Is Kabbalah Ruining Ritchie?

IMDB.com ^ | 8-13-03

[Paul Atreides]

Guy Ritchie and wife Madonna's obsession with mystical Jewish faith Kabbalah is ruining the British director's Hollywood career, according to film sources. Tinseltown insiders claim the Snatch movie-maker has already blown a deal with Sony Pictures to produce his new movie, Las Vegas crime caper Revolver - because he insisted on packing it with references to the religion. And they fear his dedication to the Kabbalah, whose followers also include Demi Moore and Sandra Bernhard, will leave him on he Hollywood scrapheap. A movie source tells American gossip site Pagesix, "It made Sony very uncomfortable. Kabbalah is seen as a kind of cult in some circles. And no one wanted to be associated with it. Guy's agents told him to rewrite Revolver (without the Kabbalah references) and maybe it would sell. He resisted at first, but when Sony passed and said it would only do the movie with a rewrite he said OK." But according to PageSix, after rewriting the script, Ritchie suddenly fired his agents at William Morris and scrapped the new version. The source adds, "Guy apparently felt he had to be true to his Kabbalah beliefs and not stick with the rewrite. He was apologetic but felt he had to go to Caa - where Madonna's agent (Bryan Lourd) was and where they would support his Kabbalah vision for the movie." Now Hollywood insiders are blaming Madonna for Guy's troubles. Another source tells the site, "She brought Guy into this whole Kabbalah thing. She introduced him to the religion and now he's gone into it even further than she has. It's like she created a monster. Let's not forget she made him do Swept Away, and made (ex-husband) Sean Penn do Shanghai Surprise - another infamous turkey."

[talleyman]

Madonna's new release will be "Like a Golem".

[martin_fierro]

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" -- one of the funniest movies I've seen.

"Snatch" -- one of the most incomprehensible movies I've ever seen.

"Swept Away" -- nobody wanted to see.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Kabbalah is seen as a kind of cult in some circles."

Kabbalah as such is not viewed as a cult, but rather the specific group with which Madonna is affiliated, under the direction of a man named Berg. Kabbalah is an extremely obscure form of Jewish mysticism which - like many esoteric forms of spirituality - has become popularized in rather shallow forms, hence the appeal for people such as Madonna.

[ClearCase_guy]

Kabbalah is an old and respectable facet of Judaism. That being said, it was also an important part of the rebirth of Ceremonial Magic in the nineteenth century. Eliphas Levi, A.E. Waite, Aleister Crowley and many others put Kabbalah at the center of their magickal workings.

When you hear someone deeply invovled in Kabbalah, you should ask yourself: fan of Judaism, or fan of witchcraft?

[onedoug]

Are "Esther" and her crew Sabbateans too?

[I still care]

I've looked a little at Kabbalah and parts of it seem very like witchcraft, with lots of ceremonial rituals to protect against spirits. Supposedly angels are important in Kabbalah, but simply because you are invoking angels during incantations doesn't bring it out of the realm of witchcraft.

[StatesEnemy]

The Wisdom of Kabbalah

[Paul Atreides]

Madonna ruins everything she touches.

[Alouette]

Whatever stuff Madonna and her crew are into, Kabbalah it ain't. In order to study the real Kabbalah you first have to study the Torah, the Mishna, the entire Talmud and all the commentaries. Then when you are an expert in all of nigleh (revealed Torah) you are qualified to study nistar (secrets of the Torah)

These people couldn't understand a page of Zohar if they stared at it until their eyeballs fell out. They would also quite after the first "lesson" because they would all be bored to tears.

This "Kabbalah" cult is just someone who has taken all the "naughty bits" out of context from the Zohar and presenting it to celebrity suckers like some kind of Jewish "Kama Sutra."

There is a form of Kabbalah that Chabad Hasidim are required to study, called "Tanya." But these "kabbalah celebrities" wouldn't like "Tanya" because it would bore them to tears.

[ClearCase_guy]

Yes. This is basically why I suspect that the "Kabbalah" they are studying is more closely aligned with the Golden Dawn, the A.A., the O.T.O, and/or various Enochian groups. It's "Kabbalah" -- but it's got nothing to do with Judaism. It's basically a system of magickal correspondences which are used in rituals of Ceremonial Magic in order to tap into your own internal Guardian Angel or Higher Self. It's witchcraft.

[DonQ]

He was apologetic but felt he had to go to Caa - where Madonna's agent (Bryan Lourd) was ...

Where is this Caa, in what state or country??

Madonna and the other glitterati are attracted to the Kabbalah Center, run by a Rabbi Berg, in the Los Angeles area. Reportedly, Berg is making a nice living teaching people with more money than sense a sort of comicbook version of Kabbalah, something very very different from the real thing, which involves a lot of study and analysis (and still doesn't make a lot of sense to me).

[B-Chan]

You've got that right. These Hollyweird goyische think that they can have access to the “mystic power of Kabbalah” without all that messy stuff about the Torah and Commandments and dedication to God. They're fooling themselves.

This fascination with Kabbalah is just another attempt by these empty people to gain power over the Universe by spiritual technology. What they want is a painless sort of white magic -- the ability to bend life to their will by invoking The Name instead of the Devil. This self-worship is not exclusive to recording artists, film directors, or people of any one faith. Deep down, we all want to play God. Deep down, we all suspect that by drawing a Tree of Life or chanting a formula or bribing a saint or lighting a certain number of candles we can get the Lord to do what we want Him to.

We are doomed to disappointment, of course. Any attempt to relate to God by breaking Him to the harness is frankly laughable. The clay does not shape the potter and we cannot manipulate God through signs, symbols, or donations. I'm not Jewish, but I studied at the University of Judaism and the one thing I did get through my thick skull there is that the Lord is nobody's vending machine; on the contrary, He is the King of the Universe, and we are His servants. Those who fail to grasp this fundamental fact and to act accordingly will suffer.

Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie and the rest of the Kabbalah Krew know deep down that God exists, but they cannot let go of their Pride and allow Him to make their emptiness full. The lesson here is that each of us -- Jew and Christian alike -- is just the same as they are to one degree or another: lost, haughty, and full of Pride. Instead of castigating them for theirspiritual illness, we should recognize that the same disease afflicts us as well. Let's pray for these suffering people, and for each other's salvation.

[dfwgator]

Kabbalah is Jewish for Scientology.

[Alouette]

the Lord is nobody's vending machine

I think I'm going to steal that for my next tagline.

[Mr. Mojo]

Kabbalah.....has become popularized in rather shallow forms

Indeed. ...The popularization started around a century ago with Aleister Crowley, Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophists, and a few other like-minded lunatics.

[GladesGuru]

And it seems that there is always someone willing to do an L. Ron Hubbard on the gullable - oops, I meant shepherd the flock, of course.

That some Hollyweird types would take the time to master the Torah before starting on Kaballh is highly unlikely. But than an enterprising con artist might convince them they could understand Kaballah if only they joined his synagogue - quite likely.

A fleecing he will go, a fleecing he will go -

[headsonpikes]

I think he should cast the I Ching to get a feel for the subtle currents of cotemporaneity affecting his personal chi. ;^)

He could do it outdoors, perhaps; I think the guy mostly needs fresh air.

[dljordan]

Watch out, there may be some Golden Dawn or OTO people lurking out there.