Happy Boxing Day!

You know how some people get the blues at Christmas? I get the blues at Christmas. First, I get irritated. That feeling usually lingers a few weeks. Then I blow up at someone. Then I get sad.

I think it's because Christmas is a time of failure for me.

I usually push through it OK. And people don't seem to clue in on what's going on inside of me. It's the same thing that made my grandma turn to Jim Beam. And my mom turn into, uhm, my mom.

But not me, no sir. I'm a product of transformation. So I'm a believer in it. And I'm still holding out for a Christmas miracle.

I've been trying to reset Christmas for myself for years. It doesn't have to be a bad time. I can learn to enjoy it like everyone else. Only I never do.

A lot of my trouble has to do with 'the gift'. Giving the perfect gift. It needs to communicate the degree of my love. It's hard to gauge that for people you actually love. Can you ever find a gift to embody that?

Trust me, you can't. I know that. I was trained the hard way. Through failure. Constant failure. Gifts I put a lot of time into ... and love into, or so I thought. But they all seemed to fall short. They were opened, reacted to positively..."oh, this is a nice thought", then negatively, "but I am sure I can get something better" and then they were returned. Or balked at. Or thrown on the stove and set fire. Or torn up in my face. Or wrestled to the ground in a string of lights and pine needles. Ugh. The insanity.

That's my Christmas past. And I hate it. And, unfortunately, whoever I am dating today tends to get the worst gift ever, if I remember to get anything at all. My brother does the same thing. It's a conditioned thing. You get conditioned to 'not care' to protect a heart that cares too much.

So, I am trying with all my heart to transform that drama into something positive. I want to give to someone who would love to receive my gift. I want to give to a child. An orphan. A thousand orphans.

I look at Madonna or Angelia or Mia Farrow. I see in some way we are orphans, parents alive or not. That is our plight. To give what we didn't get. To provide what we needed, not merely wanted. And it's not about 'things' and 'stuff' and 'gifts'.

I didn't get it this year. I didn't transform Christmas into a time of miracles. But I am starting to see where I get stuck.

I won't stop my quest to raise $101K for the AIDs orphans of Malawi. But I may fail in my goal to do so by Christmas '07.

And that's OK.

There's always next year.

Dear Julia,

This year has been an exciting one for Millennium Promise, filled with great advances in the Millennium Villages, new innovative partnerships, and a great deal of progress made on our mission of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa by 2015. I'm pleased to reach out to you, as one of our key supporters, to update you on our achievements to date and the critical challenges we face moving forward.

YEAR END HIGHLIGHTS

Millennium Promise is currently working with a population of approximately 400,000 people in 80 Millennium Villages across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In our first year, we saw vast increases in crop production, increased access to health care and improved water sources, successful launches of school feeding programs, and new educational facilities built and opened. Now that the program is entering its second year, our focus will broaden to include more expansive health interventions, improved roads and infrastructure and developing business enterprise.

Education

In partnership with Building with Books, 10 new schools have been constructed in the Tiby Millennium Village Cluster in Mali, with plans to build an additional 32 schools in Mali and Senegal next year.

Infrastructure

Internet connectivity was recently established in the Ruhiira Millennium Village Cluster in Uganda. The first e-mail was sent on November 22, 2007 using a low power computer (18 watts instead of the 170 watts for normal computers). Internet access was made available despite the challenge of mountains and a 31 km distance. A 30 meter tower was built on the highest point in Ruhiira to provide internet access to 6 health units, 3 schools, a community store, and a grain store.

Health

The distribution of hundreds of thousands of bed nets and the donation of anti-malarial medications are reducing malaria infections, one of the leading causes of preventable death in Africa.

Business Development

On September 21, 2007, Millennium Promise and Lehman Brothers sponsored the Tanzania Investment Conference, which focused on bringing private sector investors together with Tanzanian officials for an open dialogue on investment opportunities in the East African nation. The conference was attended by more than 130 business and government leaders, including the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.The country's history of political and macro-economic stability, market access, geographical location and diverse opportunities have the potential to make Tanzania a region of great interest to prospective investors and business partners.

CONTINUE THE FIGHT TO END EXTREME POVERTY

As we enter 2008, we are eager to continue the forward momentum created by our tremendous successes in 2007, as well as leverage these successes to mobilize even greater resources and expand our impact on extreme poverty across Africa. I hope that you will join us again by supporting our primary activities going into 2008, which include:

Putting new infrastructure projects in place to increase access to markets and the surrounding communities for members of village communities;

Growing existing relationships with national governments and systems, particularly in the health and education sectors;

Focusing on innovative solutions to the challenges associated with agricultural sustainability and business development over the long term;

Improving our infrastructure to deliver critical interventions in the most efficient and effective manner possible across all 14 sites.

I remain truly grateful for your support this year and hope that you will consider a donation to Millennium Promise to expand our critical work in the year to come. This year was just the beginning of an incredible transformation in villages across Africa; thank you for your partnership in making this change possible.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Flug

Chief Executive Officer

Ending Famine in Malawi

Anyone catch this article in the New York Times this week? (12/2/07)

Malawi is making a comeback. We sent fertilizer, and what do you know? The people of Malawi are no longer starving, they are actually exporting food! After the 2005 harvest, the worst in a decade, Malawi's newly-elected president led the way to reinstating and deepening fertilizer subsidies despite a skeptical reception from the United States and Britain.


