Numen 62 (2015) 197225brill.com/nu koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 215|doi 1.1163/15685276-12341363Kabbalah and the Politics of Inauthenticity:The Controversies over the Kabbalah CenterBoaz HussBen-Gurion University of the Negev The Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought P.O.B 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israelbhuss@bgu.ac.ilAbstractThis article examines the controversies and polemics against the Kabbalah Center, and probestheculturalsignificanceofthedenunciationsoftheKCasinauthentic.The study shows that the accusation of inauthenticity is directed both at the KCs modern features,whichareperceivedasincompatiblewithauthenticKabbalah,aswellas against the kabbalistic practices and doctrines of the KC which are perceived as incom-patible with authentic modern Western values. It argues that the hostility to the KC is stimulated to a large degree by the postmodern features of the KC and its transgression ofthefundamentalculturalboundariesofmodernWesternculture.Furthermore,it showsthattheindictmentofinauthenticityisusedtoamplifytheculturalpowerof competing Kabbalists and academic scholars of Kabbalah, who present themselves as experts on authentic Kabbalah.KeywordsKabbalahCentercontemporaryKabbalahinauthenticityNewReligious Movements cult controversiesThe Kabbalah Center (henceforth KC or Center), which was founded by Philip Berg in the late 1960s, has become the largest, best-known, and most contro-versial contemporary kabbalistic movement. Since the 1980s, Berg and the KC have been criticized by Jewish rabbinic authorities of various denominations, academic scholars of Jewish mysticism, anti-cult activists, and the mass media. BergandtheKCaredescribedbytheiropponentsasacultandblamedfor 198 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225acontraventionofacceptedJewishnorms,financialexploitation,andofthe commodification of Kabbalah. While different accusations are emphasized by each of the various opponents of the KC, a recurring and central accusation is itsinauthenticity. TheleadersoftheKCareportrayedascharlatans,andthe Kabbalah they teach is described as a spurious form of Kabbalah.In this article, I discuss the various controversies and polemics against the KC, and examine the nature of the allegations made against the Center. I will demonstrate the centrality of the charge of inauthenticity, and probe the cul-turalsignificanceofthisaccusation.Iwillshowthattheaccusationofinau-thenticityisdirectedbothattheKCsmodernfeatures,whichareperceived as incompatible with authentic Kabbalah, as well as against the kabbalistic practicesanddoctrinesoftheKCwhichareperceivedasincompatiblewith authentic modern Western values. I will argue that the hostility to the KC is stimulatedtoalargedegreebythepostmodernfeaturesoftheKC,itstrans-gression of the fundamental cultural boundaries of modern Western culture, and that the indictment of inauthenticity is used to amplify the cultural power ofcompetingKabbalistsandacademicscholarsofKabbalah,whopresent themselves as experts on authentic Kabbalah.The Kabbalah CenterIntheearly1960s,PhilipGruberger(19292013),ayoungOrthodoxJewish insurance salesman from New York, visited Israel and began studying Kabbalah with Yehuda Zvi Brandwein (19031967). Brandwein was the rabbi of the small Hasidic court of Stratin, the head of the department of religious affairs of the powerfulIsraeliworkersunion(theHistadrut),andtheprincipaldiscipleof oneofthemostprolificandinnovativeKabbalistsofthetwentiethcentury, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (18851954).Ashlag,whoimmigratedtoPalestinein1922,developedamodernistform ofKabbalahthatcombinedcommunistandkabbalisticthemes,whichhe presented in his commentaries on the canonical texts of Kabbalah, the Zohar (which was probably written in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centu-ries), and the Lurianic corpus (written by the sixteenth-century Kabbalist Isaac Luria and his disciples), as well as in several essays intended for a larger public (Huss 2005a:615616; 2006b). After his death, Ashlags Kabbalah was studied in smallcircles,headedbyhissons,BaruchShalomandBenjaminShlomo,and hisdisciplesYehudaZviBrandwein,LeviKrakovsky,andothers.Gruberger, who studied with Brandwein and Krakovsky and helped Brandwein with fun-draising,printing,anddistributingkabbalisticbooksintheUnitedStates, 199 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225 establishedtheNationalInstituteforResearchinKabbalahin1965inNew York(theorganizationwaslaterrenamedtheResearchCenterofKabbalah and,finally,theKabbalahCenterforconveniencesake,Iwillrefertoall these organizations as KC).FollowingBrandweinsdeathin1969,Gruberger(wholaterchangedhis name to Berg), declared himself Brandweins successor and worked, together with his second wife Karen, at spreading the knowledge of Ashlags Kabbalah in Israel and the United States. Berg organized study groups, printed works by Ashlag and Krakovsky and, since the 1980s, has been publishing his own writ-ings,inwhichhepresentedapopularizedversionofAshlagsKabbalah. The Bergs attracted a group of followers, called the evre (fellowship), who lived a communal life and strove to spread the knowledge of Kabbalah.At the beginning, the target audience of the KC was Jewish, especially secu-lar and non-observant Jews. Later, the Center also opened its gates to non-Jews, declaring that the teachings of Kabbalah were universal. During the 1990s, the KCgrewrapidlyandopenedadditionalbranchesinIsrael,theUnitedStates, Latin America, and Europe. Since the 1990s, the KC has been spreading its doc-trinesusingsophisticatedmarketingmethodssuchasthroughlivecourses, printedbooks,andtheinternet.Therecruitmentofcelebrities,foremost amongstthem,thepopsuperstarMadonna,stimulatedtheKCssuccessand attracted much public attention to the Center. Today, after Philip Bergs death in 2013, the KC is led by Karen and their two sons, Yehuda and Michael.1TheteachingsoftheKCarebasedonapopularizedversionofAshlags kabbalisticprinciples,combinedwithcertainelementsandritualsadopted from other kabbalistic schools and quite a few New Age themes and practices. Although the KC emphasizes the universal message of the Kabbalah, and many (probablymost)ofitsfollowersarenon-Jewish,agreatnumberofitsrituals arebasedontraditionalJewishpractice,anditsinnercoregroupadheresto Orthodox Jewish law.2The KCs hierarchical structure and missionary zeal, as well as the high com-mitment of its followers to the group and its leader, resemble other late twenti-eth-century ideological organizations which were branded by their opponents as cults and defined by scholars as New Religious Movements (NRMs) (Myers 2007:12). Yet, it should be emphasized that the characteristic traits of the so-calledNRMsarecommontomanyotherideologicalmovementsthroughout history,especiallyintheirformativeperiods.Thedoctrinesandpracticesof theKCalsoresemble(andcanbeseenaspartof)NewAgeculture.TheKC 1On the origins and history of the KC, see Myers 2007:3373, 2008:404409.2On the teachings of the KC, see Myers 2007:75108, 2008:404407.200 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225adoptsexplicitNewAgeterminology,suchastheAgeofAquariusandthe