Kabbalah – A Blueprint for Joyful Living
“[It] explains everything from why fish don’t have eyelids to why sex is fun.”
By Phyllis D. Huguenin
Columnist
On this Friday afternoon a packed roomful of female lawyers, therapists, business owners and others sat transfixed, transported to a spiritual nirvana older than time
itself. On August 22, Elisheva Kelman of The Kabbalah Centre, as part of Chef Allen’s “Food for Thought” Luncheon series, came into our lives and stood before us ready to impart the
secrets of the universe.
Kabbalah is “a system/set of universal principles which when applied bring more fulfillment and eliminate chaos from your life.” Kelman, a mother of three who holds a
degree in Judaic Studies, playfully describes how it “explains everything from why fish don’t have eyelids to why sex is fun.”
The principles contained in a treatise, The Zohar, written in 70 C.E. by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, are said to have predicted women’s liberation – women rising
up and taking control, demanding equality. One of the main tenets of Kabbalah is that women have gifts that men don’t have and vice versa and that without partnership there cannot be
complete harmony. Kelman pointed out that when you look at any spiritual group you’ll find that about seventy percent are female. According to Kabbalah there is a reason for this. Women
tend to believe there is some other force higher than themselves at work in the universe.
The principles were originally esoteric, taught to a small group of scholars who interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures. According to Kelman, Abraham was the first
Kabbalist while Moses was a very influential one. Applicable to our modern times, the doctrine teaches that all the answers lie within. This ancient wisdom explains the underlying causes
for the modern day scourge of addictions: society is looking for instant gratification. What people crave is not the thing itself (causing the addiction) but rather the “feeling” one gets
from a certain activity or situation. The spiritual goal is for long-term “light.” “Light” translates into endless fulfillment. Some religions define this light as “God.” Kabbalah’s
message is that we have a spark of God within us.
It is easy to see why some celebrities such as Madonna have embraced Kabbalah: the teaching seems to have a pragmatic view of the universe that just makes sense. It
even incorporates quantum physics, namely the Big Bang Theory. Kabbalah says that once upon a time there were two energies: light (male) and vessel (female). The male energy had an
unending capacity to give and the female energy had an unending capacity to receive resulting in a constant flow. One day the vessel decided that she didn’t want to receive without earning
it anymore, as a result all matter contracted into one single point and exploded. The vessel became the world we have today.
The teaching also uniquely defines womanhood, for it stresses that women can be completely fulfilled and single – they don’t have to be in a relationship. For those in
a relationship the analogy is drawn to that of a light bulb: within exists a plus (+) (man) and minus (– ) (woman) that pull upon the filament. The more resistance on the filament “the
brighter the light,” thus the more enhanced the relationship. As the minus pole, it is the woman’s job to manifest. The hilarious example of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding is
given when in response to the daughter’s question “Isn’t Daddy the head of the household?” the Mother explains, “Yes, but the woman is the neck telling the head where to move.”
Kabbalah also deals with reincarnation. It provides that women don’t have any karma of their own but rather come on earth to help out and basically take on the karma
of their soulmate. Kabbalah is also known as “the rules of the game of life” with the premise that we all have the tools but no one has told us how to play the game. It’s a pretty
fascinating study. The Kabbalah Centre holds a free all day Open House on September 7 in Miami Beach with an invitation to all to come and check it out. Contact: 305-692-9223, 5401 Collins
Ave, Miami Beach, www.kabbalah.com.
They Came to Play
Celebrity tennis professionals got to show their stuff on a day that started off with thunder, lightening and rainstorms. The weather improved remarkably for the Johan
Kriek Celebrity Tennis Exhibition at the Williams Island Tennis Club on Thursday, August 14. Kriek who is WCI Communities’ Director of Sports & Tennis and 2003 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Over
45 Champion took to the courts with former pros Aaron Krickstein, Jimmy Arias and Brenda Schultz. Hank Brenner, Williams Island’s Director of Tennis officiated. It was a spirited match
with Schultz paired with Kriek and Arias with Krickstein. It was a 6 – 4 game with the latter the winners. Here are some quotables: Brenner: “Between them they’ve won about seventy
tournaments worldwide. Today we had a fun day and saw incredible tennis from former top pro players.” Schultz: “Great to be out there with three guys that have achieved so much – normally
have to hold back on my serve [not the case today]. I’ll be back.” Kriek: “First WCI Tennis outing – a great success.” Arias: “I have never lost to a female in tennis and kept that record
intact.” Krickstein: “Great Event! We all played on the tour for many years. Whenever we can come out and support communities and help our friend Johan… makes it fun.”
Notables
For little City of Excellence residents: on September 1, WLRN Channel 17 will host the “PBS Kids Pet-Tacular Labor Day” event. If you love your pet, don’t miss two
episodes of Clifford’s Puppy Days and two episodes of Arthur at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. with Zoom Kids Shin Ying and Mike as hosts for the holiday event. Ever wonder what
Clifford’s puppy days were like? Clifford wasn’t always the big red dog he is now. When he was a puppy, he was so small he could fit in the palm of Emily Elizabeth’s hand. What’s more,
Clifford wasn’t always so well behaved. He used to get into a lot of mischief. WLRN also invites pet lovers to share their favorite pet story. Just go to www.wlrn.org and click on Pet Story. In three paragraphs or less, write
a fun story about your pet. Five stories will be chosen to be highlighted on the website and the five winners will receive a WLRN for kids gift pack.
Phyllis Huguenin can be reached at
huguenotusa@msn.com.
