Kabbalah not just “for men over 40”

Studying Kabbalah, the 4 000-year-old system of Jewish mysticism, has exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Both in-person and online, thousands around the world are seeking Kabbalah’s answers to the big questions, like, “Why are we here? Why is there pain and suffering? What is the meaning of life?” But this esoteric wisdom has its gatekeepers, who believe that it’s only for those steeped in Jewish learning. It also has its sceptics, who see Kabbalah as a fad or a cult.

Ahead of his trip to Johannesburg, the SA Jewish Report spoke to Yosef Shneor, a teacher at the Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv, about his personal journey and what makes this mysticism so mesmerising.

Born in Kiryat Yam near Haifa in 1971, Shneor studied and practised as a landscape architect. But this father of four found that his true calling was to teach Kabbalah.

Shneor came from a “relatively Orthodox family”. While he was in the Israeli army, his grandmother passed away from cancer. He started to drift away from religion. “For 10 years, I lived a secular life, I got a tattoo, I loved discotheques. But I also started having big questions about life: What’s our purpose? What are we doing here? I was feeling a lack of fulfilment.”

Searching for meaning in his life, one day in 1997, Shneor found a leaflet about the Kabbalah Centre. He started attending sessions. “At first, it was annoying,” he said. “I was getting even more questions than answers. But I felt like I had reached home. It’s the same feeling I get when I’ve been abroad and land back in Israel.” He eventually became a full-time Kabbalah teacher in 2002.

“The essence of Kabbalah,” Shneor says, “is to reach the goal of creation – it wasn’t just a random explosion. Every living creature should enjoy every moment with health and happiness. There should be no war, no violence, only good deeds, only unity. Kabbalah offers advice on how to live life the right way. It teaches that there’s a spiritual mechanism operating 24/7 in the world. Learn its dynamics and how to adjust and connect to it.” The concept of tikkun olam – repairing the world by repairing the self – is a central tenet of Kabbalah.

According to its website, “The Kabbalah Centre provides a course of study that describes the origin of creation, the physical and spiritual laws of the universe, including human existence, and the journey of the soul.” The Kabbalah Centre seeks to make Kabbalistic principles accessible and relevant to everyone, whatever their faith, by relating them to the real world in understandable language and tangible concepts.

The centre was founded by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag in 1922, who translated the Zohar – a 2 000-year-old seminal text of Kabbalah – from Aramaic to Hebrew. The centre today has branches in more than 40 cities, including Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Tel Aviv, and Toronto, and a major online offering at www.kabbalah.com.

Orthodox Judaism has prohibitions against studying Kabbalah – that it’s only for learned men over the age of 40. Shneor said he was living a secular lifestyle at the time and didn’t really care what rabbis said or thought. “My mother freaked out though, and called her rabbi. He said, ‘For Yosef, it’s OK.’” Shneor believes that everyone has the right and ability to study Kabbalah, and that it shouldn’t been seen as arcane wisdom for only the few.

There has been resistance to the popularisation of Kabbalah from rabbinical authorities, including in South Africa. Teachers have been threatened with excommunication (cherem).

“I was physically attacked some years ago by religious bullies,” Shneor said. “But thank G-d, today it’s different. It’s more relaxed.” He said there was more tolerance and acceptance. “Kabbalah is [now] being taught in many yeshivot these days. I guess they thought, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’”

Shneor notes how interest in Kabbalah surged with lockdowns worldwide. “We had 2 000 to 3 000 people online. We never had this before.” He said people had more time to introspect, and many were searching for meaning while pent up, making them more accepting of Kabbalah and curious about what it offered them. “COVID-19 facilitated the opening of the spirit. When there is the most darkness, you also find the most light. The Zohar teaches that when the body becomes weak, the soul becomes stronger,” said Shneor.

More than 70% of the Kabbalah Centre’s students are not Jewish, and it focuses on the universal wisdom of Kabbalah. Shneor has no problem teaching Kabbalah to non-Jews, and believes it can help anyone, anywhere. “Israelis are a bit more difficult [to teach],” he said. “It’s as if they came to teach you! They think they know better. Non-Jews come to it more humbly – they don’t have the background. They’re like sponges. Jews tend to want things proven to them.”

One of the best-known celebrities to study Kabbalah is the entertainer, Madonna. “She’s a dedicated student of Kabbalah,” Shneor said. “She talks about how it saved her from a life of drugs. She’s learning and applying it. So she’s famous – what can we do?”

Many people are sceptical about Kabbalah. “I’m a sceptical person too,” said Shneor. “I had a sense of urgency, and was at a demanding stage of my life when I really needed support and answers. I had the patience to stick with it. We tell our students to doubt everything, be sceptical. We don’t need believers, but people with open minds who ask questions and have doubts.”

So isn’t it like a cult? “When you see us lock the doors, start panicking!” Shneor said. “It’s so non-cultish. We want people to be independent and open minded. We don’t want to take, but just to give. We want to give wisdom and love, to give meaning. If people don’t find value, they don’t have to stay. We never force or coerce people.”

While in Johannesburg this week, Shneor gave seminars applying Kabbalistic principles and approaches to the world of money and business, with entrepreneur Faith Khanyile. “There’s so much financial chaos, pain, and corruption” he said, “because many people in business don’t know the rules, and don’t apply them.”

Shneor’s message is for people to come to Kabbalah without pre-judgement. “Realise that the purpose of any challenge is to grow. Take accountability and responsibility for your life. And tap into the language of the soul.”