termNewAgeitself,emphasizeskabbalisticdoctrinesthatarecompatible withNewAgespirituality(suchasastrologyandreincarnation)andconveys major themes characteristic of the New Age, such as an expectation for a new era of spiritual transformation; a psychological, self-centered spirituality; the emphasisonspiritualandphysicalhealingandwell-being;andthebelief inthecompatibilityofmodernscienceandspirituality(Myers2007:5;Huss 2007b:111116). Similar to other New Age movements, some of the traits of the KC are characteristic of postmodern culture. The KCs eclecticism, its blurring of the distinction between religion and popular culture, its emphasis on prac-tice rather than theory, and the explicit commodification of Kabbalah are typi-cal of late capitalist, postmodern, cultural formations (Huss 2005a:620).3The Campaigns against the KCThe first media report on Bergs new movement, published in 1975, stated that Rabbi Berg is considered something of a radical, and in fact, efforts by various segmentsoforthodoxytooutlawandexcommunicatehimhavemadehima renegade(Lifshutz1975:16).4Mostprobably,thisreportwasbasedonBergs ownaccountandwaspartofhisattempttoportrayhimselfandhisteach-ers as persecuted, anti-establishment reformers (Meir 2007:174176). Although therewere,atthistime,stillnopublicdenunciationsofBergandtheKC,5 this portrayal anticipated future campaigns against them. As the KC grew and becamemoresuccessful,itprovokednegativereactionsfromdiversecircles, first and foremost, from Jewish rabbinic leaders, later from academic scholars of Jewish mysticism and, since the 1990s, also from anti-cult activists and the mass media.In 1981 Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, denounced BergforteachingKabbalahtoamixedaudienceofmalesandfemales,and advisedthepublictokeeptheirdistancefromtheKC(Yosef1981:241245; 3Postmodern traits are also typical of other new Kabbalah formations. See Huss 2007b:117122.4A much milder description of the opposition Berg encountered is found in a 1978 interview with Berg. See Levanon 1978:83.5AdecreeagainstBergandhiswifeTova(KarenBergsHebrewname)wasissuedby the Rabbinical court of the Rabbinical Alliance of America on 13 April 1976. Yet this decree relates to false statements given about Bergs divorce from his first wife, and does not relate at all to his Kabbalah teachings. 201 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225Meir2007:423).6Inthelate1980s,implicitcriticismsagainsttheKCwere voicedbyleadingIsraeliacademicscholarsofJewishmysticism.JosephDan expressed his negative opinion of boors and ignoramuses who clothe them-selvesinaKabbalisticmantle(Fuchs1986),andMosheIdeldescribedthe contemporarypopularizationofKabbalah(undoubtedlyreferringtotheKC) as a gross simplification, maybe even deception, an exploitation of the inter-est of the public, which is in a state of spiritual crisis (Bar Yoseph 1989:25).AstheKCincreaseditsimpactandoutreachactivitiesinthe1990s,it openednewcentersintheUnitedStates,Canada,Mexico,SouthAfrica,and France; it attracted more attention and negative responses from Jewish communal leaders and rabbis. In 1990, the Orthodox Rabbinical Council (Vaad Ha-Rabanim)ofTorontoissuedadisapprovingstatementagainsttheKC, followedin1991bytheOrthodoxRabbinicalCouncilofQueens,NewYork (Csillag1993:6),7theChiefRabbiofFrancein1992,8andtheChiefRabbiof South Africa in 1993 (Rowan 2004).In 1995, a series of kabbalistic prayer books by the KC were published with theapprobationsofvariousreligiousauthorities,includingthemembersof theJerusalemAshkenaziUltra-OrthodoxRabbinicalCourt(BethDinZedek) and the renowned Jerusalem Kabbalist, Isaac Kaduri; neither party was aware of the objections to Berg and his school.9 These publications enraged the oppo-nentsoftheKC,whoconvincedKaduritoretracthispreviousapprobation oftheprayerbooks(Meir2007:189),andconvincedtheJerusalemAshkenazi Rabbinical Court to issue a decree in which it apologized for giving their previ-ous approval and to further state that Berg is to be rejected and his books must be excluded from the camp of Israel.10 In 1997, Rabbi Yaacov Moshe Hillel, a prominentJerusalemKabbalist,ruledthattheZoharvolumespublishedby theKCshouldbedepositedinareligiousstorage(Genizah),andthatBergs 6Berg and the KC encountered further opposition from Orthodox circles in the 1980s. In 1983, students of the KC who studied Zohar during the Lag Ba-Omer pilgrimage were physically attacked by their opponents. See Turner 1993:247248 (Yoram Bilu, who was present there, toldmeabouttheincident).In1988,alengthyhandwrittenpamphletagainstBergwas written in Los Angeles by Tzabar Erem and circulated in mimeograph. See Meir 2007:110.7I am grateful to Jody Myers for sending me a copy of this article.8This statement was published in Garson 1992:15. See Altglas 2011. Later, in 19971998, the Chief Rabbi (Joseph Sitruk) denounced the KC in public lectures held in the La Victoire synagogue in Paris and in an interview he gave to the VSD Journal; see Altglas 2011. See also Charles Mopsiks response to Sitruks interview in Mopsik 2004.9TheapprobationsarepublishedinBerg,Tefilahla-Ani.SeeMopsik2004:422;Meir 2007:189.10The decree was published in Garson 1997:3. See also Hillel 1997:258.202 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225ownwritingsmustbeburned.11TheChiefRabbinateofIsraelissuedapro-nouncement warning the public of Berg and the KC in 1998,12 and in 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Britain published a public statement urging the Jewish commu-nity to exercise caution if approached by them (Altglas 2011). Following the 2005 Zohar Project launched by the KC, in which free samples of the Zohar weredistributedinconflictareas,includingtheoccupiedterritories,dictates calling for the storage of the KCs Zohar volumes were reissued in Israel (Meir 2007:185186,245).13Orthodoxrabbishavepublishedseveralarticlesagainst theKC,includingMadonnasKabbalahNotKosherbyArielBarTzadok (anAmericanSephardicOrthodoxrabbiandKabbalist)(2002),14Madonna the Mystic? and Keeping Kabbalah Jewish by the celebrity Orthodox Rabbi ShmuleyBoteach(authorofthebest-sellerKosherSex)(2003,2004b),15and Kabbalah or Show Biz by the Canadian Kabbalist Raphael Afilalo (2004).Most of the religious campaigns against the KC came from Orthodox Jewish groups. Yet criticism of the KC was also voiced by rabbinic authorities and activ-ists of other Jewish movements and denominations, including Steven Robbins, a Reform rabbi affiliated with the Jewish Renewal movement, Jonathan Omer-man,oneoftheleadersoftheJewishRenewalmovement(Eshman1997; Stukin 1998; Griffin 1998; Hamilton 2000), Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism (Yoffie 2004:2), and Michael Laitman, the head of the neo-kabbalistic group Bnei Baruch.1611Hillel1997:258267;Meir2007:187,244245.Hillelsdecreewaspublishedasaresponse to a question regarding the dispersion of kabbalistic books by the KC in France. Decrees calling for the disposal of the publications of the KC (especially its Zohar editions) and to deposit them in religious storage were reissued in the same year