Here're some more pictures to tell the story:

Women in the Dezda district of Malawi pounding corn to make nsima, the thick cornmeal porridge that is the national staple. Malawi's government ignored experts and supplied heavy fertilizer subsidies to farmers, contributing to record-breaking corn harvests.


The Malawian countryside, with lands plowed and read for planting to begin. Farmers explained Malawi's extraordinary turnaround - one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa - with one word: fertilizer.

Community leaders attended a workshop to learn how to use fertilizer on their maize crops. This year, Malawi is selling more corn to the United Nations World Food Program than any other country in southern Africa and is exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of corn to Zimbabwe.


A woman planting maize seeds in her field in Zomba. Malawi's successful use of fertilizer subsidies is contributing to a broader reappraisal of the crucial role of agriculture in alleviating poverty in Africa.


Chief Zaudeni Mapila addressed villagers during a fertilizer coupon meeting. Last year, roughly half the country's farming families received coupons that entitled them to buy two 110-pound bags of fertilizer, enough to nourish an acre of land.
Workers loaded fertilizer bags onto trucks for distribution. Malawi, a nation that has perennially extended a begging bowl to the world, is instead feeding its hungry neighbors.

A grain storage building was constructed in Malawi. The country's successful use of fertilizer subsidies is contributing to a broader reappraisal of the pivotal importance of public investments in the basics of a farm economy: fertilizer, improved seed, farmer education, credit and agricultural research.
Lontiya Samuel removing corn kernels from the cob in her maize storeroom. As a recipient of the government fertilizer subsidies, she managed to increase her crop yield.

I'd like to end by saying one thing. While the consequences of poverty are enormous....the source of wars and terrorism, the solution is so simple if we lend our fellow man a hand up. Not to is ignorant. I used to be ignorant. I'm less so now.

Miracle Making with Charity

Kabbalistically, we’re in one of the most powerful times for creating miracles. That doesn’t mean that miracles are supposed to happen now. It means now is the time to make them happen. So for the next few days, we’ll explore techniques for miracle making, which you can find explained in greater detail in my book “God Does Not Create Miracles, You Do”.

Take notes...

Charity, by definition, is an action of giving or donation to those in need. Charity, within Kabbalah, is also the stuff that changes destiny. Giving, whether of your time, money, effort, wisdom, or possessions is a powerful way to turn on the Light. The more difficult the action of sharing — in other words, the greater the stretch — the greater the revelation of Light and therefore, the greater the miracle.

Be charitable today. But instead of doing it because of this email, do it because you want to awaken the energy of miracles in your life for the entire year.

Manhattan Apartment: Rent for Charity

Cha-ching. Another donation to Raising Malawi -

I rented my studio in NYC out during the month of October for a charitable donation to Raising Malawi.

I opened it to a friend of a best friend, so I couldn't ask for rent. But I love this idea of asking for charity. My friend and "tenant" Rose from Vancouver donated $1,000 Canadian in gratitude for the stay (which is what these days? $7,000? :) OK, more like $1,080). She told me the place worked out great.

I plan to do this more, so, if you need a place to stay in NY and you want to do some good in the world, save your money on hotels and crash at my place. It's 325 E 77th St -- btwn 1st and 2nd. It's furnished, with cable and wireless.

Do it for the orphans. Write your check to Raising Malawi and get a tax write-off to boot!

Trip to Tuscany in 2000

OK, this video has nothing to do with Raising Malawi. Or anything really. But my friend just uploaded it to MySpace and I don't know where else to keep the code. So, here goes. There were 16 of us who voyaged to Tuscany in 2000. I found out about the trip at the last possible second and glommed on, like I always do when it comes to travel. I met most of these folks down there, but we had such a great time.

Soooo much great wine. I'm pretty sure I was posing for the opening shot passed out on the stairs. But it certainly captures the sentiment.

Anyway....It took you long enough to post this, Alisa.... (wink), but many thanks for the :59 reminder of an extraordinary trip!

Trailer for Tuscany 2K

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Christmas Goal: The Day Is Near

I've had a busy year. Is it possible to progress and regress at the same time? I think that's what happened to me.



Progression:

- I made an even bigger financial commitment to help the orphans of Malawi
- I went to Malawi to confirm the funds we are sending are truly making a difference
- I came up with sooooo many great fundraising ideas for 2007

Regression:

- I implemented soooo few great fundraising ideas in 2007
- I stopped believing I could meet my goal
- I started focussing more on my new LA life -- my new job, my new car, my new apartment, my my my -- than on helping orphans who don't have access to clean water or school or health care or food or clothes or books or or or.

I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I am quietly amazed at how I could so easily put the faces of the desperate children I met so far in the back of my mind.

I have less than a month to go. I'll post a Raising Malawi update tomorrow.

After I get my laundry done and house cleaned and presents bought and bills paid and nails done and workout in and and and ... stay tuned.

There Is No God

Do you realize when you are in a fit of anger, it’s synonymous with saying there is no God?

Think about it. The Light is constantly feeding you growth opportunities — the more uncomfortable, the more potential for growth. When you’re “losing it”, overpowered by feelings of rage, you’re basically admitting that God has left the building.

