Kabbalah, the new Scientology?

[anti_shrub]

I noticed over on IMDB that Brittany Murphy is the latest star to embrace it, along with Madonna, Demi Moore and her new plaything Ashton.

Is this just a Hollywood trend or is there something to this?

[DarkPhenyx]

1. Kabbalah is old...

...very old. It predates Christianity by a big shot.

It might be becoming "chic" again though.

[11cents]

2. That ain't Kaballah

Real Kaballah is a thousand-year-old Jewish mystical tradition. Jews aren't supposed to study it without having a thorough grounding in Tanakh (the Hebrew bible) and Talmud, in the original Hebrew and Aramaic. Permit me to doubt that Madonna has studied up for it. There's some franchised, McDonald's "Kaballah" out there that's being adopted by (non-Jewish) celebrities; it has little to do with the real kaballistic tradition.

[BansheeBarbie]

3. Kabbalism Is Ancient

It is Jewish mysticism. As such, like all Mystical traditions, it is essentially about Knowing Ones Self.

Unlike Scientology... Kabbalism is an acutal Science.

You might search google for:

Kabbala and Carl Jung
Kabbala and Kant

[Qutzupalotl]

4. You mean, without the extortion?

:7

Madonna doing midrash is just an example of (...drum roll...)
Superficial Kabbalistic Exegesi-tosis!

[roughsatori]

5. if she makes a video about adding up the numerical equivalents

of the Hebrew letters in the Torah to find the true name of God, I will be highly amused.

[11cents]

6. Oh, that's been done.

The true name of God is "Ed."

[roughsatori]

9. Well then, what is the false name of God?

This is not a trick question.

[11cents]

7. (applause)

[11cents]

8. Whoops

I was trying to applaud NRK up there.

[Qutzupalotl]

12. 'Salright

I'll take the extra applause. :7

Just don't ask how many years I've been waiting to use that one.

[Pert_UK]

10. Some guy at University did a talk about Kabbalah......very badly...

It was really odd. He made a kabbalah diagram thing (you know, with the circles joined together) out of lolly sticks and then talked about how it was like a hot-water system for your house.

Unfortunately, he merely stated that metaphor without explaining it.....to this day I thought that Kabbalah was a special type of Jewish plumbing......

We went to the pub afterwoods whereupon he told everyone that he had always known that he wanted to be a woman.

A very confused individual...he'd spent years working on kabbalah, and yet was unable to say anything about it, other than draw comparisons with water tanks and taps (fawcets).

Odd.

P.

[MoonGod]

11. Dunno about this Hollywood thing...

... but the concept of Kabbalah is not something owned by a single crooked organization like the Church of Scientology.