by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (ChiefRabbinateofIsrael1998),theJerusalemAshkenaziRabbinicalCourt(BethDin Zedek2007),andRaphaelIsrael,theRabbiofSarcelles,animportantJewishcommu-nity in the suburbs of Paris (Fajnkuchen 1997:2; Altglas 2011). The decrees calling for the storage of the Zohar volumes published by the KC also reached the U.S. Yet Rabbi Zvulun Lieberman, the president of the rabbinic council of Flatbush, objected to this and wrote, inaletterdated28May1998,that[p]rintedcopiesofthisbookaretobetreatedwith respect and honor. Anyone violating the sanctity of these volumes is committing a great error, and it is a disgrace, Chilul haShem, in the eyes of the total Jewish Community. The letter was published on the KCs website; see Meir 2007:188.12Another decree against the KC was issued by Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, the head of Yeshivat Or ha-Hayyim. See Beth Din Zedek 1997.13On the Zohar Project, see Myers 2007:130; Meir 2007:185186.14See also Bar Tzadoks criticism of the KC in an interview published in Ben-Ami 2004.15See also Boteach 2004a, 2004c.16See Laitman 2008a, 2008b, 2009. 203 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225Duringthe1990sand2000s,furthercriticismsanddisparagingremarks againsttheKCwerevoicedininterviewsgiventothepublicmediabyaca-demicscholarsofJewishmysticismsuchasRachelEliorin1999,Mordechai Pachter, Elliot Wolfson, Daniel Matt, and Arthur Green in 2004 and by Yehuda Liebes in 2009 (Claflin 2004; Gray 2004; Green 2004; Leibovitz-Dar 2004; Matt 2004; Karpel 2009).17 Negative evaluations of the KC are included in the pub-licationsofotheracademicscholarsaswell.MosheHalamishopenedhis IntroductiontoKabbalah,publishedin1991,bycriticizingthevariousinsti-tutes and courses which have appeared in recent years that sell Kabbalah to all who ask (Hallamish 1991:7) and, in a 1999 review article, Allan Nadler dis-paraged the contemporary abuses of kabbalistic learning by the KC (Nadler 1999).18 Further criticism and negative evaluations of the KC appear in schol-arlypublicationsbyDavidAriel(2005:195),JosephDan(2002:285),Jonathan Meir(2007:182),andHava Tirosh-Samuelson(2008:2223).19MaraEinstein,a ProfessorofMediaStudies,dedicatedachaptertotheKCinher2008book Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age, in which she deplored itsturningKabbalahintoapopculturephenomenon,insteadofaserious religious practice (Einstein 2008:x).20Sincetheearly1990s,theKChasbeentargetedalsobyanti-cultorgani-zationsandactivists(mostlyJewish)inIsrael,Europe,andespeciallyinthe UnitedStates.ArnoldMarkowitz,directoroftheNewYorkCultHotlineof the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services, reported in an interview in 1993 that he received a fair amount of calls complaining about the high pres-sure and abusive tactics of the KC. At the same time, similar accusations were made against the KC by Phil Abramowitz of the New York Jewish Community Task Force on Missionaries and Cults, by Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress,andJuliusCissoftheTorontocounter-missionarygroupJewsfor 17ForMattscriticisms,listentohis2004interviewwithDaveDaviesonNationalPublic RadiosFreshAirathttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1744269 (esp.07:4710:05).ForGreenscriticisms,listentohis2004interviewwithTerryGross on National Public Radios Fresh Air at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=4225236 (esp. 16:1020:00). All websites are cited in the same manner as when this article was originally written. Thus, the contents of some websites may have changed over time, and some may now be defunct.18In2008,NadlerpublishedaderogatoryandsneeringcritiqueoftheKCintheNew York Post. See Nadler 2008.19In 2006, Tirosh-Samuelson criticized the KC in a lecture held at a conference in San Diego. See Brett 2006.20See also Einstein 2008:147172.204 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225Judaism (Csillag 1993:7). In 1995, the Los Angeles American Jewish Federations Task Force on Cults and Missionaries prepared a long report on Philip Berg and the KC (Task Force on Cults and Missionaries 1995).21TwoofthemostrenownedAmericananti-cultadversaries(bothJewish), RickRossandStevenAlanHassan,becameactiveagainsttheKCinthelate 1990s,andwereinterviewedextensivelyascultexpertsinpressreportsand investigations on the KC.22 Ross and Hassan adduce a large amount of mate-rialsagainsttheKConthewebsitesoftheirinstitutesincludingnewspaper articles,23reportsfromrelativesofKCmembersandformermembers,24the 1995reportagainsttheKCbytheTaskForceonCultsandMissionaries,and a forum on Kabbalah Center Victims.25 Ross accusations against the KC are summarizedinhis1997articleHasMadonnaJoinedaCult?,andHassans accusationsaresummedupinhisarticleMediaAlert,whichstatesthat [t]heKabbalahLearningCenteristhelatestPopCulture;However,most are unaware that its a destructive cult (Hassan 2003). Both Ross and Hassan wereinvolvedinthedeprogrammingandexitcounselingofmembersof the KC.2621Thereportcanbefoundonseveralanti-cultwebsites,includingTheRickA.Ross Institute,StevenAlanHassansFreedomofMindCenter,andJewsforJudaism.Several other American Jewish anti-cult activists operated against the KC in the late 1990s, includ-ingRachelBernstein,atherapistandcoordinatorattheCultHotlineandClinicofthe JewishBoardofFamilyandChildrenServices;DebbieFine,directoroftheMaynard BernsteinResourceCenteronCultsinLosAngeles;BenzionKravitz,executivedirector of the anti-missionary organization Jews for Judaism, and Stephen Robbins, the founder oftheLosAngelesJewishFederationsCultTaskForce.SeeEshman1997;Stukin1998; Hamilton 2000.22See, for instance, Rowan 2004; Lappin 2004; Leibovitz-Dar 2004.23Kabbalah Center and Philip S. Berg. The Rick A. Ross Institute. http://www.rickross.com/groups/kabbalah.html(accessed10June2009);KabbalahLearningCenter.Freedom ofMindResourceCenter.http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/k/ kabbalah/ (accessed 10 June 2009).24See,forinstance,ANewYorkStory,AformerStudentattheLosAngelesKabbalah Center, and Kabbalah Center Visitors Comments on Rick Ross website.25KabbalahCenterVictims.TheRickA.RossInstitute.http://forum.rickross.com/read .php?5,9368 (accessed 10 June 2009).26HassanreportsinMediaAlertthathecounseledayoungwomanwhowasastaff memberoftheKC.Lappin(2004)interviewedtwoformerKCmemberswhoreceiveda professional intervention by Hassan. Ross said he counseled more than a dozen former KC members, and described in detail one of his toughest assignments in which he was hired by a family of a London KC member to get her out. See also Leibovitz-Dar 2004. 