One of the former Kabbalah Center students posted the message below on Facebook just a few days ago (please read and/or follow the link below)
"Dear Kabbalah Friends,
As many of you know, over the last decade almost, I have been an avid follower and supporter of the Kabbalah Centre.
While I’m still convinced about Kabbalah as a spiritual teaching, I have been severely irritated by all the scandals and publications about the Center. At the beginning, I was somehow immune about all the comments and stories. But as the signs became too intense, I needed to start an in-depth research and due diligence on my own.
I wanted facts, neutral facts about the Kabbalah Centre as an organisation. After several months of research, analysis, discussion with lawyers, tax experts and specialists I have collected enough information to make my own picture.
I don’t want to start any debate or discussion here. I just want to share only few of the many facts that I have found. The facts released here can be publicly accessed by anyone on specialised websites on the internet and through tax departments.
The Kabbalah Centre is a clever, complex and interactive construct between non-profit and private companies/ enterprises, which all link to the same person, in other words it is a very profitable privately owned commercial operation under the cover of a non-profit organisation.
Profits are massively invested in real estate through private companies/vehicles, other revenues are invested in funds which are managed by wealth managers in the UK, Switzerland (in Zurich) and in Israel.
Profits are generated through different sources such as donation, books, etc. and the Zohar Project. The profits move out of the organisation through compensations, real estate deals, rents and under the cover of charity deals (for ex. The Zohar International Project being a high margin business operation).
As one of many example, one of SFK related Organization paid a compensation of 252.650 USD to Ka… B..g for a contractually agreed average of 5 hours of work per week (latest form 990 published online in 2010 newer forms are not published online). For comparison, a well-paid teacher in a private school working 5 hours/week would need 42 years to get the same amount of money, a chevre at the Kabbalah centre would have to work at least for 526 years.
SFK is only one of the dozens of organisations and vehicles under the umbrella of the leader of the Kabbalah center inc. enterprises.
If the Kabbalah Centre is a non-profit organisation, shouldn’t the buildings be owned by the funding community and regulated as a foundation instead of as a privately-owned enterprise?
If the Zohar Project is really that important to change the world why the center doesn’t invest and put Zohar everywhere at once? Everyone can ask printers how much it really costs to print a Zohar in Asia and easily calculate the cost/benefit factor on the current Zohar project operations.
Is it good, is it bad? I don’t know, everyone should decide for himself. There is nothing bad about doing astute business and getting massively rich. But I personally firmly believe that this shouldn’t be the purpose of a non-profit organization.
In my spiritual work I feel the deep responsibility of having a positive impact on the world, not on a privately-owned family corporation. I will miss the community and the great friends I’ve made at the KC, but I’m taking the decision to take a jump and to move on. I will still explore the wisdom of Kabbalah but I won’t support the KC anymore."
[www.facebook.com]
"Dear Kabbalah Friends,
As many of you know, over the last decade almost, I have been an avid follower and supporter of the Kabbalah Centre.
While I’m still convinced about Kabbalah as a spiritual teaching, I have been severely irritated by all the scandals and publications about the Center. At the beginning, I was somehow immune about all the comments and stories. But as the signs became too intense, I needed to start an in-depth research and due diligence on my own.
I wanted facts, neutral facts about the Kabbalah Centre as an organisation. After several months of research, analysis, discussion with lawyers, tax experts and specialists I have collected enough information to make my own picture.
I don’t want to start any debate or discussion here. I just want to share only few of the many facts that I have found. The facts released here can be publicly accessed by anyone on specialised websites on the internet and through tax departments.
The Kabbalah Centre is a clever, complex and interactive construct between non-profit and private companies/ enterprises, which all link to the same person, in other words it is a very profitable privately owned commercial operation under the cover of a non-profit organisation.
Profits are massively invested in real estate through private companies/vehicles, other revenues are invested in funds which are managed by wealth managers in the UK, Switzerland (in Zurich) and in Israel.
Profits are generated through different sources such as donation, books, etc. and the Zohar Project. The profits move out of the organisation through compensations, real estate deals, rents and under the cover of charity deals (for ex. The Zohar International Project being a high margin business operation).
As one of many example, one of SFK related Organization paid a compensation of 252.650 USD to Ka… B..g for a contractually agreed average of 5 hours of work per week (latest form 990 published online in 2010 newer forms are not published online). For comparison, a well-paid teacher in a private school working 5 hours/week would need 42 years to get the same amount of money, a chevre at the Kabbalah centre would have to work at least for 526 years.
SFK is only one of the dozens of organisations and vehicles under the umbrella of the leader of the Kabbalah center inc. enterprises.
If the Kabbalah Centre is a non-profit organisation, shouldn’t the buildings be owned by the funding community and regulated as a foundation instead of as a privately-owned enterprise?
If the Zohar Project is really that important to change the world why the center doesn’t invest and put Zohar everywhere at once? Everyone can ask printers how much it really costs to print a Zohar in Asia and easily calculate the cost/benefit factor on the current Zohar project operations.
Is it good, is it bad? I don’t know, everyone should decide for himself. There is nothing bad about doing astute business and getting massively rich. But I personally firmly believe that this shouldn’t be the purpose of a non-profit organization.
In my spiritual work I feel the deep responsibility of having a positive impact on the world, not on a privately-owned family corporation. I will miss the community and the great friends I’ve made at the KC, but I’m taking the decision to take a jump and to move on. I will still explore the wisdom of Kabbalah but I won’t support the KC anymore."
[www.facebook.com]