Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Kabbalah, a major school of thought in Jewish mysticism.
Kabbalah
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News What is the meaning of Lag B’Omer? An explainer
Editor’s note: Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews were killed in a stampede on April 29, 2021, while celebrating Lag B’Omer in the city of Meron in northern Israel. As details of the horrific incident are still unfolding, we are republishing this 2017 article with background on the festival. What is Lag B’Omer? Lag B’Omer is one…
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Opinion This year, I learned the pain and beauty of praying outside
This essay originally appeared in the New York Jewish Week. Friday night. We are standing in a paved plaza beside Riverside Drive; the air is crisp, the fresh snow is sparkling like diamond dust in the setting sun. We are 6 feet apart and masked (I can’t wait for this combined phrase to become obsolete)….
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News No time to study Kabbalah? Try the coloring book.
The complex teachings of kabbalah can take years to learn, much less master. Why not start by coloring them in? Tzfat-based artist David Friedman has translated his vivid, psychedelic depictions of Jewish mystical teachings into the hipster diversion du jour. Imagine if the psychedelic poster artists from the 1960s and 70s had gotten really into…
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The Schmooze This is How Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher Celebrate Shabbat With Their Family
Mila Kunis has been on our radar this week. From her brand new comedy film, “The Spy Who Dumped Me”, which is already getting rave reviews, to her relationship timeline with Ashton Kutcher, one could assume we have enough news about the Jewish babe. One would be wrong. In an interview with director Dax Shepard…
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Fast Forward Kabbalah Centre’s New Branding Campaign Aims To ‘Demystify’ Jewish Mysticism
The Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Centre is teaming up with “branding gurus” at the company Base Design to launch a new advertising campaign — rendering Jewish mysticism for mass consumption. Geoff Cook, a partner at Base Design told Quartz that they were looking to “demystify” Kabbalah. To this end, the branding company created a slew of…
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Fast Forward In Cote D’Ivoire, A Jewish Community Is Born
The African nation of Cote D’Ivoire did not have a historic Jewish community. But now, the West African country, known by some as Ivory Coast, is seeing several dozens of its citizens choose to join the Jewish ranks. Writing in ejewishphilanthropy, Bonita Nathan Sussman, who is the vice president of Kulanu, a group that supports…
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Fast Forward Is Ivanka Trump Getting Into Kabbalah With Red Thread Bracelet?
Ivanka Trump has been spotted several times since the early summer sporting a thin red thread tied around her wrist. Set against the backdrop of her meticulously styled “looks,” complete with Ivanka Trump-brand jewelry, dresses and shoes, the red threat might seem out of place — even off-brand. But the bracelet has special significance to…
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Fast Forward Kabbalah Study Center Opens In Lebanon — But It’s ‘Not Judaism’
A center for the mystic Jewish study of Kaballah opened this week in Lebanon — but members include Muslims and Christians who see their study as removed from Judaism or Jewishness. “I have to reinforce the idea that Kabbalah is not Judaism,” a Muslim teacher in the group identified only as Sara told the Middle…
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FIRST PERSON As a rabbi, he helped others mourn. So why wouldn’t his daughter say kaddish for him?
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