Controversy and Criticism
The Kabbalah Centre has been described as an "opportunistic offshoot of the faith, with charismatic leaders who try to attract the rich and the vulnerable with the promise of health, wealth, and happiness." Some Jewish organizations distinguish it as non-Jewish and consider its patronage by Jews problematic. The Centre's self-help teachings and its sale of Kabbalah-themed merchandise has been criticized as a perversion of Judaism's ancient and secretive mystic tradition.
There was media controversy in 2005 related to a recorded comment by a Kabbalah Centre leader regarding the Holocaust. According to a BBC news article, Eliyahu Yardeni, a senior figure in the London Kabbalah Centre has been quoted as saying, "Just to tell you another thing about the six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust: the question was that the Light was blocked. They didn't use Kabbalah."
A probe by an undercover journalist working for the BBC revealed that the Kabbalah Centre had made claims that spring water sold by the group had among its effects a curative effect on cancer. Reportedly, 10 cases of Kabbalah water were sold to cancer sufferers for £400.
In Israel, authorities have refused to give the organization a certificate of proper management for three years running (as of 2005) because of accounting inadequacies.
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