International Society for Sephardic Progress calls on Kabbalah Centre to halt Madonna book sales.

Jewish agency calls for questionable "Kabbalah Centre" to halt the sale of Madonna's children book.

(PRWEB) April 17, 2004 --The International Society for Sephardic Progress is calling for The Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles to halt promoting and selling a children's book by the pop musician Madonna. The Kabbalah Centre, long known for its exploitation of Judaism and Judaism's' holy books, is now promoting a book written by the over sexed pop star. This is not the first time Madonna has made a mockery of Judaism. She declared she observes Shabbat (the Sabbath), observes ancient Kabbalistic practices, and wears Kabbalistic symbols.

The Kabbalah Centre has entered into a business deal with Madonna, this is not about religion, but about making money. This Centre is operated by Philip Berg (formerly Feivel Gruberger) and his wife Karen. Together they operate a cult roughly built around Judaic practices. Berg is no Jewish scholar, no rabbi, and does not teach Judaism. What he teaches [sells] is high priced trendy Jewish-rooted cultisms, wrapped in the blanket of Kabbalah. The Jewish community should not allow the exploitation and tarnishment of our holy Torah, our holy Zohar, and the other books of our heritage.

The Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles and its branch in the U.K. have been critized by the Chief Rabbi of London, the London Bet Din (rabbinical court), the Chief Rabbi and Bet Din of Johannesburg, the Toronto Vaad HaRabanim (rabbinical council) and the Queens, New York Vaad HaRabanim. The New York Jewish Community Task Force on Missionaries and Cults, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the Cult Clinic Hotline of New York have all received complaints and/or cited problems with the "Kabbalah Centre".

Berg's Kabbalah Centres' are as bad as Christian missionary organizations, as they both remove Jews from authentic Torah Judaism. Shame on Berg for acting as a vendor of books written by an immoral pop-star, shame on him and his "Kabbalah Centre" for continuing to represent themselves as practitioners of authentic Judaism.

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The International Society for Sephardic Progress is a leading Sephardic Jewish advocacy agency in the United States. We were founded in the spirit of the Sephardic immigrants who came from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Balkans) in the early 20th century. ISFSP functions as a leading agency producing high quality Jewish educational projects, and is an advocate for Jewish causes.

Contact: pressroom@isfsp.org