NEW AGE AND SIMILAR
MOVEMENTS IN ISRAEL
Published in MISHKAN
38/2003, Jerusalem
When
volunteers were needed in 1994 to work with pilgrims in the Holy Land, I jumped
at the opportunity. The “peace process”
was leading to a big increase in the numbers visiting Christian shrines in the
Holy Land and help was needed to cater to all these pilgrims.
I
had never had a chance to visit the Holy Land before, so this was my
opportunity. Besides, having been
involved in investigating the detrimental effects of the New Age Movement (NAM)
in the churches since 1978, I was tired of this weird metaphysical system and
was delighted to have an opportunity to get back to the roots of our Biblical
spirituality. It would be good to be
able to put all this material away and just concentrate on reading and studying
the Bible in the Holy Land where it was largely inspired. I was in for a big surprise!
New Age in Nazareth
My
first assignment was to the Nazareth area.
I met a lot of local Arab youth who liked to practice their English with
me. One youth told me of his fascination
with Buddhism and psychic powers. He was
introduced to this by one of his Jewish school friends. I was amazed that anyone living in the Holy
Land, where some of the greatest religious geniuses in the world were born,
would pursue another religion like Buddhism.
However, I dismissed this as just an isolated case.
But
as time went by and I became more accustomed to Israeli society, I saw that
Buddhism, Hinduism and the New Age Movement were no strangers there. This New Age Movement (NAM) is a syncretistic
amalgam of pantheism, the esoteric and the occult, of magic and myths about the
secrets of life mixed in with ideas from astrology, astro-physics and pop
psychology. It borrows from all religions,
but is under obedience to none. Some
papers, like the Jerusalem Post, had
articles about, and lots of advertisements for, NAM materials. Hardly a day went by without some new NAM
book being advertised.
Enneagram
I
was amazed to see the notorious enneagram, which is creating havoc in religious
communities in America, being advertised again and again. It was listed as a popular Miriam Adahan
addition to the Jerusalem Post “Judaism
Library!” This vicious little piece of occultism was first brought to light by
Gurdjieff, a “charlatan and a swindler who was into Gnosticism” according to
Professor M. Pacwa. Gurdjieff supposedly
got it from the Sufis, who used it for fortune telling! Pacwa says it is “theological nonsense,
suffused with Gnostic ideas. For
instance, the nine points of the enneagram are called the ‘nine faces of God,’
(1) which become nine demons turned upside down.” Pacwa says, it is a
psychological system that hasn’t been tested by professional psychologists, so
it is irresponsible to pass it off as true!
The enneagram was revised by Oscar Ichazo, another occultist, and
finally cosmetically disguised for the Jewish market. The advertisement stated that it would help
people “to accomplish tikkun (restoration)”
and grow “spiritually closer to Hashem”! (2)
Alternative Medicine
Occasionally
newspapers included supplements on alternative medicine, but alternative
religion would probably have been a better term. These included adverts for yoga, zen, healing
through past-life therapy, channelling and NAM crystals (“try the influence of
black tourmaline against the evil eye”)!
Most of these were available from the Reidman Centre for Complementary
Medicine in Tel Aviv, which even had its own rabbi. Some alternative healers claimed they used
‘psychic energy’ to ease back pain and cure ear infections, (3)
I
was not surprised to read that the Israeli Medical Association and the Health
Ministry moved to bar ads by alternative healers. (4) But Tirzah Agassi maintained that “spiritual
healing, complementary medicine and all sorts of alternative occult practicesd
are becoming increasingly fashionable in Israel” and this is due to thee
“daunting reality” that people have to face, (5)
I
noticed that Tel Aviv featured again and again in NAM adverts. The Post stated that there was an explosion
of interest in (the) esoteric” since the dawning of the “Age of Aquarius” –
especially among youth. (6) Astrologers
were interviewed about their divining powers.
One said that they do not rely totally on the zodiac, but can also read
coffee cups, palms, crystals or Tarot cards.
Astrologer Herbal Lifschitz’s forecasts for 1995 were given. In hindsight, some of these predictions badly
missed the mark: e,g, President Hafez Assad “will not survive the year,” and
for Prime Minister Rabin “the rest of the year his position will be more
secure.” Sadly, Mr. Rabin was dead before the year’s end. There was, of course, not a single reference
to the many Biblical injunctions against the occult (Deut. 18:10-12; Lev.
19:26,31; 20; 6.27; II Kgs, 17:17; 21:6; 1 Chron. 10:13; 1 Sam. 28:3; Isa.
