Kabbalah, the religion beloved by celebrities in the noughties
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In the early 2000s, it was rare to see celebrities like Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan without a piece of red string tied around their wrists. The bracelet signalled that they followed the mystical religion known as Kabbalah.
The religion appeared to reach its cultural peak during the first decade of the 21st century, which is when Rebekah Neumann, WeWork’s former chief brand and impact officer and wife of WeWork co-founder, Adam Neumann, joined.
In WeCrashed, the new Apple TV+ series which depicts the rise and fall of the co-working giant, you can see Rebekah (played by Anne Hathaway) wearing the thin red string around her wrist while guiding a meditation class.
Rebekah and Adam met in 2007, when she was still Rebekah Paltrow (she is the first cousin to Gwyneth), and she quickly introduced Adam to the religion.
And while the Neumanns incorporated their Kabbalah beliefs into the WeWork empire, over the ensuing decade, many other celebrities fell out of love with the religion.
The practice became popular in the US in the sixties when a rabbi, Philip Berg, began studying the religion during a trip to Israel in 1962.
Berg subsequently opened the Kabbalah Centre, which saw Kabbalah in the US focus more on personal improvement and spiritual happiness. He ran meditation classes and launched a Kabbalah 101 self-study class.
The way Berg ran his Kabbalah centres meant it was more easily digestible, as it didn’t require people to learn Hebrew in order to practice the religion. Instead, he published his interpretations of ancient Kabbalah texts.
However, Berg’s teachings had many critics. Rick Alan Ross, executive director of the Cult Education Institute, told Broadly that most of the Kabbalah Centre’s teachings have “no basis” in Jewish text.
He added: “Berg’s teachings represent his own idiosyncratic combination of beliefs. For example, that scanning the pages of the Zohar, even when you cannot read Hebrew, somehow will imbue you with supernatural power.”
Kabbalah has long been associated with Judaism. The word itself comes from the Hebrew word meaning “received knowledge” or “tradition”.
Kabbalah followers, or Kabbalists, say their beliefs date back to the origins of the Torah and they have been an accepted part of Judaism since the 12th century.
Kabbalist’s beliefs have been described as “mystical” as the practice focuses on direct communication with God through solitary study.
According to the Kabbalah Centre’s website, Kabbalah is “an ancient wisdom that provides practical tools for creating joy and lasting fulfilment. It’s an incredible system of technology that will completely change the way you look at your world”.
The practice became popular in the US in the sixties when a rabbi, Philip Berg, began studying the religion during a trip to Israel in 1962.
Berg subsequently opened the Kabbalah Centre, which saw Kabbalah in the US focus more on personal improvement and spiritual happiness. He ran meditation classes and launched a Kabbalah 101 self-study class.
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