This instantaneous knowing that the Light sent this situation to you is a matter of consciousness. However, when you’re sitting in bumper to bumper summer traffic with a broken A/C, late for a job interview, and some guy just blocked you from making your exit, it’s not so easy to be Mr. or Mrs. Spiritual, is it?

When you find yourself unleashing your middle finger and searching for the choicest curse words, try repeating to yourself over and over — “What is the Light teaching ME?”

I don’t expect you to achieve this state of consciousness today. It takes repetition. But the more awareness you inject, the easier it gets to pull yourself out of the fire.

Rachel's Tomb

This is a visit to Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem. Rachel's greatest desire and purpose in life was to protect and defend her children from evil. That's why she evokes the element of protection of the universe.

She gave us the "Red String". Kabbalists wear it for protection against the 'evil eye' -- that negative look or thought we consciously or even unconsciously give each other that actually keeps us away from our potential. Each piece of Red String is taken to Rachel's tomb and imbued with the essence of protection.

The energy here was intense. Visitors were not especially happy (or remotely happy!). Much heavier energy than I expected. A lot of pushing and 'desire for self alone'. I actually felt like pushing this 1,000 year old woman back. The religious conservative were making some of us put on shalls to cover up more. We weren't exactly exposed or flaunting it. Then, we started singing and one guy started screaming -- almost hysterically -- about Elijah the prophet's disapproval. As if!

It was really dramatic. In all honesty, I found it entertaining and I wanted to sensationalize it more. Like, "get a load of the crazies in there!"

Which is actually kind of ironic, right?

Is it possible that I'm no more enlightened? I cringe at the thought. But it is quite possible. It almost feels justified to give the evil eye at times. And therein lies today's human consciousness.

It's all perspective, I guess.

A lesson in consciousness from the Dead Sea

Below is a clip (6:35 mins) of my kabbalah teacher Yehuda explaining the spiritual purpose of our trip to the Dead Sea. They call it the Dead Sea because it's so salty, nothing can live there. I floated in it -- bobbed like a cork. I've never seen any such thing. I got one tiny drop of water in my eye and had to get out and run for the shower to flush it. It burned like holy hell.

Spiritually speaking, the sea is dead because other waters flow into it, but nothing flows out. A metaphor for life, really. Kabbalah explains the universe works on a 3-column system of energy. Left column (desire to receive), Right column (desire to share) and Central column (restriction between the two). Very much like a lightbulb -- the negative charge (left), positive charge (right) and central filament that brings the two together and restricts the flow of energy so it generates light.

Laws of energy dictate that whatever you receive, you must, at minimum, share 10% to create that circuitry. Not because you are a good person. Not because it's the right thing to do. Only because, if you don't, that energy gets blocked and eventually dies like the Dead Sea.

This was the first lecture I heard at the Kabbalah Center in NY when I was a new student. It's what had me search for a charitable project to put my energy into. It's what lead me to Raising Malawi. I still donate to other charities, but I wanted to find a big, grassroots cause I could throw my life at to a) unlock my energy and b) grow my vessel/capacity to receive.

That's what my fundraising amounts to for me personally. Does anyone have a clue how much I dread fundraising? I can't stand it. But I want to build this left column muscle of mine. And I want to grow my consciousness and chip off some of the more negative aspects of my personality. And mostly, I want to die knowing that I made a difference. That my existence mattered.

I remember when I took my friend Ananya for a past-life regression at this place (a guy's home) he found in Chicago. He wanted some company in case the guy 'regressing' him pulled any tricks. So, I waited in the livingroom. Ananya went back into a separate room for about an hour.

He was all groggy when he came out. I asked him, "so what is it? were you a king or something?" Ananya comes from privilege in this life, growing up in Dubai with servants and whatnot. His grandma was good friends with Endira Gandhi. He's a lovely person and one of my best friends, so I expected great things.

Anyway, he comes out of the session and shakes his head. He told me he lived a few interesting lives but there was one that really bothered him. He was a very simple man in this particular life. He never married. He died peacefully in his bed with his dog sleeping quietly nearby. Wholly unmemorable. It really got to him.

I think about that story every now and then when my life gets so busy that I spend more time chasing it than designing it. No matter what my reasons for spending my time as I do (chores, work, yada yada) in the end, the legacy will be mine. I certainly want peace, but I don't want to die with any potential in tact. I still don't know how to levitate. I'd like to learn that. Seriously, what if all of the change that needs to happen in the world is sitting idle just waiting for me to change it? I wasn't wired to think like that. I still don't think like that, but i'm trying my damndest to elevate my consciousness.



Here's a shorter clip (1:38) about how hard and important it is to share 10 percent. It's really a matter of consciousness.

Isaac in Israel

This is some partially ridiculous/sensationalized coverage of what we 'kabbalists' were doing in Israel. It's from Rosh Hashana three years ago.



This is Isaac and Madonna on her Confessions tour.



This is Isaac playing for us poolside in Northern Israel this past September.

The Western Wall

Here we are in the Old City of Jerusalem, going through the gates toward the Western Wall. Boys to the left. Girls to the right.


That's not the wall...we're still walking to it. It's not much farther.

Here we go. About 50 feet tall -- and another 50 feet buried underground -- it's made of massive carved stone blocks from King Herod's time, topped by masonry of later times, depending on who ruled the city when.