205 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225TheKChasalsobeeninvestigatedandcrusadedagainstbytheIsraeli ultra-Orthodoxanti-cultorganizationsLevLAchim(Weiss2000)27andYad LAchim,28aswellasbyothernon-denominationalIsraelianti-cultorganiza-tions,suchastheInformationonCultsinIsrael29andtheIsraeliCenterfor CultVictims.30InformationabouttheKCisalsodistributedbysomeofthe majorinternationalanti-cultandcultawarenessgroups,suchastheICSA (International Cultic Studies Association),31 Apologetics Index,32 and UNADFI (Union Nationale des Association de Dfense des Familles et de Lindividu).33 A negative description of the KC is included in John Lawrence Reynolds Secret Societies: Inside the Worlds Most Notorious Organizations (2006:132138).Sincetheearly1990s,allegationsagainsttheKChavebeenmadeinthe public media that have become the main vehicle for the construction and dis-seminationofthenegativeimageoftheKCasadangerouscult.34In1992, 27The1998decreeoftheIsraeliChiefRabbisLauandBakahsi-DoronagainsttheKCwas based on a report of Lev LAchim. See Chief Rabbinate of Israel 1998. See also the anti-KC materials from the archives of Lev LAchim, which are cited on the French Prevensectes.comwebsiteathttp://www.prevensectes.com/kabbale1.htm(accessed10June2009) [theinformationtherewasextractedfromthewebpagehttp://kountras.magic.fr/k69 contre.htm, which does not exist anymore]. I am grateful to Vronique Altglas for provid-ing me with this information.28TheKabbalahCenter.YadLAchim.http://www.yadleachim.co.il/?CategoryID=111& ArticleID=125 (accessed 10 June 2009). On the anti-missionary and anti-cult activities of Yad LAchim, which was established in 1959 with the aim of directing immigrant children toreligiousresidentialschools,seeZaidman-DvirandSharot1992:286;Beit-Hallahmi 1991:210211. Lev LAchim was founded in 1989 by Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox activists who split from the Hasidic-run Yad LAchim organization.29Kabbalah Learning Center. Information on Cults in Israel. http://www.katot.org/KtSct_KabbalahLearningCenter.asp (accessed 10 June 2009).30KabbalahCenterDr.Berg.IsraelCenterforVictimsofCults.http://www.infokatot.com/39450/ ------- (accessed 10 June 2009).31Kabbalah Center. International Cultic Studies Association. http://www.icsahome.com/groups/kabbalahcenter (accessed 10 June 2009).32Kabbalah Centre. Apologetics Index. http://www.apologeticsindex.org/k05.htm (accessed 10 June 2009).33Union Nationale des Associations de Dfense des Familles et de Lindividu. http://www .unadfi.com/spip.php?article367(accessed10June2009).TheKCisalsomentionedon thewebsitesofPrevensectes(http://www.prevensectes.com/kabbale.htm#info),and Dialogcentret(http://www.dci.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id= 1032:kabbalah--en-middelalderlig-klassiker-udsat-for-pop&catid=96:dnd96).34ArticlesaboutBergandtheKCwerepublishedinthemediaalreadyinthe1970s,but unlikelatermediapublications,theyportrayedBerginafavorablelight.SeeLifschutz 1975; Levanon 1978.206 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225CatherineGarsonpublishedaspecialinquiryabouttheKCinActualitJuive titled Le Centre de la Kabbale: Attention, Danger (1992:1415). A year later, TheCanadianJewishNewspublishedaninvestigationabouttheKCbyRon Csillag, which begins with a story about a dying woman who was exhorted by aKCrabbitospendmoneyontheCentersproducts(Csillag1993).In1994, EinatFishbeinpublishedanegativearticleontheKCintheTelAvivJournal, portrayingitasacult,citingmanycondemningpersonalstoriesfromthe parentsofKCmembersandpeoplewhohadleftthegroupconcerning thepersonalitycultofPhilipBerg,theabuseandexploitationofmembers oftheKC,andtheseveringoftiesbetweenfollowersofthegroupandtheir families (Fishbein 1994).TheinterestofthemediaintheKCwasfueledafterseveralcelebrities, including Roseanne Bar, Sandra Bernhard, Elizabeth Taylor and, in particular, Madonna,joinedtheKCin1996.Hundreds(possiblythousands)ofarticles about the KC have been published since then (some in major national newspa-pers, including Haaretz, The New York Times, The Guardian, le Monde, and Der Spiegel), and almost all of them are negative and sneering, carrying titles such as Pop Goes Kabbalah (Van Biema 1997), Secrets of a celebrity sect (Rowan 2002), The String That Binds: The Kabbalah Centre wants your heart and your money (Ellin and Sacks 2004), and so forth.35 Several programs about the KC were broadcast on the radio and television, including ABC TVs newsmaga-zine20/20,SweeneyInvestigatesonBBC2,andOfratKotlersTheSecrets of the New Kabbalah on Israels channel 2 (all three programs were broadcast in 2005). The KC was also ridiculed in several television entertainment shows, such as Will & Grace as well as French and Saunders.36 The Allegations against the KCAlthough the adversaries of the KC operate from different, sometimes incom-patible ideological stances, there are significant connections and interdepen-dences between them. Many of the anti-cult activists belong to Orthodox and 35ThesearticlesandmanyothersabouttheKC(from1994on)canbefoundontheCult Education Institute website (http://www.culteducation.com/group/1008-kabbalah-centre .html).36Will&GraceEpisodeScripts.http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=will-and-grace&episode=s07e01 (accessed 10 June 2009); French & SaundersMadonnaTheEnglishRosesParody.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= zi-ftz_c3aY (accessed 10 June 2009). 207 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225ultra-Orthodoxorganizations,otherKCdetractorsoperatefromwithinboth academicandrabbinicframeworks,andanumberoftherabbisandJewish theologians who oppose the KC are also newspaper columnists. Anti-cult orga-nizationsciterabbinicleadersandacademicscholars,andextensivelyuse theinformationgatheredbyjournalists;themediareferstotheauthorityof rabbis,academicscholars,anti-cultactivistsandreligiousauthoritieswho basetheiropinionsagainsttheKContheresearchofanti-cultmovements. While diverse groups emphasize different accusations against the KC, many of these are shared by all of the KC opponents.Numerous KC adversaries accuse Philip Berg and his followers of transgress-ing Orthodox Jewish norms, especially those concerning the teaching, dissem-ination,andpracticeofKabbalah.OrthodoxcriticsofBergandtheKCcast doubtsontheirstrictobservanceofJewishlawandcustoms(Yosef1981:245; BethDinZedek1997),andattackthemforteachingKabbalahtonon-obser-vant Jews, women, and non-Jews, as well as for their assertion that the study andpracticeofKabbalahdoesnotnecessarilyrequireastrictobservanceof the Jewish commandments (Yosef 1981:245; Hillel 1997:228229). Interestingly, not only Orthodox rabbinical authorities, who are devoted to Jewish religious law,butalsoacademicscholarsofKabbalah,whoarecommittedtocritical scholarlyresearch,denouncetheKCforseparatingKabbalahfromthestrict observance of the commandments.37CriticismisalsodirectedagainsttheKCsdoctrinesandpractices.Tsabar Erems1988pamphletagainstBergconsistsoflengthyrefutationsofBergs teachinginKabbalahforLaymen.ThereportoftheTaskForceonCultsand Missionaries rejects Bergs belief in reincarnation and astrology, and it accuses himoffalsifyingkabbalisticandotherJewishsources,gainsayingfundamen-tal principles of the Torah, and inventing new ones. The Ashkenazi Rabbinical Court described Bergs teaching as filled with false opinions, blasphemies and heresies, and objected to his fusing the words of the saintly Kabbalists with theopinionsofGentilesandscientificheresies.Theanti-cultactivistRick Rossassertedthat[t]hebeliefsofBergandhisfollowersdiffergreatlyfrom the practices of normative Judaism and the actual Kabbalah (Ross 1997).Many of the KCs detractors from different sectors are opposed to what they perceive as the magical practices of the