May 07, 2004

The Kibosh on Kabbalah

It's been a rough few weeks for the neo-Kabbalah fad. First there was the oft-cited cover story in the New Republic by Yossi Klein Halevi which trashed the Kabbalah Centre as a near-cult which thrives on bilking funds from California trendoids and/or celebrities.

Rather than having anything to do with the ancient Jewish tradition of mysticism, Halevi's piece argued, the new Kabbalah fad is merely Scientology with an Old Testament imprimatur. Sheila and her commenters had some other interesting things to say about the subject last week.

Now, via blogger-turned-Forward-staffer Steven I. Weiss, comes word that an ordained rabbi in California who had been convicted on pedophilia charges was running a Kabbalah practice under an assumed name. This guy was apparently operating a low-rent version of the aforementioned Kabbalah Centre; rather than Madonna or Britney Spears, the best he could do in the way of celebrity endorsements was Tatum O'Neal.

Interesting that a convicted pederast in LA would embrace Kabbalah; I had thought that men freed from jail in California after having sex with 14-year-olds tended to spend their days bowling, talking trash, and answering to the name "Jesus."

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 7, 2004 01:08 AM
Comments

8-year-olds, Dude.

Posted by: Ben Dreyfus at May 7, 2004 08:06 AM
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