The wall is not actually part of the Temple, but rather a retaining wall. Since it was the only thing left standing after an attack by the Romans (damn Romans, I swear!) it has inspired the reverence (or woe more like it) of Jewish people for more than 2,000 years. Hence the name, "Wailing Wall".

My friend and kabbalah teacher Yehuda gave us an overview of the place and the energy to connect with...which has nothing to do with the Western Wall itself. We saw the Western Wall on the way to what's behind it. The holiest place on earth.


We walked through a tunnel to the very source of creation.

My friend Ale (short for Alejandra) reminded me that whenever you see balls of light in your picture, it's really a spirit or soul you've captured. I remember hearing that as a kid. And it really spooked me out after I saw the Omen with that beam of light going through the priest's neck, which turned out later to be an augury of his death by impaling from a lamppost or a fencepost, I forget. Anyway...it's spooky. But hold that thought and check out this picutre.

Are those soulballs? They are not in any of my other pictures and here we are, legend has it, at the origin of creation. The place of the binding of Isaac by Abraham.
And right here exactly, is the original rock of the temple...the rock of foundation.

I touched the wall and scrinched my eyes tight and made a very hard wish. I haven't told anyone what it was. But if you knew me, if you really knew me, then you already know.

Divest for Darfur: Let's not get rich on blood money

Mia Farrow sent a letter last year about Fidelity's investment in PetroChina. PetroChina, a Chinese oil company, is one of the worst offenders in helping fund the genocide in Darfur. With PetroChina's help, the government of Sudan uses its oil revenue to provide arms and funding for the genocide. I e-signed many petitions to put pressure on Fidelity to divest this bad choice. I thought they did, but maybe not enough. I'm concerned to learn that Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase and Vanguard have also bloodied their hands -- and my money -- in funding these horrors.

We can't say we didn't know.

As many as 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur. Another 2.5 million have been driven from their homes and into danger. The threat of rape, torture, murder and starvation pursue the women, men and children of Darfur wherever they flee.

Of US-based investment firms, Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase, Capital Group/American Funds, Fidelity, Vanguard, have the largest holdings in PetroChina.

Safe Darfur is launching a new campaign to call on these companies to divest from PetroChina, Sinopec, Petronas, ONGC, and other companies that help fund genocide in Darfur.



This is actually a bit of a shocker, but following a campaign by the Save Darfur Coalition and its partners, Berkshire Hathaway sold as much as 70% of its holdings in PetroChina.

If you also want to help bring peace to Darfur, please join me in ramping up the pressure on US firms to divest their holdings in companies that help fund the genocide by doing business with the government of Sudan.

Click here to sign the Divest for Darfur petition.

Masada and the Dead Sea

Here's more site seeing in Israel. This video is mostly on the way to Masada, which is where about 1,000 Jews committed suicide vs. spend their lives as slaves to the Romans (damn Romans!)

We went on from there to the Dead Sea. They call it that because there is so much salt, nothing can live. You paint yourself with mud and spa down in the Sea. I have a great kabbalastic explanation of the energy there -- Dead Sea and Masada. Trick is not to connect with the energy of death but rather to get a vaccine against it; energy of immortality and no endings. I will upload that video separately. This is just more for fun.

The Light Knows Best

We, as human beings, know best when it comes to fulfilling our goals and desires. The Light force of the Creator knows best when it comes to fulfilling our needs and what is truly best for us.

Today, look at your goals and detach yourself from the outcome. Know that while this is what you want, it may not be what you need. And with that consciousness, you can achieve what you want in a way that goes far beyond any possible expectations.

Yehuda's Skinny Mikveh Cruise

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, spiritual purification allows us to connect to the highest levels of Divine Energy and Light. (I'm lifting this text straight from, Dialing God, Daily Connection Book, pg. 36).

Every time we behave in a reactive and negative manner, we build another layer of darkness around ourselves. These layers are called klippot ("shells") and they separate us from the Light. Removal of these negative shells covering our soul brings about the spiritual purification of our body. Our personal healing, enlightenment, and good fortune increase in equal measure to that amount of purification we achieve. For that reason, the ancient sages advocated the use of a powerful and profound purification tool -- mikveh, or immersion.

A mikveh is a pool of living waters. The waters in the Kabbalah Center mikveh are living waters sourced from underground wells. It is said that all the wells on earth are interconnected.

Water is the physical expression of the Light of the Creator. It possesses truly magical qualities. Kabbalah teaches that water holds the keys to healing, longevity, regeneration and even immortality.

Thus, when we dip ourselves in the mikveh, we are immersing our body and soul into the same pristine waters that flowed into the mikveh of Rav Isaac Luria (The Ari). We are also connecting to the same holy waters of the Shiloach in Jerusalem, which were used by the high priests of the Temple over a thousand years ago.

The positive charge of the mikveh eliminates up to 400 levels of negativity. According to the technology of Kabbalah, the size of a mikveh must be 40 se'ah (se'ah is an ancient measurement equal to the size of 144 eggs). Each se'ah helps us to purify ten levels of negativity (40 x 10 = 400 levels of negativity).

The mikveh can counteract the forces of death by imbuing us with the primordial power of life. Spiritual blockages are cleansed as healing flows throughout our being.

