Editing Philip Berg

{{Short description|American rabbi and dean of the Kabbalah Centre}}
{{About|the head of the Kabbalah Centre|the attorney|Philip J. Berg}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader
| honorific-prefix = Rabbi
| name                      = Philip Berg
| image                     = Rav Berg.jpg 
| image_size                =  
| caption                   = 
| title = 
| synagogue =
| synagogueposition = 
| yeshiva =
| yeshivaposition =
| organisation =             [[Kabbalah Centre]]
| organisationposition =     Dean
| began = 
| ended = 
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| rabbi = 
| rebbe = 
| kohan = 
| hazzan = 
| rank = 
| other_post = 
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name = Shraga Feivel Gruberger
| birth_date = August 20, 1927
| birth_place = [[Brooklyn]], New York
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|9|16|1927|8|20}} 
| death_place = 
| buried = [[Safed]] Jewish cemetery, [[Israel]]
| nationality = 
| denomination = [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]]
| residence = 
| dynasty = 
| parents = 
| spouse = {{ubl|Rivkah Brandwein|[[Karen Berg (writer)|Karen Mulnich]]}}
| children = 8 (with Brandwein){{ubl|2 (with Mulnich):|[[Yehuda Berg|Yehuda]]|Michael}}
| occupation = 
| profession = 
| alma_mater = [[Beth Medrash Govoha]]
| semicha = 
| signature = 
}}
'''Philip S. Berg''' (original name '''Shraga Feivel Gruberger''', {{langx|he|שרגא פייבל}}; August 20, 1927 – September 16, 2013)<ref>Petition for Naturalization of Max Gruberger, Philip Berg's father accessed at Ancestry.com. Selected U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1790-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.</ref> was an American [[rabbi]] and dean of the worldwide [[Kabbalah Centre]] organization.

Berg was a great populariser of [[Yehuda Ashlag|Ashlagian]] Kabbalah. Having written a number of books on the subject of [[Kabbalah]], Berg expanded its access to a greater audience than traditionally permitted, one which included secular Jews, non-Jews and women.{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=33}} Berg initially aimed at returning alienated Jews to their heritage through the teachings of Yehuda Ashlag;{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=51}} he later adopted a more universalistic approach.

There is disagreement about whether Berg's teachings, as relayed through the Kabbalah Centre, have sufficient grounds and/or genuine authority according to ''[[halakha]]'' (Jewish law), as they include some [[dogma]]s and translations differing markedly from those of more-traditional Kabbalists. Some Jewish scholars emphatically reject such teachings, deeming them as foreign to both the Kabbalah in particular and to [[Judaism]] in general.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10324260/Rabbi-Philip-Berg.html|title=Rabbi Philip Berg}}</ref>

In poor health following a stroke in 2004, Berg died on September 16, 2013.<ref name="Ryan">{{cite news|author=Harriet Ryan|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kabbalah-founder-philip-berg-dead-at-84-20130916,0,7617844.story|title=Kabbalah Centre founder Philip Berg dead at 84|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 16, 2013}}</ref>

==Biography==
Berg was born as Shraga Feivel Gruberger in 1927 in [[Brooklyn]], to an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family.<ref name=Radar>Udovich, Mim. "Kabbalah Chronicles: Inside Hollywood's hottest cult", ''Radar Online'', June 15, 2005. (Copy at {{cite web |url=http://www.radaronline.com/web-only/the-kabbalah-chronicles/2005/06/inside-hollywoods-hottest-cult-ii.php |title=Inside Hollywood's Hottest Cult II : Radar Online |accessdate=2006-08-05 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024131751/http://www.radaronline.com/web-only/the-kabbalah-chronicles/2005/06/inside-hollywoods-hottest-cult-ii.php |archive-date=October 24, 2007 }})</ref> His father, Max Gruberger, immigrated from [[Nadvirna|Nadvorna]], [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]] (now in [[Ukraine]]), and worked as a clothes presser in [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/dec/11/religion.uk|title=Elena Lappin investigates Kabbalah: part one|last=Lappin|first=Elena|date=2004-12-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-02-24|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In his youth, Berg underwent [[Talmud]]ic education at [[Beth Medrash Govoha|Lakewood Yeshiva]] under Rabbi [[Aharon Kotler]].<ref>28 Questions and Answers About Kabbalah - Kabbalah Learning Centre 1992</ref> He later returned to Williamsburg, where in 1951 at age 22 he received ordination from [[Yeshiva Torah Vodaas]].{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=34}} Berg went into the business world and worked as an insurance agent for [[New York Life Insurance Company|New York Life]]. He also became involved in real estate, and by 1962 it is claimed he was a [[millionaire]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Kabbalah Centre|last=Csillag|first=Ron|date=18 March 1993|work=The Canadian Jewish News}}</ref> It is likely that he began to be called Philip during this time, as it is not unusual practice among Jews with [[Yiddish]] names to use an English equivalent while working in a secular environment.