47:12-13). The incident of Moses and the
magicians in Exodus 7 illustrates the difference between apparently identical
acts. Moses and Aaron perform miracles
at the command of God, who changes the laws of nature in order to bring about
the miracle. The Bible thus accepts
miracles but “not such as are performed with the aid of occult science.” (7)
In
the Bible, witchcraft and divination are identified with rebellion (1 Sam.
15:23). Divination is enumerated among
the sins for which Yahweh destroyed the kingdom of Israel (II Kgs. 17:17),
among the sins of Manasseh (II Kgs. 21:6), and among the practices rooted out
by the reform of Josiah (II Kgs. 23:24).
Yogis and Witches
In
February 1995 the media reported that yogis from all around the world came to
Israel for a week-long “Yoga for Peace” conference organized by the Israeli
Yoga Teachers’ Association.
Disappointment was expressed at the poor Arab turnout, as apparently
“Islam is not really open to yoga.”
Nobody bothered to mention that the Hebrew Bible is not really open to
yoga either! The purpose of sitting in
the lotus position is to facilitate the serpent power of kundalini at the base of the spine, that it may climb upwards and
illuminate the brain so as to develop occult or psychic powers – which are
vigorously condemned in the Torah (see above).
Still, “Yoga for Peace” carried on.
Hindu chants mixed with Hebrew prayer as rabbis, priests, ministers and
sheiks held hands and chanted “om” for peace.
Later
in the year a convention of witches took place in Tel Aviv. Though witches are generally associated with
the cultural past, witchcraft (or wicca) is a growing trend today, Today’s witches come together in covens to
cast the circle, raise the cone of power, and invoke the Goddess within. Books on witchcraft are very popular in NAM
bookshops because the two movements have a lot in common. Part of the Tel Aviv convention’s function was
seemingly to address witch-phobia!
It
was reported that “all seven witch stories published last year in Hebrew
feature children overcoming their fear of witches and learning that these women
are just regular, if quirky, folks.” (8)
Are the witches preparing to come out of the closet?
Not
long after this convention, Starhawk, America’s best known witch and an
associate of ex-priest Matthew Fox, flew in from California, the cultural
bellwether for the rest of the world.
One can understand President Ezer Weizmann’s concern about American
culture destroying that of Israel, when Starhawk was invited to give workshops
on how to “potentialise magic and get in contact with Asherah, the Hebrew
Goddess.” Dancing, drumming, chanting and trances were also thrown in for good
measure!
June
1995 saw articles in the papers on the growth of Satanic cults. The Lev Le’chai animal welfare group
estimated that there were some 50 to 60 suspected Satanic groups in the
country, with about 10 members in each, “usually from well-off families.” (9) Though not all Satanic cults are interested
in the NAM, the latter has certainly helped to make Satanism better known. One of the main sources of NAM teachings is
Helena Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine. She quotes Kabbalists as saying that “the
true name of Satan is that of Jehovah upside down.” He is the “light of truth,”
“the Devil is ... Creative Force, for Good as for Evil.” (10)
NAM Challenged
Not
all these activities or the infatuation with esoteric religion went
unchallenged. Dr. Michael Kaufman
responded to a Tirzah Agassi piece entitled “This Passage to India Reveals
Heaven on Earth.” This article was in praise of Hinduism, which was extolled
for its “universal tolerance”; she argued it had received a “bad rap” from
Christians. Ayoydha – where intolerant
Hindus razed a Muslim shrine to the ground – was not mentioned!
Kaufman’s
critique seems to have been substantiated to some extent when the Israeli media
revealed to the horrified public the monstrous exploits of the Japanese Aum
Shinri Khyo sect. This cult describes
itself as Buddhist, but incorporates a variety of beliefs from Hinduism
including great devotion to Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction.