The kabbalists recommend that we should enter into a mikveh as often as possible.

We should immerse ourselves 11 times under the water as follows:

The first immersion activates the process of removing all the negativity. We then recite the following:

(transliteration: kumah, Adonai, v'yafutzu, oyivecha, v'yanusu, mesan'eicha, mephaecha). We meditate on the combinations from the 72 Names of God to connect to the energy of the mikveh: Yud-Caf-Shin, Chet-Bet-Vav, Yud-Lamed-Yud.

Then we immerse 10 more times, one for each of the Sfirot:

Keter, Chochmach, Binah, Chesed, Gvurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut.

Here's how that went for me, Ale and Belinda in Israel.

The Great Patriarchs of Kabbalah

I'm back from an amazing, life changing trip to Israel. I went for Rosh Hashana and stayed through Yom Kippur, which is when there is an opening in the cosmos to essentially write and produce your life's movie for the upcoming year. I went by myself, but met some cool people who I'll stay in touch with for sure. Too many highlights to report. The kind of trip that has you look at your life and get serious with yourself. They say when you study Kabbalah, it gets harder as you go. I'm starting my third year of study. I get that now. I see the tests for what they are. And I don't always want to pass them. Therein lies the rub.

I think I'll make this a more serious post, although I'm sourcing my facts from "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Kabbalah" by Rav Michael Laitman, Ph.D (Rav means teacher) with Collin Canright. Put your Bibleschool lessons aside a minute so you can make sense out of this. Remember, the Bible and the Torah came to us in code. The Zohar (Kabbalah text) helps us crack the code. Why wasn't the Zohar around earlier? It was actually...but we weren't ready to receive it. Our collective consciousness wasn't ready. So it's been hidden from the masses for more than 5,000 years. Until now. I'll explain.

To make this short and simple, let's start with evolution (wink). OK. So, you'll notice five phases before a major change occurs: inanimate, vegetative, animate, human and spiritual.

Adam represents the root phase of human spirituality. He was the first soul, which is why we refer to him as the first man. He was the first to write a Kabbalah book, "The Angel of God's Secret" (Hamalaach Raziel). It's a small book with a few drawings and tables, written 5,767 years ago. (Search "Raziel" on Amazon.com). I wrote more about Adam on an earlier blog post -- 10/15/06.

Abraham the patriarch was the second Kabbalist, 20 generations after Adam. Actually, Kabbalists consider Abraham to be the first known Kabbalist. He saw the wonders of human existence and asked questions of the Creator, and the Upper Worlds were revealed to him. Abraham passed that knowledge on to later generations. In this way, Kabbalah was transferred from teacher to student for many centuries. He wrote, The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira), the next important text after "The Angel of God's Secret". It's hard to study correctly, because it's written for people living thousands of years ago whose souls were not as course as those of us living today -- meaning, they could actually understand it. If you want to give it a try, you'll find a copy of it at mysefer.com or Amazon.com.

While in Israel, I went on several Kabbalah "energy tours". On one tour, we boarded a bulletproof bus and went to Hebron to visit the tombs of some of the matriarchs and patriarchs.




We saw Abraham. We couldn't see Isaac because it was in another section of the place and given the Arab holiday -- Islamic religious observance, Ramadan -- there were too many of us to be discrete and respectful. But we did see Jacob. Their tombs are in the building shown in picture #1 above, in a shrine behind gates. Here is Abraham's tomb. I still can't quite believe it. Here before my eyes lies Abraham, the Patriarch.





Here's Jacob's tomb.



And Leah's right behind Jacob's.


Leah is Rachel's sister. We visited Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem. A very heavy energy there. Rachel is the spiritual energy connected with Malchut (that's the 1% reality we see around us). That's why she chose to be buried separate from the other Matriarchs and Patriarchs. She's the protector of the people. And lemme tell ya, the people need it. I have some video of the people -- young and old -- "suffering" at Rachel's tomb. It was such a thick energy. But I got something out of it. I asked for help in building a family. That's what her energy is for, so I tapped it. Rachel is the inventor of the Red String - a tool to protect us against the evil eye.


OK, back to the story. After Abraham, we have Moses. Moses comes from the Hebrew word Moshech (pulling), as in pulling out of this world. Moses was different than other Kabbalists in that, alongside his other revelations, he was ordered to publicize it to humankind in writing. Moses had 70 disciples. Yehoshua Ben Nun (Joshua, son of Nun) inherited from him.

Moses created a method in his book, The Torah (Pentateuch), from the word Ohr (Light). It contains instructions on how to use the Light as a means to enter the spiritual world. All people can uncover the entire picture of creation, though they may experience just a tiny fraction of it. They can reach the desired outcome and reach the final goal that Moses wanted to attain. That is what a person who studies by the method that Moses developed gradually comes to. Using this method, anyone can attain Moses' degree of spirituality. One learns to exit this world and enter the Upper World and the entire creation.

If you are familiar with the 72 names of God and the way you need to scan it, you know the secret to how Moses parted the Red Sea.

The Book of the Zohar is the next major work in Kabbalah. It's written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, around the year 150 C.E. He was a student of Rabbi Akiva (40 C.E.-135 C.E.) famed first and formost for his maxim: love thy friend as thyself. Rabbi Akiva is one of the 10 most enlightened souls ever to come to the earth. He and several of his disciples were tortured and killed by the Romans (damn Romans! I swear!), who felt threatened by his teaching of Kabbalah. They flayed his skin and stripped his bones with an iron scraper used for cleaning their horses.

