Yoram, more wine please…

September 10, 2009 - 5:01 PM by David

Karen Berg, and her husband Rabbi Philip Berg

Karen Berg, and her husband Rabbi Philip Berg

I don’t often get to spend work afternoons sitting at a poolside table laden with freshly grilled meats and vintage Yarden wine. But I can thank Madonna for making it happen – at least her connection to Kabbalah.

On the day after the superstar’s second sold out show in Tel Aviv last week, I was offered a chance to interview Karen Berg, the Los Angeles-based co-founder of the Kabbalah Center, and the person most identified hooking Madonna up with the ancient Jewish mysticsm.

At first, the meeting was supposed to take place at the Kabbalah Center in downtown Tel Aviv, but the night before, one of Berg’s assistants called and asked if I would be willing to drive a little farther north to a private villa in a small, exclusive community north of Netanya, where Berg would be spending the afternoon. Sure, I answered, with visions of entering the home and finding Madonna reclining on a chaise lounge poolside, chatting with Justin Timberlake.

Well, it wasn’t quite that heady. But the house was magnificent, there was a beautiful pool, and there were people lounging around outside. It turns out the home belonged to a young couple who were students at the Tel Aviv center, and had invited a few people to lunch, with Berg as the guest of honor.

As I was sitting in the gigantic living room interviewing Berg, a hired chef in a white apron and chef’s hat was stoking the grill and flipping thick steaks and skewered chicken (all kosher of course). Guests began arriving including Madonna’s longtime Kabbalah teacher Eitan Yardeni, Berg’s son Michael, and a young couple who greeted Berg – and then she whispered to me ‘That’s Gwyneth Paltrow’s sister.’

As I was getting ready to leave and the guests were sitting down for lunch, the husband host came up to me and said, ‘won’t you join us?’

It would have been rude to refuse, so for an hour, I ate, drank, and talked about Israeli politics, the differences between raising children in Israel and the US, Madonna’s after-party the night before (attended by Natalie Portman, Sasha Baron Cohen and Bar Refaeli), and, it turned out, very little Kabbalah. One of the Kabbalah Center people whispered in my ear that the rule was that everything said was off the record, and I nodded affirmatively, because I was too busy eating to think about taking notes or remembering anything for later,

I could have stayed for hours, but I remembered I had a job, profusely thanked my hosts, and started the long drive back to Jerusalem. Thanks Madonna, I owe you one.

Tags: , , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, Food, General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Religion 

Comments

2 Comments on Yoram, more wine please…

  1. David-Joe on Fri, Sep 11th 2009 4:47 AM

    2. The “Kabbalah movement” as followed or whatever is done is not a religion. It has NO connection to Judaism. It is something that has been taken based on a part of Judaism and bastardized into some sort of mystical cult.

    How can anyone consider “Madonna” to be a person in their right mind?

    While you had every right to accept the invitation, the question is whether you ought to have.

    Why did people attend the “after party”? Why did you accept the invitation?

    From this perch it looks like celebrity worship. And when did Bar Rafaeli suddenly discover that she is Israeli – when Maddona invited her?

    It is bad enough that Israel suffers from low self-esteem in general – getting excited when aging singers of questionable morals and uncertain sanity declare how they “love” Israel.

    But to honor a cult that insults the Jewish religion, is beyond the pale.

  2. Diane on Tue, Sep 15th 2009 1:31 AM

    3. I’m don’t know much about Madonna’s mind but your life sure continues to get more and more interesting . What great memories!

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