KC, especially the wearing of the red string (bendle), the drinking of Kabbalah water, and the practice of scanning theZohar(thatis,readingorjustpassingoneseyesoverthepagesofthe Zoharwithoutunderstandingthemeaningofitswords).ReformRabbiEric Yoffie described the KCs Pop Kabbalah as a simplistic self-help philosophy 37See Dan in Fuchs 1986 and Liebes in Karpel 2009.208 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225thatmakesuseofmagicstrings,amuletsandothersuperstitiouspractices (Yoffie2004). ThepracticesoftheKCwereportrayedasblackmagicinthe reportofthe TaskForceonCultsandMissionaries(TaskForceonCultsand Missionaries 1995), and Berkeley Professor of Kabbalah Daniel Matt said that hewastroubledbythesuperstitiousandmagicalelementsintheKC(Matt 2004).CriticismandridiculeofthepracticesoftheKCareabundantinthe media (in articles such as Red String and Kabbalah Water (Sugarman 2007), StringsAttached(Rowan2004),TheThinRedLine(Lappin2004),and numerous others).ManycriticsfindfaultwiththeKCforpopularizingandcommercializing Kabbalah.BarryMarcus,amembertheBritishChiefRabbiscabinet,criti-cized Berg for commercializing and devaluing Jewish learning (Julius 2003), andKabbalahscholarHavaTirosh-SamuelsonclaimsthattheKCreduces Kabbalahtoacommodity(Rifkin2006).ThecommercialismoftheKCis criticizedinmanypressarticles,whichbeartitlessuchasKabbalahand Euros (Khn 2003), Need a Receipt? (Leibovitz-Dar 2004), No Business like Kabbalah Business (Walls 2003), and so forth.The fact that a number of celebrities, and particularly Madonna, joined the KC infuriated many of the KCs adversaries. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach stated in one of the articles, Earth to Philip Berg: Do us all a favor and dump Madonna as your principal spokesperson. Sorry to be so crass but Madonna is a slut...and noreligiondarehaveaslutasitsprincipalrepresentative(Boteach2004c). ProfessorMordechaiPachterstatedthattheKCsteachingsarerelevantto Madonna, not for one who seeks to study spirituality (Leibovitz-Dar 2004:8). The media, whose interest in the KC was stimulated by its celebrity followers, sneersatthestudyofKabbalahbypopstarsinmanyarticlescarryingtitles suchasPopGoesKabbalah(VanBiema1997),KabbalahGoesShowbiz (Rushkoff 1999), Secrets of a Celebrity Sect (Rowan 2002), and others.OtherallegationsportraytheKCasadangerousanddeviantcult,accus-ing it of using coercive recruitment methods, brainwashing, and financial and emotional exploitation. Such charges are used especially by anti-cult activists andthemedia.Hassan,forinstance,statedinhisMediaAlertthat[t]he Kabbalah Learning Centre is really a destructive cult in disguise...A number of disenchanted spouses, family members and former members have accused the center of using high-pressure mind control tactics to manipulate members intoacultishdependency(Hassan2003).Themediaregularlyportraysthe KC as a cult and its leader as a guru in articles carrying titles such as Truth abouttheMadonnaCult(SweeneyandBaracaia2005),ShowbizLostSouls buy into Cult (Hall 1997), and Cult Guru and His Rich Puppets (Julius 2003). Its cultish nature is a central theme in newspaper and TV investigations into 209 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225theKC. Thus,forinstance,RadarMagazineannouncedthatitsinvestigation revealed the Centers use of cult-like technique to control members, including sleepdeprivation,alienationfromfriendsandfamily,andKabbalahdictated match-making (Udovitch 2005).Many of the complaints against the KC are about coercing members to buy Kabbalah products and donate money to the Center.38 A recurring accusation is that the KC takes advantage of ill people in order to financially exploit them or their families. Phil Markowitz reported that an observant family in Toronto hadcalledintocomplainofthecircumstanceswheretheirchildwastermi-nally ill. Berg has claimed that he could cure the child through Kabbalah and hadrequiredapaymentofsomethousandsofdollars. Thechilddied(Task Force on Cults and Missionaries 1995).39 Many press reports followed the 2005 arrest of Shaul Youdkevich, the head of the Tel Aviv branch of the KC, on the suspicionofextractingmoneyfromacancerpatient(Youdkevichwaslater released without being charged) (Urquhart 2005).Berg was also accused of falsely claiming to have a doctorate (Lappin 2004; Rowan2004);hewasaccusedofplagiarism(acopyrightinfringementsuit was filed against Berg in the mid-1990s but the case was settled out of court) (Udovitch 2005), and he was accused of lying about the origins of the Kabbalah water and red strings sold by the KC (Lappin 2004; Sweeney and Baracaia 2005; Sugarman 2007). The image of the KC as a sinister cult is reinforced by stories abouttheCenterusinglitigationandthreatsinordertodeteritsopponents. AccordingtothereportoftheTaskForceonMissionariesandCults,Berg scares detractors who will speak out openly against him with expansive libel and slander suits (Task Force on Cults and Missionaries 1995).40 A few sources repeat the story of Rabbi Abraham Union, who claimed that after circulating alettercriticizingtheKC,hefoundaseveredsheepsheadonhisdoorstep (Eshman 1997; Rowan 2004).The Charge of InauthenticityA recurring theme in the campaigns against the KC is the accusation of inau-thenticity.BergandtheCenterarerepeatedlydenouncedascharlatans,and 38See, for instance, Lappin 2004.39See also the opening story in Csillag 1993.40The report brings as evidence the KCs use of the libel chill, the still pending libel and slander case against Rabbi Immanuel Schochet.210 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225their doctrines and practices as a fake form of Kabbalah. In this section, I will demonstratethecentralityoftheaccusationsofinauthenticityintheanti-KC campaigns and argue that the allegation of inauthenticity underlies many oftheclaimsagainsttheKC,whichweredescribedintheprevioussection. Hence,theconceptofinauthenticityiskeytounderstandingthediscursive significance and political underpinnings of the campaigns against the KC.NotwithstandingBergsstudieswiththeKabbalistsBrandweinand Krakovsky in the 1960s, many of his detractors claim that he is a fake Kabbalist (Beth Din Zedek 1997; Hillel 1997), denying that he ever studied with any real Kabbalist (Laitman 2008); they describe him as a charlatan far removed from anything to do with genuine Kabbalah (Task Force on Cults and Missionaries 1995). Opponents from different sectors reject the authenticity of the Centers teaching. Rabbi Isaac Schochet, for instance, said that the KC is not related to theauthenticKabbalah,andhiscolleagueRabbiBarryMarcusmaintained thatBergpresentshisownsimplifiedtakeontheKabbalahandclaimsits authenticJudaism,whichisalie(Julius2003).Similarly,ReformRabbiEric Yoffiestatedthat[t]heKabbalahthattheyespousebearsnoresemblance toauthenticJewishMysticism(Yoffie2004).Internationallyknownscholar ofKabbalahProfessorElliotWolfsondeniedthattheteachingoftheKCis agenuineexpressionofKabbalah(Gray2004).OpponentsoftheKCrefute the authenticity of some of its doctrines and practices, even when these have well-documentedhistoricalprecedents.ThescanningoftheZoharandthe beliefinreincarnationhavebeensingledoutfortheirallegedinauthenticity (Ross 1997), despite the fact that both are central to classical forms of Kabbalah.TheperceptionoftheKCasinauthenticunderliesmanyoftheaccusa-tions raised against it. The prevalent condemnation of the KC for commercial-izing Kabbalah and for overcharging for its products and services assumes that authentic Kabbalah is detached from the financial and economic realms, and isincompatiblewithsuccessfulbusinessmanagement.AlthoughKabbalah, likeanyotherculturalformation,includingthosecategorizedasreligious, has always had financial and economic (as well as political) features, these fea-tures are perceived in contemporary discourse as alien to the true nature of Kabbalah,orofanyotherrealspiritualphenomenon.Thenotionthatthe commodification and commercialization of Kabbalah indicate its inauthentic-ityisbasedontheprevalentperceptionthatreligionandspiritualitybelong to the private, experiential, and subjective realms and, as such, are essentially incompatiblewithpolitics,finance,andotherformsofsecularpower. This fundamentalassumptionofmodern,liberaldiscourse,whichliesatthecore ofthereligious/seculardichotomy(Fitzgerald2003:209210),underlinesthe 211 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225criticismofmanyothercontemporaryreligiousandspiritualmovements(in particular, the New Age movement).41 As James Beckford observed, Nothing ismorelikelytoarousesuspicionintheWestthantheideathatareligious group may be used for the purpose of increasing the leaders personal fortune andcorporatepower(1985:125).Theassumptionthatthefinancialsuccess oftheKCrevealsitsinauthenticityisspelledoutinMichaelLaitmansblog post,AuthenticKabbalahorAuthenticBusiness,whichassumesthatthe two options are mutually exclusive. According to Laitman, No true Kabbalist could have taught Berg to sell Kabbalah for money (Laitman 2008). Similarly, RabbiAvrahamGreenbaumwroteinhis25QuestionsandAnswersabout Kabbalah that [t]here is an inherent self-contradiction in the idea of a com-mercialcenterthatmarketstheKabbalahtoall-comers.Traditionally,the authentic mekubalim maintained a modest profile, out of respect for the great holinessofKabbalisticwisdomanditsgreatpower(Greenbaum2006). The samestanceisexpressedbyMaraEinsteinsappalledrhetoricalquestion: Howdidwegetthere?Howdidaonceesoteric,Jewishtraditionbecomea religious commodity? (2008:x).ThepopularizationofKabbalahbytheKC,itsuseofpopculturethemes, alongwithitsappealtopopstarsandcelebrities,arealsoperceivedasindi-catingitsinauthenticity.ThecensureofpopKabbalahisalsobasedon themodernistbinarycontrastbetweenthereligiousandthesecular,which assumes that there is an inherent contradiction between spirituality and enter-tainment.Thetaken-for-grantedbinaryoppositionbetweentrueKabbalah and entertainment comes to the fore in the disjunctive title of Raphael Afilalos article Kabbalah or Show Biz, in which he asserts that [w]hat Berg and his colleaguesfromtheKabbalahCenterareteachinghasnothingtodowith authenticKabbalah(Afilalo2004).Similarly,Einsteinjuxtaposesserious religious practice and enlightenment to pop culture and entertainment, asking, How did Kabbalah get to be a pop culture phenomenon, instead of a seriousreligiouspractice?Howdiditturnintoaproductforenterpriseand entertainment instead of enlightenment? (Einstein 2008:x).TheprevalentportrayaloftheKCasacultcarrieswithitanallegation ofinauthenticity,sincethecontemporaryperceptionofacultisfirstand foremost that of a fake religion. James A. Beckford observed, The underlying assumptionisthatacultisnotanauthenticexpressionofwhateveryright-mindedpersonknowstobereligion(Beckford1985:13).Similarly,FrankK. Flinn maintains that [w]hether explicitly stated or not, the clear implication 41For such criticism see, for instance, Einstein 2008; Carrett and King 2008.212 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225is that a cult is a pseudo-religion or a religious fraud (Flinn 1987:181). Indeed, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz described the KC as pseudo-religion (Wenig 2003), and journalists denounced the Center as hokum and a nouveau, pseudo, po-mo religion (Merkin 2008), blaming it for hawking snake oil for the soul (Garber 2004), and selling a mystic elixir every bit as powerful as snake oil (Udovitch 2005). Similarly, the alleged coercion, exploitation, and abuse of power by the KC are denounced not only because of their immorality, but also because they are signs of the KCs inauthenticity, since it is assumed that immoral conduct is inherently incompatible with authentic Kabbalah, genuine religion, and true spirituality.The Jargon of InauthenticityAuthenticityhasbeenanimportantvalueof Westernculturesincethemid-eighteenthcentury(Taylor1992:2531;Bendix1997:820).Thediscourseof authenticity emerged in the context of a reflective criticism of modern society and expresses a romantic longing to escape the perils of modernity. The search forauthenticitybecamecentralinmanytwentieth-centuryculturalforma-tions, from existentialist philosophy to modern tourism; contemporary public discourseissaturatedwithwhatTheodorAdornoaptlycalledthejargonof authenticity (1997).Authenticityisperceivedtobelocatedoutsidethesphereofinfluenceof moderncivilization,tobefoundinremotegeographicalareasorinsocial enclaves,inpremodernhistoricaltexts,orintheuncorruptedregionsof humanexperience.Whileartifacts,events,andexperienceswhichareper-ceivedasescapingtheeffectsofmodernsocietyarevalorizedasauthentic, cultural formations which explicitly show signs of modernity are condemned asinauthentic.AsBrianSpoonerobservedinhisdiscussionofauthenticity andorientalcarpetsauthenticityliesinaculturaldistance(1992:223),and hence any reduction in that distance threatens authenticity (1992:222).Theuseofthebinaryadjectivesauthentic/inauthentictoevaluatekab-balistic movements is dependent, to a large degree, on the prevailing percep-tionofKabbalahasadistantculturalphenomenon.SeeingthatKabbalah originatedinapremoderneraandwas,untilrecently,practicedmostlyin JewishcirclesthatresistedandrejectedmodernWesternvalues,itwasper-ceived by its followers, observers, and critics as an inherently non-modern and non-Westernculturalphenomenon.Theperceivednon-modernfeaturesof Kabbalah, which were denounced and criticized by the followers of the Jewish Enlightenmentmovementinthe19thcentury,becamevalorizedinthelate 213 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by European Jewish intellectuals who were swayed by neo-romantic and nationalist ideologies (Huss 2006a:210235, 2007a:8184).The professional urbanite social profile of Philip Berg and his followers and theirmodern(andpostmodern)interpretationandreconstructionofkab-balisticdoctrinesandpracticesreducetheculturaldistanceoftheKCand jeopardizeitsperceptionasauthentic. TheKCwasoneofthefirstandmost successfulkabbalisticmovementsthatexplicitlyintegratedcontemporary twentieth-centurythemesinitsdoctrinesandpractices.Attemptstocreate modernistformsofKabbalahhadbeenmadepreviouslyinthefirsthalfof the twentieth century by several Jewish scholars, including Yehuda Ashlag, the mentorofPhilipBergsteachers,LeviKrakovskyandAbrahamBrandwein.42 Bergcontinuedhismentorsendeavorstocreateakabbalisticmovementin