Here's a short clip of some of the tour groups coming through to celebrate and connect with the energy of Rabbi Akiva.




The left side of the picture is where Rabbi Akiva is buried. The right side is where the students study. Religious people put up the divider. It doesn't have any relevance to Kabbalah.

Before Rabbi Akiva was killed, a plague killed almost all of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students except a handful, among which was Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai (the Rashbi). Kabbalists saw this plague as a result of their growing egoism, which led them to unfounded hatred. Following the death of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 disciples, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was authorized by Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yehuda Ben Baba to teach future generations the Kabbalah as it had been taught to him. It was believed that only those who hadn't fallen into this unfounded hatred survived and they wrote the next great chapter of Kabbalah, The Book of Zohar.

Following the capture and imprisonment of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai escaped with his son to a cave for 13 years. In the cave, he reached the highest level a person can achieve during one's life in this world. We didn't visit the cave on this trip, but here is a picture of it from an earlier trip.

They told us a story that the Rashbi had to bury himself up to his neck when he was downloading this wisdom in order to ground this energy, otherwise the Light would fry him. After 13 years, he emerged from the cave and a bird flew over his head and burned up in the sky -- the Light was so bright. (I love it!). We had an interesting conversation about it. It would seem that to complete the circuitry and not go around frying birds, the Rashbi needed to share this wisdom. (Based on the three columns of energy...core principles of kabbalah and physics, which I won't get into here).

This is the Idra, where Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai wrote the Zohar.


Actually, he dictated it to Rabbi Aba, who wrote it in such a way that only those who are worthy of understanding would be able to do so. I did a Wikipedia search on the Idra. It explains that here, R. Shim‘on b. Yohai convenes with nine other scholars, and they gather in the sacred אִדְרָא, or threshing field, where they thresh out secrets. Each scholar expounds various configurations of the partsufin, and three of them die in ecstasy while doing so.

I've heard that about reaching Nirvana too. If you were to achieve the state of Enlightenment -- have all 7 energy centers (chakras) open and spinning -- you'd immediately die. Our vessels are not built to handle that energy on this plane. That's why the Rashbi had to bury himself up to his neck.

Almost done. The next period of Kabbalah takes us to Safed in the middle of the 1500s with the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria, who proclaimed the start of a period of open mass study of Kabbalah.



Extraordinary energy here in Safed.

The Ari created the transition between two methods of Kabbalah study. The older, more emotional method, where intuition prevails with a more scientific approach that is needed today. He wrote The Tree of Life, Mavo She'arim (the Entrance to the Gates) among other works that explain the creation of the world. He died at the age of 38. His writings were buried along with him, according to his last wish, in order not to reveal his doctrine before the time was ripe. That time is now. So good to be alive, ain't it?

History gets faster now. In 1698, we had Yisrael Ben Eliezer, later known as the Baal Shem Tov (The Master of the Good Name) who founded an institution where those worthy of study had access to this work.

Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, born 1884 in Lodz, Poland (my people!), was a judge and teacher in Warsaw before immigrating to Israel (Palestine back then) with his family. He tackled a fully comprehensive and updated commentary of The Zohar and the writings of the Ari. In Kabbalah, we celebrate him bigtime because he helped make sense out of this ancient wisdom so we can digest it.

We visited Rav Ashlag's gravesite. And his student, Rav Brandwein, who is buried next to him. I heard a story on this trip that a few days after Rav Ashlag died, he visited Rav Brandwein in a dream. He said that the souls around him were being disturbed by how much light was eminating from this gravesite. It embarrassed them. So, Rav Ashlag asked to have his tomb covered so as not to disturb those around him. Rav Brandwein went to great lengths to make that happen.

R. Ashlag



R. Brandwein


That takes us up to date. Rav Berg, who is the highest Kabbalist in this lineage alive today, is Rav Brandwein's student. It's only through his wife Karen Berg, that this wisdom is so trendy and readily available to all of us today. Why? Because it is time. Their sons Michael and Yehuda Berg are currently making huge contributions to this movement as prolific (and good) writers who explain this wisdom in a way we can understand.

Michael Berg devoted more than a decade to editing the first-ever English translation of The Zohar. Originally composed in the ancient language of Aramaic, it had been translated only into Hebrew. Under the guidance of his father, Rav Berg and the great kabbalists before him, he opened the concealed wisdom of this great text to the entire world through a series of 22 volumes in English — including the original Aramaic, the English translation, and commentary.

That's it. I wrote this mostly for myself so I can remember what I saw and what I learned, but if anyone actually read this and followed along with it, I hope I shared something of value to you. Here's a 9min video that captures some of what I just shared.

David Gordon Duncan, I'm So Very Proud!

September 27, 2007
By Adweek Staff

BOSTON Interpublic Group's Mullen has named David Duncan to the new post of chief strategy officer.

He will lead the Wenham, Mass.-based agency's brand planning group, and also oversee those chores at Mullen in Detroit. Duncan was most recently at Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett in Chicago, where he served as global planning director.

