An internet friend from Argentina introduced me to Kabbalah in 1998. She urged me to attend sessions. I spent two or three days with Kabbalah websites. Here is what I found:
1) Kabbalah is a sect of Judaism. However, its teachings are for everyone. I did not sense much motive from Kabbalah to convert people to Judaism or Kabbalah.
2) Kabbalah is showing us that all of us are connected. When we start working towards enhancing these connections, better circumstances will happen in our own life. And society-at-large will benefit more with more people in Kabbalah-like mindset.
3) I thought people going through some Kabbalah training would be a good thing for the world.
But I didn’t take the training with two reasons. First, I was already on a similar path. Second, I live about two hours away from a city big enough where I would find some Kabbalah training. I just couldn’t justify the time, energy, and money to take that trip.
So I stayed aloof from Kabbalah for many years. I did encounter the term occasionally in my TV and internet activity: Nothing too deep, but just enough to bring up this philosophy to the front my mind for a short time.
Then in 2022
About a year ago, I clicked on a Medium article by Tal Mandelbaum. Within a few paragraphs, I recognized Tal as a Kabbalist, even though she never mentioned the movement. She wrote a few more articles, which I liked enough to put myself on her email list. I enjoyed her short essays and videos that came with her emails. We exchanged a few messages now and then.
I then realized my barriers to Kabbalah training were no longer there. COVID has taught us how to ZOOM. So, when Tal mentioned “The Shift,” a Kabbalah program she developed for an international Zoom meeting. I signed on for a small fee.
In “The Shift” (a seminar of four 90-minute weekly sessions), Tal would use the term “ancient wisdom” frequently. I heard “Kabbalah” maybe four times and “Judaism” once. In our current culture of being suspicious of other people’s religions, Kabbalah seemed to be making the right approach by de-emphasizing the religion.
Kabbalah wants us to take its practical teachings back to our families, social groups, and workplaces. Kabbalah has no interest in isolating ourselves, saving souls, or fattening collection plates. If there ever is a movement that prefers results far more than credit for those results, Kabbalah would be it.
For sure, “The Shift” has deepened my understanding of the connectivity we have for each other — and the importance for me to figure out to improve my own connectivity. There were a few lessons that might have been useful two years ago. Maybe I can still salvage the difficult situation I am currently in.
According to Tal, the best person to develop your connectivity to the world is your life partner. If you can make this person happy and you two are working as a life team, you are influencing other people around you to a better way.
The most important lesson I gained from The Shift is:
Be the example you want others to be.
I’m still thinking about this profound statement.
Counselling & Kaballah
I mentioned that I am going through a difficult life situation these days. For three years, I have been taking counselling to help me navigate through these times. My counsellor has been a good check on my sense of reality. I am making better decisions with this help.
Tal offered me a free one-hour counselling session. I thought: “Why not get a third opinion?”
I believe that Tal is a competent and effective counsellor. If you are not associated with a counsellor yet, consider Tal as your guide for personal and relationship issues. And with ZOOM, there is no need to commute to an office away from your home. Her small fees could save you lots of money in the future.
Tal's website is: choosingtoconnect.com
What to do with your Kabbalah insights?
Just imagine that you have finished your first Kabbalah training. You are pumped up about your new insights into how being more interconnected can improve your life and the world. And then you go visit your Uncle Todd. Uncle is a curmudgeon: always complaining, always with a strong opinion on everything, always with a poor understanding of everything. How far will your new Kabbalah insights move Uncle Todd?
You already know the answer to this question. It will take a long time for your new ways to move Uncle Todd noticeably to a better frame of thinking. He will still be a curmudgeon for some time.
In fact, all the shifting of ourselves and later others will be incremental. We can only hope “to be that example” on a consistent basis — and something better might percolate from our efforts some time from now.
Being around Uncle Todd won’t be that much fun even though you are trying your best “to be that example.” We still have an obligation to move all people in our life forward as best we can.
But what if those of us who are working toward “the shift” could come together to build something to show the world what a higher interconnectivity can really do?
No toxic people around. Lots of listening. Interesting discussions that can lead to new perspectives. Only smallish egos. Wouldn’t it be fun to be working with this kind of group? Where can we find one?
Unfortunately, the world is in a bit of a mess. It’s hard to find such a group.
For 25 years, I have been working on an alternative democracy. This democracy is not ready for the masses. But it is ready for people going through “the shift” to start building it.
It will take some time to build this democracy. There are new skills and attitudes we must first learn. Building this democracy is where we will learn and perfect these skills. Like ourselves, this new democracy will grow, evolve, and mature. There will be a time when it becomes obvious that this new democracy needs to replace our current democracy. That transition will happen — because we took some action today.
It will be fun for Kabbalah-like people — including those from other sources of positive inspiration — to build this new democracy. Just imagine working with people who don’t have all this egotistical baggage affecting the discussion. These will be meetings you look forward to attending. And your work will be a great benefit for the world a few decades from now.
Consider Tiered Democratic Governance as your contribution to the future. It will be a great experience to feel what the world could really be like.
Published on Medium 2022