tune with contemporary Western culture, which, unlike his teachers ventures, became highly successful towards the end of the twentieth century.ThemodernWesternhabitusoftheKCleadersandtheirfollowerspro-vokesmuchofthenegativeresponsetotheKCandthedenunciationof the movement as inauthentic. The dress code and Western social norms of the KCleadersandstudentsweredenouncedbymanyofitsdetractors,suchas theJerusalemAshkenaziRabbinicalCourt,whocondemnedBergasafake Kabbalist whose students sit together frivolously, men and women, Jews and gentiles, the men and women without head cover,43 as well as Jewish studies scholar Allan Nadler, who criticized the mystical charlatans who are peddling adeeplydistortedversionofJudaismsmostprofoundspiritualteachingsto the rich and famous, Jews and non-Jews, from rock singers to Hollywood stars (Nadler 1999).TheperceptionoftheKCsinauthenticitywasfurtherstimulatedbythe modernuniversalisticstanceofBergandtheKC,whichregardsKabbalah asanopenknowledgethatcanbestudiedandpracticedbyeveryone,with-outreligious,ethnic,orgenderrestrictions.YaacovHillel,forinstance,con-demnedtheswindlerswhoteachKabbalahwithoutanyobligationsand withoutacceptingtheyokeoftheheavenlykingdomandtheheavenlycom-mandments(1997:228229).Inadditiontoreligiousauthorities,academic scholars as well, condemn the universalistic perception of Kabbalah as inau-thentic.JosephDanregardstheKCasamonstrousperversionofJewish Spirituality, dissociated from the 613 commandments and seriously distorting 42On the modern features of Ashlags kabbalistic system, see Huss 2006b.43As cited in Hillel 1997:258.214 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225the historical nature of Kabbalah (Fuchs 1986). Yehuda Liebes declared, They dont care if youre a Jew or not, if youre interested in Halakha or keep Shabbat ornot...ClassicKabbalahhasseveralveryclearcharacteristicsthatdonot apply to the Kabbalah youre talking about (Karpel 2009).Theintegrationofcontemporaryvocabularyandideas,especiallythose associated with New Age and pop culture, has reduced the cultural distance of theKCsteachingsandcontributedtoitsbeingperceivedofasinauthentic. Joseph Dan declared that he was heartbroken by the deterioration of Ashlags authenticenterpriseintoaNewAgemishmashofnonsense(2002:285). ElliotWolfsonregardedtheteachingandpracticesoftheKCasapopver-sionthatisfarmoreaformofNewAgeoccultastrologyandmagic,thana genuine expression of Kabbalah (Gray 2004). The skillful use made by the KC of contemporary marketing and advertisement methods, which was described byjournalistDaphneMerkinasabrilliantlyshrewdcommercialenterprise (Merkin 2008), is also regarded as incompatible with spiritual authenticity and condemned as a crass commercialisation of centuries old Kabbalah tradition (Ross 2005).Yet, the discourse regarding the KCs inauthenticity has further layers. Berg and his followers are not only accused of being inauthentic Kabbalists because of their modern Western habitus, but they are also condemned as inauthentic moderns because of their adherence to kabbalistic doctrines and practices. As thenotionofauthenticityisbasedontheidealofsincerity,thatis,ofbeing truetooneself,itisnotonlytheintegrationofcontemporarythemesinto non-modern cultural productions that is suspected of being inauthentic, but theveryadoptionofnon-modernpracticesbycontemporary Westernersis perceived as insincere.The objections to the KCs inauthentic modernity comes to the fore in the prevalent denunciations of wearing red strings, drinking Kabbalah water, scan-ning the Zohar, and the belief in reincarnation and astrology. These practices, whicharebasedonabeliefinpowersthatareunrecognizedbymodernsci-ence,areridiculed,sneeredat,andportrayedasmagical.Whilesuchprac-tices are usually tolerated (although never appreciated) when found in ancient kabbalistic texts or when practiced by Kabbalists who are perceived as repre-sentingtraditionalKabbalah,theiradoptionbyBergandtheKCinfuriates critics. The objection to the KCs inauthentic modernity is implied in Daniel Matts assertion that the belief in the magical powers of holy water and the red string is not a healthy spirituality for contemporary Americans (Matt 2004). Similarly, Arthur Green, who deplored the KCs use of what he calls some of thelessattractiveaspectsoftheKabbalistictraditionsuchasthebeliefin the power of holy men, the power of blessing and the power of holy objects, 215 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225revealingly asserted that [i]ts precisely the kind of thing that moderns should notbeattractedto...[itsthekindof]thinkingmodernpeopleshouldbe turned away from (Green 2004).The prevalent portrayal and denunciation of the KC as a cult also carries with it an accusation of being untrue to authentic modern values. The adher-encetokabbalisticdoctrinesandpracticeswhichisrequiredfromtheKC followers,andthegreatmeasureofcommitmenttoacommunalwayoflife and a charismatic leader, are in conflict with modern Western ideals of intel-lectualfreedom,autonomousself-development,andresistancetocollective thought. While such commitments are seen as genuine (although, condemned many times as fundamentalist) in cultures perceived as premodern and non- Western,theyareperceivedasfakewhenpracticedbypeopleperceivedto belong to our culture. The KC, similar to other groups characterized as cults, isdenouncedbecauseitrejectstheRomanticvaluesthatlieatthecoreof the jargon of authenticity. As Beckford observed, new religious movements are objected to because:[T]heyallegedlypreventtheindividualfromrealizinghisorherfull potentialasaperson.Thereismorethananechointhisallegationof theRomanticattachmenttotheidealofself-developmentasaguaran-teeoffullpersonhood.Accordingtothisoutlook,itwouldbeasignof weakness to align the path of personal development too closely with the program of a collectivity such as a NRM. (1985:100).The Politics of InauthenticityThenotionofinauthenticity,whichplaysacentralroleintheanti-KCcam-paigns and responds to the Centers transgression of fundamental modern cul-tural norms and boundaries, expresses the struggle over the growing cultural powerofKabbalahinthelatetwentiethcentury.Thecondemnationofthe KCsinauthenticityisusedtoaugmentthesymbolicandeconomicpowerof the social agents and cultural productions identified as authentic Kabbalah. AsE.PatrickJohnsonsuccinctlyobserved,Authenticity,then,isyetanother trope manipulated for cultural capital (2003:3).Kabbalah,whichhasplayedanimportantroleinvariousJewishcultures sincetheearlythirteenthcenturyandwhichbecameuniversallyaccepted as part of normative Jewish theology in the early modern period, lost its cen-trality in contemporary Jewish cultures, especially among Jewish groups who adoptedmodernEuropeannormsandvalues.Kabbalahwasstillpracticed 216 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225and revered in many Eastern European, Northern African, and Middle Eastern Jewishcommunities,aswellasinvarious Westernesotericcirclesinthelate nineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies.Attemptstocreatemodernforms ofKabbalahweremadebyrabbinicscholarssuchasIsaacKookand Yehuda Ashlagintheearlytwentiethcentury,andJewishMysticismwascreated