"The prospect of joining this team to take it to the next level is an opportunity that was very appealing to me," he said.

According to agency CEO Joe Grimaldi, "We are infusing new, high-impact players into our company with the goal of propelling Mullen and our clients to unprecedented levels of success."

Earlier this week, Mullen elevated Steve Calder to chief media officer at its MediaHub operation.

Key Mullen clients include Ask.com, T.J. Maxx, LendingTree, Orbitz.com and XM Satellite Radio, among others. The agency also maintains offices in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Pittsburgh.

Israel - Connecting to the Source

I am in Israel. The sun is huger and more firey orange here than anywhere else on the planet. Or so it seems. I fall asleep each night to crashing ocean waves. I sleep deeper and dream harder than I ever have before. I am on this trip to awaken myself to the next level of consciousness. I have grown every year of my life. But it's always Julia.....one inch taller, 2mm deeper, wholly recognizable to herself and those around her.

This year, I want to cross over. I don't mean die. Not like that. Die to the ego, maybe. What I'm saying is I greatly desire to connect to a higher power, which I'm pretty sure is the whole point of our existence. In Kabbalah, that's about awakening the Light of the Creator within you. Transforming ego (desire for the self alone) into becoming a being of sharing. I am the village idiot in this process. It's counter to the way I/we are wired.

But I'm on the right track. I am certain that Raising Malawi is a very important part of my spiritual training.

I read a lot of Edgar Cacey when I was a teen. In one of his biographies, it explained that he read the Bible all the time. He had this same desire I'm talking about. He would study the Bible and pray to be used as a channel for the Light. And sure enough, he fell asleep in his book one day by the river and woke up a prophet; he could channel healing remedies from the heavens and provide cures for cancer and life-threatening ailments on earth. Brilliant wisdoms that science is only now catching up with.

I secretly would love that -- poof! wow, I'm a prophet! --but of course, that's 100% my ego at the microphone in my head and totally opposite of how I need to be thinking in order to progress.

Before I moved to LA, I consulted the I-Ching. It informed me that my transition to LA, what I thought I was going for, would be temporary. I was informed that I would be undermined and pretty early on, end my relationship with someone/something, such as job, etc. That's a scary premonition and a tough context to get started in at the new job (esp. after delivering a flat and uninspiring creative brief last week). But I think about it and what it means all the time. Am I going to get fired for something? Or quit? Yikes. I've got bills.

So, a few weeks ago, as a followup to that reading, I consulted the I-Ching and sages again and asked, "Why then am I in LA? What's the point of me being here?" I was informed it is for me to develop my intuitive skills.

So, now I am in the holy land. I trust my journey is about to go into high gear.

P.S., I met a woman from Sao Paulo yesterday who is aching to get involved with Raising Malawi. It called to her in the same way it called to me. My little fundraising effort has just gone international! I have a partner and I'm so excited. I looked at her like, "where have you been all this time?! The goal is $101K by Christmas and I'm only meeting you now?!"

I am semi-teasing. I knew that it was only a matter of time.

Stay tuned for major progress updates on Raising Malawi, when I will also introduce you to my new partner, Marilda the Beautiful.

Celebrities. LA is crawling with them.

I met Fabio yesterday on a Virgin America flight between LAX and JFK. He was super charming. Sexier than I would've imagined. Ladies, I'm sure you don't think you'd succumb to the charms of the stereotypical Fabiman, but lemme tell you, when he pulls you in to his buffness, you can't believe you're not butter. Just look at me. I'm positively blurred in his presence.

David took the maiden non-stop VA flight between LAX and JFK this past Wednesday. Guess who he sat next to? He said they had a nice chat. Sir Richard B even wrote down some of his ideas! Always working it.


It's celebrity madness out there. I went to the DMV in Culver City last week and stood in line behind Mario Van Peebles. I knew it was Mario Van Peebles because when it was his turn to talk to the DMV guy, he stretched out his hand and said, 'Hi. I'm Mario Van Peebles'. I understand he's an actor. By the looks of this photo, I'd say he might also be a ventriloquist, but the caption says that this is actually his son. He had his daughter with him at the DMV. She is positively striking for an 11 year old.

Last month, David met one of his TV heroes, David Walliams from BBC's Little Britian flying in first on British Airways from LA to London.

What else? Lessee....last Thursday, David scored us VIP tickets to Corteo, Cirque du Soleil opening night in LA. We saw the same show when it opened last April in NYC. In New York, I remember Uma Thurman and Edie Falco (Sopranos) as the highlights.
In LA, Florence Henderson was first to arrive at the bigtop. Much to my horror, David started singing the Brady Bunch when she passed. The other of the more interesting celeb sightings that night was Ray Liotta from GoodFellas. My camera died at that point, so no pix.


There's more, but I'm getting tired. Oh! My friend Eveyln got skybox tickets to see the Dodgers play about a month and a half ago. When we got there, Tommy Lasorda bumped us from the box! He invited Ray Romano. The attendents said some of us could share the box with them, but we didn't want to break up our group. So we booed them when they came on the jumbotron. Tom Hanks was there that night. We cheered him.

I also saw Sanjaya, Cathy Griffin and Billy Baldwin on various flights out to LA this past three months.

OK. I got that out of my system. Next post will be about Raising Malawi.