Alternative
medicine and other fringe activities were also challenged in the Jerusalem Post in July 1995, in an
article entitled “The Danger of Voodoo Science.” Biofield therapeutics came in for a bit of a
bashing for its claims of manipulating the patient’s “aura” by scooping off any
negative energy. The article mentioned
that in one hospital in the U.S.A., a patient complained after a careless
biofield practitioner, working on someone in the next bed, scooped some
negative energy into him! (11)
Another
challenge to the astrologers and diviners came from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, who
quoted Torah and Talmud to show that these things are idolatrous and magical
practices. Riskin stressed that the
nation of Israel is not ruled by the stars, but only by God. He cited Deuteronomy 18:14, “For these
nations which you shall dispossess listen to astrologers and diviners. But as for you the Lord your God has not permitted
you to do so.” (12)
Oriental Fascination
Jeff
Green, in his column “Reading from Right to Left,” looks at Israeli infatuation
with the Far East and especially with Buddhism, concluding that “Buddhism seems
to be made to order for an age of shifting definitions.” Perhaps he should have
said an age of relativism, for the NAM zeitgeist is monistic and claims to be
beyond good and evil. Green said that in
the past Israelis, though living on the Western rim of Asia, regarded Middle
Eastern and Oriental culture as “Levatine,” but now increasingly look to the
East and its religions and cultures for young Israelis, when they finish
national service, to disappear for a year or two into the mystic East. (13)
The Situation in Tel Aviv
When
I was sent to work in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, I had a good opportunity to visit the
many NAM shops for myself. My Israeli
taxi driver gave me a good taste of what was to come as he spoke eloquently
about the prophecies of Nostradamus! The
latter is very popular in NAM circles because of his fascination with astrology
and magic and was a channel for a spirit entity that dictated to him the
prophecies that made him famous. (14)
I
expected the bookstores in Tel Aviv to be stocked with Californian material
since it is the home of the NAM and a paradise of prosperity. But no, it was nearly all locally printed and
published in Hebrew. It was a bit
strange to see this material – at such variance with the Hebrew Bible – printed
in what many regard as the almost sacred Hebrew alphabet.
In
the areas around Dizengoff Street and Allenby Road there are lots aof NAM
shops, with some specializing only in crystals.
Nearly every Steimansky bookshop had a considerable NAM section.
The
famous White Gallery opposite the Mann Auditorium is one of the best known NAM
stores in the country – it even gets a mention in the Lonely Planet Guide Book
to Israel. Nearby was a Dianetics
Scientology Centre. In the White
Gallery there were at least eight NAM magazines published in Tel Aviv alone –
five in English and three in Hebrew. The
Israeli Theosophical Society even had its own magazine, with a logo of the Star
of David and the Crux Ansata with the motto “There is no religion higher than
Truth!”
The
magazine contained the “Great Invocation” of Alice Bailey, who founded the
Lucifer Publishing Company (now Lucis Trust) after claiming to receive messages
from a “spirit guide” called Djwhal Khul or “the Tibetan.” Lucis Trust sponsors World Goodwill, a
political lobby group headquartered on the United Nations Plaza in New
York. Bailey’s books give specific
instructions for implementing “the Plan” – a one world government and religion.
(15)
The
“Plan” for a one world religion is basically the teaching of Theosophy, founded
by Helena Blavatsky in 1875. It is a
blend of occultism and the eastern mysticism of Hinduism and Buddhism. At the core of this planned New World
Religion is the initiation (act of consecration), openly termed as “Luciferic”
by Blavatsky and Alice Bailey. According
to the latter, Lucifer is the “Ruler of Humanity.” (16) Bailey suggests that the “tyrant” God of the
Old Testament has not been fair to Lucifer, who will be rehabilitated! (17)
The
spirit of Tibet seems to exercise a great fascination for Israelis and even for
Jewish people in other parts of the world, as Tibetan Buddhism is now the rage. Jewish writer, Rodger Kamenetz, has written a
whole book about it entitled “The Jew in
the Lotus” published in 1995. The Jerusalem Post called it “one of the
most urgent and compelling critiques of the condition of North American Jewry
that we have.” (18)
Dharamsala
Kamenetz,
an English professor in Louisiana, writes about a delegation representing the
main currents of North American Jewry: Orthodox, Reform, Reconstrustionist and
Secular, who were invited to meet the now exiled Dalai Lama at Dharamsala in
Tibet. The Dalai Lama was intrigued
about how the Jews had kept their culture while living in exile for over 2000
years, and probably why so many had lost their religion and espoused Buddhism. Fortunately the secular Kamenetz rediscovers
his Jewish roots amongst Buddhists, but was alarmed to discover how many Jews
did not. Instead, becoming “Jubus” or
Jewish Buddhists. On returning to
America he is determined to investigate and this book is the result of his
research.
Kamenetz
writes:
In
the past 20 years Jubus have played a significant and disproportionate role in
the development of ... American
Buddhism. Various surveys show Jewish
participation in such groups ranging from 6 to 30 percent. This is up to twelve times the Jewish proportion
of the American population two-and-a-half percent. In these same twenty years, American Jews
have founded Buddhist meditation centers and acted as administrators,
publishers, translators and interpreters.
