10 Jul Madonna and the Red String Brigade
In the early 2000s celebrity gossip (how did we keep up before the Internet?) was rife with news of the latest Kabballah converts: Madonna, Donna Karan, Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. Sporting a red string around one’s left wrist was a sign that you were in on the secret, secrets that were previously available only to learned scholars.
Actually, the only scholars let in on the mystic secrets were Jewish men over the age of 40. When Philip and Karen Berg began their Kabbalah teachings, their goal was to make this ancient wisdom available to everyone without exclusion. As Karen Berg says on her website: “If wisdom can help improve the lives of others, it should not be kept a secret.”
Of course, the idea that spiritual truth should be available to any and all comers has raised controversy whenever it has surfaced through the ages. The Berg’s version of Kabballah has been seen by traditionalists as a perversion of the ancient wisdom tradition and instead, as new age self-help.
n 1984 the Bergs founded The Kabballah Centre in L.A. where it begat a worldwide movement. At its height it was reported to have several million followers and over 50 centers worldwide. When Philip died in 2013, Karen Berg and their two sons, David and Yehuda assumed the helm.
Some of the Kabballah teachings are that a unifying truth underlies all religions, that what we can perceive with our senses comprised only 1% of reality, a strong belief in astrology, and the precept that by one’s efforts one can remove blocks in the way of receiving spiritual energy (Light).
Kabballah Centre offerings include online courses, books, articles, videos, events, livestreams, spiritual travel, and membership in a worldwide community. The instructors’ photos as posted are uniformly young and attractive.
Multiple scandals and lawsuits have plagued the Centre over financial and sexual improprieties. Previous members report being gouged for money in multiple ways, and a charity The Centre co-chaired with Madonna was suspected to be funneling money directly to itself. There were IRS and FBI investigations in 2011, and membership dropped sharply. Yehuda Berg, one of the 2 sons, paid damages and stepped down. Current estimates are that 3-5 thousand core members remain.
I was curious about the infamous red string, so I visited the bookstore to check it out. The Kabballah Red String Pack, a piece of red thread wrapped around a rectangle of cardboard, costing probably a dime (or less) to make in China, retails for $26 — perhaps a small price to pay to ward off the Evil Eye. The online version, however, is sold out.
1062 S. Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035
This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.