President Clinton is back from his trip to Africa. From his blog:

The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative is working with local authorities [in Neno, southern Malawi] on several projects to strengthen the community’s health care system.

We toured a construction site for a new district hospital and adjacent staff housing we’re helping to build in partnership with Partners In Health.

The hospital complex looked like a normal construction site: noisy, covered in machinery and teeming with hard hats. But there is more being built than just a hospital - this project alone has created hundreds of jobs and trained local women in construction work, contributing to a foundation of sustainable growth in the community.

While in Neno, we met up with Dr. Paul Farmer, one of the founders of Partners in Health. Much has been written about Paul, his intensity and his inspiring dedication to health care for the world’s poorest. While all of that is true, he also happens to be one of the warmest and funniest people I have ever met, qualities he shares with President Clinton that often get lost on the printed page.

You can help make a difference in the lives of people across Africa by supporting the work of the Clinton Foundation.

I started a new macrobiotic diet today. I decided to transform myself into 'fabulous' by my fortieth birthday. That's six months from now. I bought several bags of long grain brown rice. I'm going to eat some every day for the next 30 days. That's all I really know about the diet so far. I need to read more.

I made a tofu stirfry tonight. All told today, I ate 1,300 calories, mostly wine. Honestly....If I cut back just a little on the hooch and chocolate, I'll have my superbad body back in no time.

OK. Raising Malawi. What can I say? I haven't done much. My new friend Gary at work said he'd be happy to donate a few braincells to the cause. We were going to meet last week. Things got busy, as usual. So, we'll probably meet this week.

I have loads of tape from my Malawi trip that I still haven't looked at. Here's a short clip from our last day. Most of the Raising Malawi folks were working the weekend, so Guy (who owns the lodge where we were staying) invited just me and Delia and Megan out on Sunday to see Lake Malawi.

It was a long and bumpy drive. Megan, Delia and I had all of 3 hours sleep in our systems and were all highly hung over from Megan's birthday outing the night before. But needless to say, we were up for the adventure.

Guy put a lot of blood, sweat and beer into building his boat -- the mighty "Kumbali" -- and by God, come Hell or high water, we were going to take it out to sea. This is us when we first arrived -


Not sure if you can see how rough the Lake is, but it was insane. Just getting on the boat we got tossed around, punched in the face by waves and soaked to the bone. The lake is 360 miles long and 25 miles wide. About the size of Ireland. There are hippos and crocs....and 500 species you don't see anywhere else in the world.

I kept an eye out for wildlife, but didn't see anything scary. They don't hang out on our side of the rock or something until nighttime. Actually, I was a little torn. I really wanted to see a sea monster, but nothing too close...only fish I could take in a fight if push came to shove.

I can't swim very well, but I jumped in anyway. Megan and Delia already climbed back on the boat when I was still splashing around. Peter jumped in for a quick swim. I was getting more and more tired just trying to stay afloat. I tried swimming back to the boat, but they turned on the engine, which they were trying to fix. The boat started pulling away. I felt so sad and desperate. I just wanted to be on it.

The waves were relentless. I went under water for about two seconds; just to rest. I was getting really tired. I swam harder toward the boat. The more I tried, the farther away it got. I went under for another two seconds. I just wanted a short nap. The waves were just too hard to fight anymore. It was the weirdest thing I ever felt. There was a part of me that was OK with drowning. It seemed easier than staying afloat.

Just then, Guy's friend Peter yelled over to me. I didn't know Peter before this trip. He said, "You look pale! Are you OK?" I said, "I don't think so," very politely...not wanting to bother him. "Do you need some help?" He yelled. I said, "Probably" and I went under again.

Honestly. Thank God for Peter that day.

I'm pretty sure I would've died there if he hadn't come to pull my head out of the water. The waves were so huge. He kept getting pulled under too. He yelled over to Guy, who threw the big white rescue tire. I was so happy to hold on to it.

I would live afterall. Like Delia said when we first arrived, we are 'severly blessed'. This, I am certain.

My corporate housing days are coming to a close. I have to be out by 8/7, which is crap if you ask me. They say that's 60 days, but I swear I moved in on 6/11, so I should get to stay through 8/11 and not have to move out on a Wednesday.

I called the corporate housing people and they called WPP and you know what? They said no problem. They'll give me till 8/12, so that's good. Meantime, I signed a lease on a new apartment in Playa del Rey. If my Spanish doesn't fail me, that means Sunny Beach? Beach of the Sun? Which would make sense given that I am a 2-minute walk to the Pacific Ocean, God Bless America!

Here're my new digs:



That's the back of the complex. I'm in one of the back apartments...by the pool.

Here's that:





If you turn your head to the right when you first enter the pool area, you'll see this:



And if you feel an immediate need to sit for some reason, you can go here:


In the pictures it looks pretty suburban. I hope I can stomach it. It's just another year of "temporary" living in my book.....Definately not home.

I delegated finding me a new place to David, who made things happen in the last possible second. He knows me better than anyone. I like to gripe about it first, but I'm most certainly grateful for his help.

I drove him to the airport on Monday where he would be flying off in first class for his next secret big mission. When we said our quick goodbyes, there was a split second of truly connecting between us -- we were both caught off guard and -- I'm talking a sliver of split second -- we actually saw each other. I wonder if he remembers. I loved it more than anything.