They have been particularly prominent teachers and publicizers. (19)
Liberals and Orthodox
Most
of Kamenetz’s American companions in Tibet are enthusiasts, and syncretism
seems to be no problem for them. For
example, when they meet the Dalai Lama’s kuten
(oracle) they suggested investigating how they could train a Jewish oracle like
the kuten. When the latter is possessed by the god
Dorje Drakden his eyes bulge, cheeks swell out and his lips hiss
violently; they attribute this to the
“volcanic energy of the deity.” In this
possessed state he makes oracular statements.
Some of the Jews with Kamenetz are delighted and enthused as to how they
can get one too!
But
there is one notable exception – Orthodox Rabbi Irving Greenberg, who talks of
“Superstitious practices.” (20) All through the book his comments are wise
and consistent with the Biblical worldview.
No wonder Kamenetz says that most American Jews, who are not Orthodox,
tend to feel that the Orthodox are the real Jews. (21) Personally, I have found that the Orthodox,
with their large families, tend to be very strong on family values, personal
holiness and morality, but have no time for strangers at all, and would not
give one the time of day! In contrast,
secular Jews like those in Tel Aviv are very approachable, friendly and
helpful, and usually have a passion for justice, but are weak on family values,
morality and holiness. Of course, the
Bible stresses the need for both justice and
personal holiness.
Rabbi
Greenberg is deeply involved in interfaith dialogue, for he believes strongly
that if one cannot propagate his religion without using stereotypes and
negative images of others, then “all religions will go down the tubes – and
good riddance – because we’re a source of hatred and demolition of other
people.” (22) Greenberg quoted Rabbi
Kook, the great chief rabbi of Israel, who said “that every hateful or negative
image of other traditions that’s our own should now be seen as a mountain we
have to climb over as we try to reach God.” (23)
Of
course it could be said that something of Rabbi Greenberg’s quotation might
apply to this article! Yes, we must
respect other religions, but the NAM is not really in this category as it
borrows from all religions distorts them all and is faithful to none!
Secular and Orthodox
What
I found so surprising in Kamenetz’s book is what the Ultra Orthodox and secular
Jews have in common when they seem poles apart:
a fascination with the Kabbalah, that body of esoteric doctrines which
contains the heart of the Jewish mystical traditions and shows definite Gostic
influence. The Orthodox are fascinated
because it is part of their mystical tradition, and the secular, having given
up on religion, find a great spiritual vacuum in their lives which they try to
fill with New Age religion – which, of course, includes the Kabbalah since it
has “become a pivotal point of the entire Western esoteric tradition.”
(24) Madam Blavatsky’s books which are
important texts in the NAM often quote the “cabbalists”. What was once very closely guarded esoteric
doctrine has now become common currency, with NAM shops well stocked with
Kabbalistic materials. In the past a man
had to be married, and Maimonides taught that he had to be 30 years of age,
before entering the perilous world of Kabbalah mysticism. (25)
It
is no accident that New Age shops like the White Gallery in Tel Aviv have
prominent pictures of the Ultra Orthodox rabbi, Menachem Schneerson. A review of The Wisdom of Rabbi Schneerson asks if “the wisdom so lucidly expressed
here could not have come from the pen or any other inspired, selfless spiritual
leader – Sufi, Christian, Tibetan, Buddhist?” The reviewer, speaking
subjectively, of course, says that the language of the rabbi is “New Age, even
hip.”(26)
Kabbalah
In
the Kamenetz book enthusiasts try to show that Judaism and Tibetan Buddhism
have a great deal in common, e.g. the concept of reincarnation. They obviously were referring to Kabbalah, as
nowhere in Biblical Judaism is this concept to be found. Rabbi Greenberg quietly interjects that
“kabbalah is no more than a minority report.” (27)
So
it would be more accurate to say that Tibetan Buddhism and Kabbalah, not
Judaism itself, have a great deal in common.
Certainly the Kaballah is prominent in New Age circles because they both
seem to go back to a common source: Gnosticism, a pantheistic movement
predating the Christian era, which claimed to know the mysteries of the
universe. Gnosticism borrowed the
formulas of various religions, including the language and images of the Bible,
but the essence of the Bible was totally ignored. It was an antinomian libertinism.
