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For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain. Kohelet 1:18 |
Philip S. Berg (original name Feivel Gruberger) is an American rabbi and current Dean of the worldwide Kabbalah Centre organization.
Having written a number of books on the subject of Kabbalah, Berg believes that the philosophy should not be taught exclusively to a select few Jewish scholars but become a shared wealth of practical wisdom available to all of humankind.
There is disagreement about whether Berg's teachings, as relayed through the Kabbalah Center, have sufficient grounds and/or genuine authority according to Jewish law, as they include some dogmas and translations differing markedly from those of more-traditional Kabbalists. Some Jewish scholars emphatically reject such "teachings", deeming them as foreign to both The Kabbalah in particular and to Judaism in general, while others applaud his populist advocacy.
Following a serious illness, his role has been increasingly fulfilled by his wife Karen Berg along with their sons Yehuda Berg and Michael Berg, co-directors of the Centre.
Berg was born as Shraga Feivel Gruberger in Brooklyn to an Orthodox Jewish family. He is said to have been educated at a yeshiva where he was allegedly ordained as a rabbi in 1951 and then started working as an insurance salesman at New York Life two years later. His first wife was named Rivkah with whom he had several children. It was Rivka's uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, dean of the prestigious Yeshiva Kol Yehuda, who Berg first met on a trip to Israel in 1962, and who would become his Kabbalistic mentor. There is some disagreement over who succeeded Rabbi Brandwein as dean of Yeshiva Kol Yehuda - Berg has claimed to have replaced Rabbi Brandwein in that role, but that claim is disputed by Brandwein's son Avraham, who is the current dean. Despite this, Articles of Incorporation were filed with the IRS for U.S. branch of the "National Institute for the Research of Kabbalah" in 1965. These Articles of Incorporation were signed by both Rabbi Brandwein and Rabbi Philip Berg. Later, the organization's name was changed to The Research Centre for Kabbalah and finally, The Kabbalah Centre.
After Brandwein's death in 1969, Berg returned to the U.S. and began working again with his former secretary and future wife, Karen, on the condition that she let him teach her Kabbalah, a discipline he claims was reserved exclusively for men. In 1971 Philip and Karen married and traveled to Israel. Then, in 1973, the Bergs returned to Queens, where they established their full-time headquarters during the 1980s.
Reports about Berg are conflicting. According to a 1994 article in Tel Aviv magazine, Berg says he was ordained in the U.S.A. in the early '50s and got an additional ordination in Israel from his former father-in-law. The Los Angeles Task Force on Cults and Missionaries claims he is not affiliated with the 80-year-old Yeshivah Kol Yehuda in Jerusalem, once headed by Berg's ex-father-in-law, the late Rabbi Brandwein, though he claims he is.
The light is understood as part of the duality in the "light filled vessel" metaphor central to Berg's cosmology. In Berg's telling, the Kabbalistic origin of the universe is in agreement with the Big Bang - prior to a massive explosion, a sacred vessel was united with the light that filled it. The light was the force of creation and the vessel the force of desire/receiving. When the vessel desired to create, the two separated, resulting in void, followed by an explosion which shattered the vessel. These broken shards of vessel and light became the imperfect physical universe.
All aspects of human life are spiritual but require Kabbalah - especially its concept of "restriction" tzimtzum in the sense of self-control, nonreactivity and proactivity - to harness them beneficially.
Negative aspects of the world - death, illness, pain, frustration, poverty, failure, loneliness, and so on - result from human mistakes but exist for the benefit of humans: they are opportunities for each individual to reveal light through behavioral corrections or "tikkun". By sharing with others, humans reveal more light, use this creative force to "become like God", and "make the world a better place" ((Repair the shattered vessel, tikkun olam)).
A core principle is the importance of sharing, viewed as directly opposing the influence of the ego, defined in Berg's Kabbalah Centre texts as the "desire to receive for oneself alone". By actively combating the influence of the ego and increasingly sharing in life (both physically and emotionally), the Center promises that one will experience lasting satisfaction, fulfilment and the removal of "chaos" from life.
Sharing is based on the principle that one ultimately lives life with a single ongoing choice - whether to be influenced by the ego or the "light". The Centre teaches that the ego, sometimes referred to as "satan" (pronounced sa'tan) was created by the "light" in order to give humanity free choice.
Berg states it is his destiny to reveal the real truths about Kabbalah. Traditionally, while some parts of the Kabbalah were considered acceptable to teach to younger Torah scholars, most of Kabbalah was held to be forbidden to be taught, or at the very least, severely discouraged, except to very learned scholars over forty years of age. Berg describes Kabbalah as a "universal philosophy", and claims that no one, regardless of religion or gender, should be denied study of it.
