, but traditional Jewish scholars say the phenomenon blurs the line between popular culture and authentic religious devotion practiced by truly knowledgeable mystics.

At issue is not only whether Kabbalah is available universally or only to the most learned Jews, but whether spiritual seekers can mine the depths of any religion without committing to the religion itself.

Many Orthodox Jewish scholars and leaders sharply criticize the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Centre, which is the primary promoter of popular Kabbalah through 25 international offices and 50 satellites. Critics say the Kabbalah Centre’s particular brand of Jewish mysticism is untrue to the original intent of the philosophy.

“There is no relationship other than the most subtle and insubstantial one between what the Kabbalah Centre is selling, and I use the word `selling’ very pointedly, and authentic Kabbalah,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel of America, a national Orthodox umbrella organization.

Calling the Kabbalah Centre “a sham, a very successful sham” and its leaders “hucksters,” Shafran said that the mystical teachings of Kabbalah are meant to be explored only by very learned Jews, or at least those who have delved into the traditional theology, liturgy and practice of Judaism.

“That’s the bread and butter of the Jewish religion,” he said. “Kabbalah is the icing on that cake.”

Kabbalah, (pronounced ka-BA-la in America and ka-ba-LA in Hebrew), translates as “received tradition.” It is not a sect of Judaism, but a mystical philosophy.

Though adherents believe its roots can be traced to the garden of Eden, the body of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah was most influentially written in Spain with the publication of a 13th century book called the Zohar.

Three hundred years later, in what is today the northern Israeli town of Safed, the mystic Isaac Luria interpreted the esoteric Zohar for wider study. Luria’s Zohar was popularized among the Hasidic Jews of Eastern Europe, and it represents the last time before the current era that Kabbalah had mass appeal.

“It’s kind of comparable to what’s happening in these Hollywood groups who are trying to market it to people who don’t have the scholarly preparation that real scholarly kabbalistic study requires,” said Eliezer Segal, a professor of religious studies at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Central to kabbalistic philosophy is the notion that there are 10 distinct forces that mediate between the divine being, also known as “ein sof” or “infinite,” and human beings.

Called “sefirot,” an untranslatable Hebrew word often referred to as “emanations,” these 10 powers are the ways in which God rules creation, and in turn they are vehicles through which mystics can get closer to God.

Rabbi Michael Berg, co-director of the Kabbalah Centre’s main location in Los Angeles and author of “Becoming Like God,” says that rather than being a purely Jewish phenomenon, Kabbalah is available to all seekers of healing, happiness and wisdom.

“We know that this wisdom is too important for anybody to put a barrier to it,” he said.

But other than a period during the Italian Renaissance in which Christian interpretations of the Zohar circulated, academic experts say that the philosophy is directed at the Jewish people.

“It doesn’t lend itself to a universal interpretation,” said Segal.

Instead, Segal said, Kabbalah is inextricably connected with traditional Jewish life.

“It provides a metaphysical reason for observing the commandments, observing the traditional Jewish practices,” he said.

But Berg believes and teaches that the Zohar is a universal, personal self-help guide, containing mystical secrets to health, happiness and love.

“There’s only one purpose for which the Creator created this Earth, to give us a life of complete joy without pain or suffering,” said Berg.

Celebrities have seized on this interpretation of the philosophy, which they distinguish from a religion.

“I’m here as a student of Kabbalah. A kabbalist sees the world as a unified whole. A kabbalist asks why,” said the Roman Catholic-born Madonna in a speech Sunday (Sept. 19) to a Kabbalah conference in Tel Aviv.

Madonna, who is reportedly bothered by the criticisms of her faith, has incorporated Jewish symbols into her music videos and donated all proceeds from her children’s book “The English Roses” (Puffin Books) to charity.

The Kabbalah Centre is known for sponsoring lectures and offering online courses, as well as selling “Kabbalah water” and a red string bracelet, which Madonna wears, that is thought to ward off the evil eye.

Madonna’s pilgrimage to Israel, during which she visited Safed and the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel, sparked more criticism from Orthodox Israelis, even those who are empathetic with the concept of spiritual yearning.

“If you see people thinking they can put their spiritual lives together by tying a red string around their wrists, you know there’s a lot of spiritual pain and hunger,” said Jonathan Rosenblum, a Jerusalem Post columnist who writes about the Orthodox community in Israel.

“But just because people try to slake their spiritual thirst in this manner doesn’t mean it isn’t ersatz Kabbalah,” he said. “It’s not the real thing.”

Despite widespread criticism in Orthodox circles, some Jewish scholars say that even the simplified Kabbalah taught at the Kabbalah Centre can inspire people religiously, as evidenced by Madonna’s charitable work and seemingly calmer persona since she began studying the philosophy.

“It has transformative power,” said Elliot R. Wolfson, who is a professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University.

Wolfson, who criticizes the Kabbalah Centre for taking the philosophy out of its Jewish context, says that the phenomenon has nonetheless reaped some positive rewards, even in the Jewish community.

“I think it has attracted a number of Jews who otherwise would have probably been disenfranchised,” he said.

Michele Chabin contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

MO/PH END ROSSI