On The DL

Rav Michael Laitman

by Dana Henry

 "The Kabbalah Experience: The Relevance of Authentic Kabbalah in Our Lives" 

Tue., Oct. 23, 4 p.m., free, Margaret Gest Center for the Cross Cultural Study of Religions, Room 101, Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, 215-673-2120, www.kabbalah.info

You don't have to be an Orthodox Jew (or even Madonna) to unlock the Torah's inner secrets. Kabbalah — the ancient practice of peeling scripture down to its spiritual skeleton — has gone from a handful of select disciples to a global constituency of millions. Rav Michael Laitman, founder and president of Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute in Israel, would like to see even more join the movement. "The truth is, Kabbalah does belong to the whole world," says Laitman. "Today it is not a secret that we have a global crisis in every aspect of life, and the wisdom of Kabbalah provides answers that resonate on a global as well as personal level."

This spiritual mission fuels Laitman's nine-city U.S. tour, "The Kabbalah Experience: The Relevance of Authentic Kabbalah in Our Lives." Drawing from his latest book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kabbalah, Laitman hopes to increase awareness and simplify the seemingly esoteric practice. His lecture will explore the implications for Kabbalist harmony across the scale of contemporary discords, from personal depression and domestic disputes to global warming and international terrorism. Additionally, he will examine how Kabbalah exposes the "threads" of reality, and how understanding and reconnecting these threads ultimately creates a new picture. "This picture is your life," says Laitman. "Using Kabbalah you can constantly design and redesign your life."