Berg's first wife, Rivkah Brandwein, had an uncle named Yehuda Brandwein, whom Berg first met on a trip to [[Israel]] in 1962. Brandwein, a [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] rabbi from the [[List of Hasidic dynasties|Stretiner Hasidic dynasty]] and a close student in the Kabbalistic circle around [[Yehuda Ashlag]], would become Berg's Kabbalistic mentor. Brandwein was the head of the Religious Department of the Israeli national workers union, [[Histadrut]], and established Yeshivat Kol Yehuda (named after Ashlag) as a continuation of his mentor's yeshiva/publishing house "Beit Ulpana Itur Rabbanim". The uniqueness of Kol Yehuda was that students focused on kabbalistic study. The students would receive a salary to cover their living expenses so they could devote themselves to full-time learning. However, Brandwein faced difficulty in finding funds for the [[yeshiva]] and publishing. Berg had become Brandwein's book distributor and fundraiser in the United States, and it is likely he was encouraged by Brandwein to establish the National Institute for the Research in Kabbalah in New York in 1965 to aid the yeshiva.{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=35}}

After Brandwein's death in 1969, Berg returned to the United States and began working again with his former secretary (and future wife) [[Karen Berg (writer)|Karen]], on the condition that she let him teach her Kabbalah, a discipline he claimed was reserved exclusively for men. In 1971, Philip and Karen married and traveled to Israel. It was there that they changed their surname from Gruberger to Berg, as it was a common practice to shorten a European Jewish surname upon [[Aliyah|moving to Israel]].{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=51}} In 1973, the Bergs returned to [[Queens]], New York, where they established their full-time headquarters during the 1980s.<ref name=Radar/>

[[File:Rav Berg Tomb.jpg|thumb|Philip Berg's grave in the [[Safed]] Jewish Cemetery|177x177px]]
Berg, who had been ill since suffering a stroke in 2004, died on September 16, 2013. He was generally reported to be 86 (although the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that according to public records he was 84). He is survived by his wife Karen and two sons, [[Yehuda Berg|Yehuda]] and Michael,<ref name="Ryan"/> who have led the Kabbalah Centre since his stroke.<ref name="Telegraph"/> Besides these two children Berg also had eight children from his first marriage that renounced Berg and his teachings.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|title=Rabbi Philip Berg, Who Updated Jewish Mysticism, Dies at 86|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/us/rabbi-philip-berg-who-updated-jewish-mysticism-dies-at-86.html?pagewanted=all|work=[[The New York Times]]| date=21 September 2013 |accessdate=22 September 2013| last1=Fox | first1=Margalit }}</ref>{{not in source|date=March 2024}}

==The Research Centre of Kabbalah==
In July 1965, Berg was initially involved in the founding of a publishing house called "The National Institute for the Research in Kabbalah"<ref>The Kabbalah Centre and Contemporary Spirituality Jody Myers</ref> along with Ashlag's American student Levi Krakovsky, who died the following year. The institute was most likely a fundraising branch of Brandwein’s Yeshiva Kol Yehuda, as books published by the institute have Brandwein named as the senior figure, while Berg was listed as its president.<ref name=Meir2013>{{cite journal|last=Meir|first=Jonathan|date=January 2013|title=The Beginnings of Kabbalah in America|journal=Aries|doi=10.1163/15700593-13130204|volume=13|number=2}}</ref>

[[File:Yeshivat Kol Yehuda.jpg|thumb|Rabbi Brandwein's Yeshivat Kol Yehuda, Ha-Yehudim St. in the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City of Jerusalem]]|240x240px]]
Krakovsky was an emissary of Ashlag’s yeshiva "Itur Rabbanim",<ref>Krakovsky, If eventually - why not now? Kabbalah Foundation (1936).</ref> and had translated some of Ashlag's writings into English to support the yeshiva. He also wrote his own English introductory books to Kabbalah, and in the 1930s established his own yeshiva in the United States for the purpose of teaching Kabbalah in English. Krakovsky’s writings were also published by the new Institute.<ref name=Meir2013/>

