Demi Moore seems to be the latest celebrity to get hooked on the “Kaballah,” or at least what People Magazine passes off as “Kaballah” within a puff piece featured in its May 12th issue, now on news stands.
However, the version of “Kaballah” Demi studies along with Madonna is through a controversial organization run by Philip Berg and his family called the “Kaballah Center,” which has been called a “cult.”
The positive almost promotional article barely hints at the troubled history of this organization and instead focuses on what stars say about the group.
People Magazine appears more concerned about what celebrities think, than the public good.
However, Berg and his Kaballah Center have a long history of bad press.
Its teachings have been called everything from “absolute mumbo jumbo” to “McWisdom of the ages.”
Instead of being the seemingly legitimate study of “Jewish mysticism,” as presented within People, Berg’s Kaballah Center is instead often described as a fringe group amongst mainstream Jewish scholars.
In 1995 a Jewish task force report in California stated the following:
“Outside of his own…circle of followers, neither the academic nor the Jewish religious worlds know anything about [Philip Berg] except for the anomalies of his centers. They have absolutely no regard for him, his teachings, writings or activities. In fact, he is universally condemned by both the Orthodox rabbinate and contemporary schools of Jewish mysticism in Israel, the USA and elsewhere, as a charlatan.”
People Magazine did cite one Jewish teacher though that is a strong supporter of Berg and his organization.
Roseanne.
The former sitcom queen now teaches a class at the LA Kaballah Center.
Now there’s a class worth attending, but it’s not clear what for?
But apparently being the star of a syndicated television series with substantial residual income may largely cover Berg’s teaching requirements.
Maybe the bigger the star, the greater their “McWisdom” and corresponding credentials?
Get ready for a class on “God, Jewish spirituality and the meaning of life” from Madonna.
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