Kamenetz
admits in his book that “Jewish Gnosticism is one acknowledged source for the
later development of Kabbalah.”(28) What
Gedaliahu Stroumsa says of Gnosticism I think, can also be said of the New Age
Movement. Stroumsa says that “there can
be no Gnosticism without a revolt against the Jewish God.”(29) In some cases, Stroumsa says, ä violent
rejection of the Jewish God, or of Judaism, seems to stand at the basis of
these (newly published Gnostic) texts.”
In fact, there is a diabolizing of the Jewish God in Jewish
Gnosticism. Incidentally, Pope John Paul
II, in his book Crossing the Threshold of
Hope, referred to “the return of
ancient Gnostic ideas under the guise of the so-called New Age.”(30)
Is
Israel set to adopt a new metaphysical and non-Biblical worldview? Is ethical
monotheism to be replaced by non-ethical polytheism? Because according to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin,
what “is uniquely characteristic of the land of Israel is that it does not
tolerate unethical and immoral people on its soil. Whoever sins is sent into exile.” The rabbi says that “our ability to remain on
Israeli soil – and not to be exiled – depends upon our fealty to traditional
Jewish teaching, the continuity of our ethical, moral and ritual conduct which
links us to our glorious past.”(31) The
“traditional Jewish teaching” includes, of course, the Biblical injunctions
against occultism.
Conclusion
I
have travelled a number of times by ship to Haifa in Israel. I have noticed
that as the ship comes closer to the Holy Land, Mount Carmel, the place where
Elijah strove so valiantly to preserve the purity of the religion of Israel,
gradually appears on the horizon. Drawing
nearer to land one sees that the most prominent feature now on Mount Carmel is
the golden dome of the Baha’i Temple and its adjacent gardens. Baha’i is, of course, a syncretistic religion,
though many of its followers are nice people.
Is this site symbolic of the direction Israel is going? Exchanging the God of the Bible for
syncretism?
In
August 2000 Rabbi Ovadiah Yossef, one of the most highly esteemed rabbinical
figures in Israel, blamed the Holocaust on bad karma! Holocaust-victims, he astonishingly claimed
were re incarnations of people from earlier generations who had sinned and had
come back to this world to suffer their just punishment. He was utilizing the kabbalistic concept of
reincarnation, gilgul neshamot (Jewish Chronicle (London) 11/8/2000, p.23).
The
London Tablet once reported than an
ancient Russian icon of the prophet Elijah holding the Torah has been shedding
tears for some time in a London art gallery.
Perhaps he is weeping for Israel. (32)
REFERENCES
1. Southern
Cross, 30 August 1992, 10.
2. Jerusalem
Post, 21 September 1994.
3. Jerusalem
Post, 31 January 1995.
4. Jerusalem
Post, 3 January 1995.
5. Jerusalem
Post, City Lights, 3 March 1995.
6, Jerusalem
Post Magazine, 30 December 1994.
7. cf.
Encyclopaedia Judaica, v. 11, 704.
8. Sue
Fishkoff, “Modern-day witches: Fat,
friendly & feminist’” Jerusalem Post, 14 April 1995.
9. Jerusalem
Post, 26 June 1995.
10. Irish
Theological Commission, “A New Age...,” Dublin, Veritas, 1994, 35.
11. Jerusalem
Post, 9 July 1995.
12. Jerusalem
Post, 9 July 1995.
13. Jerusalem
Post Magazine, 7 April 1995.
14, Eileen
Campbell & J.H. Brennan, The Aquarian Dictionary of the New Age
(Harper/Collins, 1990), 209.
15. J.S.
Benkovic, The New Age Counterfeit, LHLA (Clearwater, Florida, 1993), 27.
16. M.B.
Schlink, 15.
17. Cf.
Blavatsky’s Anthropogenesis, v.2, 506-18
18. Jerusalem
Post Magazine, 20 February 1995.
19. Rodger
Kamenetz, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in
Buddhist India.
(Harper/Collins,
1994), 7f.
20. Kamenetz,
181.
21. Kamenetz,
283.
22. Kamenetz,
110.
23. Kamenetz,
111.
24. Campbell
& Brennan, 230
25. Cf. E.
Wiesel, Night (Fontana, 1972), 13.
26. Jerusalem
Post Magazine, 22 September 1995.
27. Kamenetz,
105, 155.
28. Kamenetz,
274.
29. G.C.
Stroumsa, “Gnosis,” in Paul Mendes-Flohr, Contemporary Jewish Thought, 289.
30. Pope
John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Cape, London, 1994), 90.
31. Jerusalem
Post, 7 October 1994.
32. The
Tablet, 23 March 1996, 401.