In 1970, Berg legally changed the name of the National Institute to "The Research Centre of Kabbalah", establishing it as an independent centre and publishing books of his own.{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=52}} His writings ranged from a basic introduction and explanation of [[Lurianic Kabbalah|Lurianic]] and Ashlagian Kabbalah to [[astrology]] and [[reincarnation]]. In 1971, Berg moved to Israel where he strengthened the centre, gave lectures and disseminated his books. In 1980, he established a yeshiva, "Or Hozer le’Limud ha-Nigleh ve ha-Nistar" (Returning Light for the Study of the Revealed and the Concealed) in [[Tel Aviv]], which circulated various kabbalistic works. On his return to the United States in 1984 with a number of Israeli students called the ''Hevre'' (friends), Berg expanded the centre to more locations.<ref name=Meir2013/>

The aim of the now independent research centre was to resolve a widespread spiritual crisis affecting Jews, where many found traditional Judaism dry and unfulfilling. Large numbers of young Jews were seeking [[Eastern religions|Eastern spiritual practices]], involving themselves in dangerous [[cult]]s or resorting to [[atheism]]. Berg, who believed Judaism was being taught dogmatically, was determined to show inquisitive soul-searching Jews that the answers could be found in Kabbalah.{{sfn|Myers|2007|p=51}}
 
=== Controversy ===
There is some disagreement over who succeeded Brandwein as dean of the 80-year-old Yeshiva Kol Yehuda in [[Jerusalem]]. Berg has claimed to have replaced Brandwein, his ex-uncle-in-law by his first wife, in that role; that claim was disputed by Brandwein's son [[Avraham Brandwein|Avraham]], who served as dean until his death in 2013.<ref name="Radar" /> The Los Angeles Task Force on Cults and Missionaries claimed Berg was not affiliated with the yeshiva,<ref>Ellin, Abby; Sacks, Adam J. "The Kabbalah Centre Wants your Heart - and your Money: The String that Binds" in ''[[The Village Voice]]'', August 11, 2004.</ref> although a letter sent to him by Brandwein in July 1968 indicated he was President of the yeshiva.{{sfn|Berg|2010|p=343}}

In 2010, the [[Internal Revenue Service]] launched an investigation, reportedly investigating whether funds were directed to the personal enrichment of the Berg family and subpoenaed financial records of the organization and two affiliated charities connected to [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]. The centre called the allegations "merit-less" and said it "intends to defend the case vigorously".<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10324260/Rabbi-Philip-Berg.html|title=Rabbi Philip Berg|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|date=2013-09-20|accessdate=2013-09-21}}</ref>

==Publications of Berg and the Research Centre of Kabbalah==
* Philip S. Berg, ''The Wheels of a Soul''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1984. {{ISBN|0-943688-13-2}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Astrology, the Star Connection: The Science of Judaic Astrology''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1987. {{ISBN|0-943688-37-X}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Kabbalah for the Layman'', Vol. I. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1981. {{ISBN|0-943688-00-0}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Kabbalah for the Layman'', Vol. II. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1988. {{ISBN|0-943688-83-3}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Kabbalah for the Layman'', Vol. III. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1988. {{ISBN|0-943688-70-1}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Kabbalistic Astrology Made Easy''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1999. {{ISBN|1-57189-053-X}}
* Rav P. S. Berg, ''Kabbalistic Astrology: And the Meaning of Our Lives''. Kabbalah Publishing, 2006. {{ISBN|1-57189-556-6}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Power of Aleph Beth'', Volume 1. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1988. {{ISBN|0-943688-10-8}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Power of Aleph Beth'', Volume 2. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1988. {{ISBN|0-943688-57-4}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''Time Zones''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1990. {{ISBN|0-924457-01-5}}
* Yehuda L. Ashlag, Compiled and edited by Philip S. Berg, ''An Entrance to The Zohar''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1974. {{ISBN|0-943688-34-5}}
* Yehuda Ashlag, Compiled and edited by Philip S. Berg, ''An Entrance to The Tree of Life''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1977. {{ISBN|0-943688-35-3}}
* Philip S. Berg, ''The Kabbalah Connection''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1983. {{ISBN|0-943688-03-5}}
* [[Yehuda Ashlag|Yehuda L. Ashlag]], Translated by Rabbi Levi I. Krakovsky, ''Ten Luminous Emanations'', Volume 1. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1969. {{ISBN|0-943688-29-9}}
* Yehuda L. Ashlag, Compiled and edited by Philip S. Berg, ''Ten Luminous Emanations'', Volume 2. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1973. {{ISBN|0-943688-09-4}}
* Rabbi Levi I. Krakovsky, ''The Light of Redemption''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1970. {{ASIN|B0006F83A8}}
*[[Moshe Chaim Luzzatto|Rabbi Moses C. Luzzatto]], ''General Principles of The Kabbalah''. Research Centre of Kabbalah, 1970. {{ASIN|B0006C9K1W}}