Many of his ideas have angered other Kabbalists. For example, while most Kabbalists have traditionally taught that Jews must follow Halakha ("Jewish law") as strictly binding, Berg teaches that knowing the purpose behind Halakha is more important.
Berg advocates the use of astrology readings to counsel his students, and has written numerous books on the subject. Berg asserts that his beliefs in kabbalistic astrology are strongly influenced by the classic work of Kabbalah, Sefer Yetzirah, attributed pseudepigraphically to the patriarch Avraham (see also Sefer Raziel HaMalakh). In his belief, kabbalistic astrology provides a link between scientific astronomy and esoteric astrology. He refers to Kabbalah, where all living things, all matter, all energy and even space-time itself is a manifest of God. Because of this, cosmic forces have a divine nature, and Judaism was heavily influenced by them, including holidays like Passover and the Hebrew calendar.
However, traditional Judaism is often critical of using astrology in religion. The Talmud records stataments from different figures which both forbid and accept some use of astrology, a tension also present in other rabbinic literature from 600 CE until the enlightenment. Berg is not the only kabbalist who recognizes the Jewish connection to Astrology.
Berg believes that as living things, and as part of God, we have control over our own actions. Berg holds that God does not reward people for good behavior and punish them for bad behavior. Instead he believes that bad behavior lead to bad effects. The reason for rules in the Torah is to prevent adverse effects. If we all kill, what can happen? We can be killed. If we all steal, what can happen? We can be stolen from. According to Berg, the commandments were put in place by God to bring harmony to a chaotic world, not to judge people. Some claim this teaching is generally considered outright heresy in Orthodox Judaism, as it contradicts one of the Jewish principles of faith according to Rabbis Joseph Albo and Maimonides. But others believe that Rabbi Berg's teachings reinforce the Jewish principle of faith.
Berg has written:
A central part of his theology is a belief in Gilgulim (traditional Kabbalistic concept of reincarnation), which he holds is a central tenet of Judaism. To him, the single destination of a soul only to the spiritual afterlife, is a purely Christian belief and has no place in Judaism. He holds that this phenomenon can be proven true by logical argument. This idea is accepted as true by many Orthodox Jews, but some Orthodox Jews, and most non-Orthodox Jews, view the entire idea as false, due to a lack of talmudic sources as well as writings from Rav Saadia Gaon that it comes from the "Indian religions." It is also felt that the concept is philosophically untenable. The issue of how Jews have traditionally understood reincarnation is discussed in Jewish eschatology and gilgul.
Berg's ideas about the effect of spirituality within Hasidic Judaism are similar to those held by other scholars of Judaism.
In his book, The Wheels of a Soul, Berg has written that many concepts often understood as pseudoscience are real, such as Kirlian photography (p. 39), telepathy, and clairvoyance, (p. 40-41.)
In chapter six of this book he discusses reincarnation and Kabbalah. Here he writes that most mentally ill people are in fact not mentally ill, but are in fact possessed by evil spirits. (p. 50) He commonly refers to these as clippot or blockages.
In chapter 13, recalling past lives, he teaches that astral projection is real (p. 70).
Berg writes that all life affects one another, because the all began from the same source and are of the same body (God).
Berg emphasizes the application of the wisdom of Kabbalah in life, in accordance to study of the Zohar. Students are encouraged to attend courses that explain how "chaos" (i.e. potential and current problems) can be removed from life by understanding and applying a variety of spiritual "truths" that are based upon Kabbalistic concepts.
The world, a domain of separation, was created so that the "light" could be revealed (received) from choice with the application of effort. It is the ego (or satan) that allows humanity to apply effort by acting as an adversary or "opponent".
As humanity "reveals" more light in the world, by increasingly sharing and undertaking good deeds (despite the ego's efforts to the contrary), the more Bread of Shame is undone, allowing humanity to return to an original state of unity without the corresponding guilt.
Students are encouraged to understand the importance of non-reactivity, such as when prompted by circumstances to be angry or judgmental towards others. Such behaviour is described as reactive, "disconnecting' the student from the "Light" or more properly called en sof. In such situations, students are strongly encouraged to be "proactive" (i.e. realize that your reaction and not the situation is your enemy and be open to the guidance that will help you to solve the situation in a way that will benefit yourself and everyone else involved) and to "restrict" what is seen as the ego's attempt to make you "disconnect".
Berg teaches that if humanity as a whole continues to be influenced by the ego, exhibiting traits such as "hating for no reason", the "Light" (energy) will be blocked, creating chaos - potentially an Armageddon scenario. This is viewed as avoidable by "spreading" the wisdom of Kabbalah to as wide an audience as possible.
Philip Berg (Feivel Gruberger)
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