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.