==See also==
* [[Yehuda Berg]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{More footnotes|date=November 2010}}
* [[Daphne Merkin]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13kabbalah-t.html ''In Search of the Skeptical, Hopeful, Mystical Jew That Could Be Me''], New York Times Magazine, April 13, 2008
* Tamara Ikenberg, ''Madonna, et al. have watered down Jewish mysticism, scholars charge'' Louisville Courier-Journal, August 26, 2004
* David Rowan, ''Chief Rabbi sounds alarm on mystical Kabbalah group'' ''[[The Times]]'', April 3, 2004
* Robert Eshman, ''L.A.'s Kabbalah Learning Center seems to attract many searching Jews, but criticism of it is widespread'' The Jewish Journal, February 14, 1997
* Aynat Fishbein, ''The Cabal of the Cabbalah Centre Exposed: New Relations'' "Tel Aviv" (An Israeli magazine) September 1994, pp.&nbsp;31–35
* Nadya Labi, ''What Profits Kabbalah?'' Time Magazine, November 24, 1997
* ''The Truth about the Kabbalah Centre'' Task Force on Cults and Missionaries, Los Angeles, CA 1995
* {{cite book |last=Myers |first=Jody |title=Kabbalah and the Spiritual Quest:The Kabbalah Centre in America |url=https://archive.org/details/kabbalahspiritua0000myer |url-access=registration |date=November 2007|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780275989408 }} {{ISBN|0275989402}}
* {{cite book |last=Berg |first=Michael |title=Beloved of My Soul, Letters of our master and teacher Rav Yehuda Tzvi Brandwein to his beloved student Kabbalist Rav Berg|date=February 2010}} {{ISBN|978-1-57189-645-2}}

==Further reading==
* [[Jody Myers]]. Kabbalah and the Spiritual Quest: The Kabbalah Centre in America, London 2007.
* [[Boaz Huss]]. "The New Age of Kabbalah: Contemporary Kabbalah, the New Age and postmodern spirituality", Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 6 (2006), pp.&nbsp;107–125
* [[Jonatan Meir]]. "The Revealed and the Revealed within the Concealed: On the Opposition to the "Followers" of Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag and the Dissemination of Esoteric Literature", Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts 16 (2007), pp.&nbsp;151–258
* [[Jonatan Meir]]. "Phillip Berg and the Kabbalah Centre", Daat 70 (2011), pp.&nbsp;159–162 
* [[Jonatan Meir]], [https://www.academia.edu/3829610/The_Beginnings_of_Kabbalah_in_America_The_Unpublished_Manuscripts_of_R._Levi_Isaac_Krakovsky_Aries_Journal_for_the_Study_of_Western_Esotericism_13_2_2013_pp._237-268_English_ "The Beginnings of Kabbalah in America: The Unpublished Manuscripts of R. Levi Isaac Krakovsky]", Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism 13, 2 (2013), pp.&nbsp;237–268

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.kabbalah.com/ Kabbalah Centre] {{in lang|en}}
* [http://www.kabbalah.co.il/ Kabbalah Centre Israel] {{in lang|he}}
* {{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/us/rabbi-philip-berg-who-updated-jewish-mysticism-dies-at-86.html?hpw |publisher= NY Times |work= Obituary |date= Sep 20, 2013 |title= Rabbi Philip Berg, Who Updated Jewish Mysticism, Dies at 86 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Philip}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American astrologers]]
[[Category:20th-century American rabbis]]
[[Category:21st-century American rabbis]]
[[Category:21st-century astrologers]]
[[Category:American astrological writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American occultists]]
[[Category:Beth Medrash Govoha alumni]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Jewish astrologers]]
[[Category:Rabbis from New York City]]
[[Category:Writers from Brooklyn]]