Cult News

Madonna and Kate Capshaw, the wife of director Steven Speilberg, have both sent their kids to programs at the Kaballah Centre.

Ms. Capshaw has been a student at the LA Center, and Madonna supports the London branch and is the organization’s most ardent and notable booster.

But what kind of education do kids receive through the controversial group, that some critics have called a “cult”?

This week the Kaballah Centre School of New York City held an “open house” and one neighborhood mom that attended told CultNews all about it.

“I am concerned about children being indoctrinated beginning at two years of age,” she said.

According to the Manhattan parent kids at the Kaballah Centre “are taught to share their food with each other.”

This is called “sharing and caring.”

And visitors at the open house were told that other private schools are “mean” by comparison.

Of course this school is not just about learning the basics, it’s about “spirituality.”

Madonna and Karen Berg, wife of the center’s founder, jointly launched a program called “Spirituality for Kids,” which is closely linked to the former “Material Girl’s” children’s books.

Visitors to the NYC school learned that “Kaballah means to share and to change.” And unlike other schools they have no time-outs.

Instead, students are taught to confront and convert the offender, who may simply be having a “bad day.”

Parents were informed that at home children may be individuals, but at this school they learn to think as a “group.” For example, children may bring a toy from home, but they must share it with others.

Students even do a project that involves the “72 names of God,” and learn about how to reconfigure those names for “healing.”

But can kindergarten kids really fathom this stuff?

One lesson at the center teaches unity using the much-touted amulet of Berg’s faithful, the red string, now worn by recent convert Britney Spears to ward off the “evil eye.”

In this lesson the teacher holds a long red string and the children say words that “stop unity.” Each time such a bad word is said the teacher cuts the string.

This leads into a discussion about how unity can be destroyed.

Hey, doesn’t this sound a little like what some might call “brainwashing“?

Children enrolled at the center are given their very own red string bracelet just like Madonna and Britney. It is a symbol “of love, safety and care,” though some might observe it also reinforces group identity.

The NYC Kaballah teacher is from Israel and she instructs children on how to “manage life in an easier way.”

But sharing your lunch and memorizing God’s 72 names might just be a little tough.

Starting at the age of 2 Kaballah kids are allotted 13 minutes daily, for religious study in Hebrew.

Two-year-olds also learn how to “scan the Zohar.”

Such scanning is based upon Berg’s teaching that by simply running your eyes over the religious text, even though you don’t know how to read the language, you are somehow imbued with “spiritual” benefits.

However, rabbis and Jewish scholars have ridiculed such claims.

Steven Speilberg is known for his ability to direct fantasy films, such as Indiana Jones and ET, but doesn’t he want his kids to know the difference between make believe and reality?

As for Madonna, she seems to have regressed into a state of child-like devotion and dependence upon her long-time guru Berg.

Maybe the fading pop diva thinks he helps her to “manage” middle age “life in an easier way.”

However, parents should know that sending their children to the Kaballah Centre means more than simply day care or receiving an education.

The NYC center also has plans for a summer camp this year.

But it looks like the school and summer program are more about indoctrinating kids into what can be seen as “Bergism,” rather than simply education and recreation.