inthisperiodasanacademicfieldofresearchundertheaegisofGershom Scholem.Nevertheless,KabbalahheldaperipheralplaceinmodernJewish and Israeli cultures during most of the twentieth century, especially after the Second World War and the foundation of the State of Israel. Israeli hegemonic culture, which aspired to establish a predominantly socialist, secular society, as well as the dominant Jewish movements in the United States, which strove to integrate into American culture, did not find much interest in the kabbalistic traditions practiced in the marginalized Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Mizrahi (MiddleEasternandNorthernAfrican)communities,norintheattemptsto create new forms of modern Kabbalah.Inthelastdecadesofthetwentiethcentury,anunprecedentedrevivalof interest in Kabbalah occurred within the framework of the emergence of New Agemovementsandotherformsofcontemporarypostmodernspirituali-ties. Traditional kabbalistic groups became more active and widespread, and new kabbalistic movements were established in Israel, the United States, and Europe. Various forms of kabbalistic cultural practices were revived and rein-vented, and kabbalistic themes gained considerable symbolic value in contem-porary Western culture (Huss 2007b; Myers 2011a).One of the first agents of this neo-kabbalistic revival, which began in the late 1960s, was Philip Berg, whose movement, as we have seen, became the largest and most successful contemporary kabbalistic movement. The KC stimulated theemergenceofotherkabbalisticgroups,andsignificantlyinfluencedthe ways Kabbalah is perceived, practiced, and valued today (Myers 2011a).The emerging field of new Kabbalah became an arena for struggles over the growingculturalcapitalofKabbalah,inwhichthejargonofinauthenticity plays a central role. Many of the KCs opponents, who denounce its inauthen-ticity,teachotherformsofKabbalahorbelongtocompetingnewkabbalis-ticmovements,whichareusuallylesssuccessfulthantheKC.Asjournalist Robert Eshman observed in his 1997 report on the KC in Los Angeles, Many of the Centers harshest local critics, such as Robbins, Schwartz and Omer-man, teach their own Kabbalah classes, none of which draws the crowds of the KLC (Eshman 1997).Thus, for instance, Raphael Afilalo, the author of several books on Kabbalah inFrenchandEnglish,whoassertedthattheteachingofBergandtheKC has nothing to do with authentic Kabbalah (Afilalo 2004), has given his own 217 Kabbalah and the Politics of InauthenticityNumen 62 (2015) 197225websitethetitleKabbalah5.com:AuthenticKabbalah.44IsaacSchochet,an Orthodoxrabbiaffiliatedwiththeabadmovement,whowasactiveinthe anti-KCcampaignsinEnglandandwhoassertedthattheKCisnotrelated toauthenticKabbalah(Chiorazzi2007),haspublishedhisownKabbalah teaching as authentic Kabbalah.45 Similarly, Ariel Bar Tzadok, an innovative Kabbalist from Los Angeles who criticized the inauthentic innovations of the KC, refers to his own teachings as authentic Torah Kabbalah.46 The self-des-ignation authentic Kabbalah is also prevalent in the publications of Michael Laitman, the leader of the neo-Kabbalist group Bnei Baruch, who condemned theKCinhisblogpostentitledAuthenticKabbalahorAuthenticBusiness (Laitman2008).47 ThedisparagementoftheKCsinauthenticityinorderto emphasize ones own expertise as an authentic rabbinic scholar comes to the foreintheGoogleadvertisementonAdinSteinsaltzswebsite,whichstates, AuthenticKabbalahNoRedStrings,NoMadonna,No Water.Learnwhat Real Kabbalah is All About.ThecondemnationoftheKCsinauthenticityisusedbyacademicschol-arsinordertopromotetheirownauthorityasKabbalahexperts.AsRegina Bendix observed, Declaring something authentic legitimated the subject that was declared authentic, and the declaration in turn can legitimate the authen-ticator(1997:7).AcademicscholarsofJewishMysticismwillcharacteristi-cally contrast the KCs alleged charlatanism and inauthenticity with the more authenticancientformsofclassicalKabbalahtowhichtheydevotetheir scholarly research. Present-day academic scholars in this way come across as the authorized guardians of true Kabbalah.48 As the journalist Sarit Fuchs astutely perceived in her account of Joseph Dans attitude to the KC, There is a discernable tendency on the part of academic researchers into Kabbalah to buttress their scholarly rigor so as to place a clear divide between themselves and the groups of humbugs who, according to Prof. Dan, are sometimes boors and ignoramuses wrapping themselves in a Kabbalistic mantle (1986).44Kabbalah5.com: Authentic Kabbalah. http://www.kabbalah5.com (accessed 10 June 2009).45AuthenticKabbalah.Chabad.org.http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/ 832700/jewish/authentic-kabbalah.htm (accessed 10 June 2009).46KosherTorah.http://www.koshertorah.com(accessed10June2009);seeMyers 2011b:191196.47See also Myers 2011a:205.48OnthepolemicsofKabbalahscholarsagainstcontemporaryKabbalahpractitioners, includingtheKC,seeGoldish2005;Huss2007a.Thefollowingisbasedonmydiscus-sion in Huss 2007a:95101. For the description of scholars as the authorized guardians of Kabbalah, see Scholem 1971:2.218 HussNumen 62 (2015) 197225Similarly,AllanNadlercontraststhecontemporaryabusesofKabbalistic learning, promoted by the KC, with the erudite studies by the prolific Israeli scholar Moshe Idel [which] are a reassuring reminder of the real seriousness, breadthandprofundityofJewishmysticism(Nadler1999).Alternatively,Or N. Rose, in his article Madonnas Challenge: Understanding Kabbalah Today, presentssomeoftheacademicscholarsofJewishMysticismasengagingin the thoughtful exploration of the classical teaching of Kabbalah, asking what ofthisancienttraditionremainscompellingtoseekerstoday,andwhatis better left aside (2005:24). Rose, who revealingly portrays the academic schol-arship of Kabbalah as a project of theological appropriation, compares these well educated and sensitive interpreters of Kabbalah with the KC and a host of other swindlers, novices and fundamentalists (2005:24).ConclusionThe KC, which has become the largest and best-known contemporary kabbal-isticmovement,hasbeencampaignedagainstsincethe1980sbyJewishrab-binicleaders,academicscholarsofJewishMysticism,anti-cultactivists,and the mass media. The Center and its leader, Philip Berg, have been accused of transgressingacceptedJewishnorms,especiallythoserelatedtotheteach-ing of Kabbalah, and condemned for coercion, abuse of power, and financial exploitation. A recurring charge against the KC, which underlies many of these denunciations, is its inauthenticity.The allegation of inauthenticity is directed against the modern features of theKC,whichareperceivedasincompatiblewithgenuineKabbalah,aswell as against its adherence to kabbalistic beliefs, practices, and norms which are regarded as opposed to fundamental modern values. Thus, the charge of inau-thenticity is, to a large degree, a response to the postmodern nature of the KC, whichtransgressesthefundamentalbinaryoppositionsofmodernWestern discourse, such as the distinction between the modern and the non-modern, the secular and the religious, the authentic and the fake. 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