Kabbalah Centre

Our Centre

The Kabbalah Centre is a spiritual and educational organisation. Our goal is to make this ancient wisdom accessible and understandable to whoever wishes to learn. Until the 2nd century, Kabalistic wisdom was restricted solely to one-on-one student-teacher relationships. Even the Sacred Zohar – the foundational 2nd century Kabbalistic text – was written with an eye to protecting its wisdom from all but those few capable of reading Aramaic and piercing through the esoteric symbolism of its commentary.

In other words, Kabalistic wisdom was deemed too powerful for all but the elite. However 400 years ago, the revered Kabbalist Rav Avraham Azulai, shattered these prohibitions by opening the doors of Kabbalah to men, women and children.

Since it’s founding in 1922 by one of the most esteemed Kabbalists in history Rav Ashlag, the Kabbalah Centre has continued these traditions by:

• Teaching all who wanted to learn – not just elite middle-aged Jewish men
• Translating The Zohar first into modern Hebrew and then into English
• Providing commentary and teaching in easier to grasp, every day language
• Fostering a practical (vs. academic) understanding of Kabbalah
• Continuing the tradition of intimate, one-on-one passing down of knowledge

Though founded in 1922 by Rav Yehuda Ashlag, and continued by his student Rav Yehuda Brandwein, our lineage can be traced to Rav Isaac Luria (The Ari) in the 16th century, and further back to Rav Shimon Bar Yochai, who created the source of Kabbalistic wisdom, the Zohar, over two thousand years ago.

Today, the Centre is continued by Kabbalists Rav and Karen Berg, and their two sons Yehuda and Michael. Together, they have maintained the ancient tradition of passing on the wisdom within a student-teacher relationship, and in the process have sparked a renaissance in Kabbalistic study all over the world.

A 4000 year history overview

The universal teachings upon which the Kabbalah is based have existed from creation, but the first written record of it is called The Book of Formation. This ancient document, written 4,000 years ago, helps us understand the concealed secrets of our lives and the universe. Written in coded formulas, we would have a hard time deciphering any meaning from it, were it not for subsequent texts in the Kabbalistic 4000 year lineage.

And so, 2000 years ago, the main body of the teachings of Kabbalah, called The Zohar or The Book of Splendour, was revealed and manifested in Israel by mystic Rav Shimon Bar Yochai. The knowledge of how the universe functions is contained in The Torah (also known as The Five Books of Moses or The Old Testament), but Rav Shimon explains that all of its stories are not just meant to be understood on a literal level.

Rather, they are analogies or a code for how the universe functions on a spiritual level. The Zohar deciphers the ancient scripture. In fact, it explains chapter by chapter what each Bible story is really talking about spiritually.

For centuries, the study of Kabbalah was conducted only among scholarly Jewish men over the age of forty, and forbidden to all others! But it was not easy for them. Scorned by the religious establishment for their efforts to make Kabbalah and the teaching of the Zohar available to men from all walks of life, many were tortured and their lives were ruined.

Over centuries it wasn’t easy for Kabbalists to open the teachings of Kabbalah to the whole world. Historically, Kabbalah has been reserved only for the most advanced scholars. And by making it available to anyone who was interested, they were defying a 4,000-year-old tradition. But despite their difficulties – which continue to this day as is evidenced by some of the bad press the Centre receives - the study of Kabbalah has become more and more popular, and The Kabbalah Centre has grown from a small, exclusive organisation in Israel from 1922, into a worldwide charity with 150 branches that have provided instruction to nearly four million students regardless of race, gender, or religious belief.