Monday, Apr. 28, 2008
You Didn't Know Harry Potter Was Jewish?
By Nathan Thornburgh
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1735681,00.html

A friend just sent me this article from Time.com . It discusses how some
mystic, Hassidic, kabbalistic, meshugeh (crazy) Jews believe that the Harry
Potter books follow their misguided beliefs. That is not surprising since both
advocate gnostic new age dabblings. How sad. As I have said for years, many
Jews searching for the truth fall into mysticism as I did. Read what happens
when the author Nathan says the name of Jesus only as as an exclamation to the
"mystic'! Oy!
I wrote the article below  "Kabbalah will kill your soul" three years ago but
it explains the dangers of such dabblings and the redeeming power of Jesus
Christ.
Stephen


Kabbalah will kill your soul
By Stephen Yulish PhD


There has been a resurgence of late in the ancient Jewish mystical practice of
Kabbalah as a result of many Hollywood types, some Jewish and some not,
falling into this spiritual delusion. Don't be fooled, dabbling in this type
of endeavor can have serious consequences on you and your children's lives. I
am not going to quote scripture to you or give you an intellectual argument
for avoiding Kabbalah. I am going instead to tell you a real story about one
person's descent into the spiritual arrogance of Kabbalah and hope that it
scares the hell out of you. That person was me!
While I was brought up in a more or less traditional Jewish household and went
to an after school Cheder (Hebrew School) from age 9-13 to prepare for my Bar
Mitzvah, I was always interested in way out things. I loved science fiction
novels and as a young teen even wrote a story for Analog Science Fiction
magazine about life on Mars. My interests gradually moved into study of
philosophy, religion, and mysticism. I became what the Bible speaks of as a
Gnostic. I wanted to commune directly with God. Forget the traditional
religions and their outdated practices. I was trying to find knowledge
(gnosis) of God. I meditated, studied astrology, numerology, UFOs, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and death and dying research. I studied my dreams,
alternate states of consciousness, and gradually found myself studying Jewish
mysticism. I was excited to find that the Zohar (23 volume Kabbalah bible)
spoke of astrology, reincarnation (gilgul), spirit guides, and many other
subjects that I loved. Now I could be so called New Age and Jewish as well. I
loved it.
When I was an undergrad student in the sixties, my university was closed for a
semester because of the rioting and they offered free classes. I took one on
Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet, which would influence my life for the next
twenty years. As a grad student I bought the multivolume copy of the Zohar.
One was supposed to be married, forty years old, male, and learned in Torah
before one was allowed to study Kabbalah (which means to receive or
accept-tradition). I was male and married but still in my thirties and not
that conversant in Torah and Talmud. I was told that it could drive you mad if
studied without these restrictions. I laughed, but in a way it did drive me
mad. How Madonna and others can be told that it is all right for them to study
Kabbalah is beyond me.
While I was a Professor at the University of Arizona, I wrote a paper for a
feminist journal, Anima, entitled "Adam: Male, Female or Both". It spoke of
the androgynous nature of Adam according to Genesis as well as described the
Kabbalistic character of Lilith. Lilith was supposedly the first wife of Adam
in the garden created from dust like him and therefore his equal. She was the
first feminist and refused to lie beneath him when they made love and screamed
some ungodly obscenities and flew off to the netherworld where she continues
to kill newborn babies and wrack other havoc on unsuspecting males. I
glorified her.
Then, a couple of years later I wrote a novel, "The Other World" where I
glorified Lilith and her cohort Samael (Satan). I read from this at a loft in
Greenwich Village in New York. Thank God it was never published but I was in
the midst of Kabbalah. People loved it. I even taught Adult Bible Classes for
young Jewish married couples on Kabbalah. I was leading the masses astray not
to speak of thousands of my students. I even taught a grad class on "Alternate
Conceptions of Reality" where I spoke of reincarnation (Kabbalistic gilgul),
karma etc. One of my students committed suicide and everyone he knew wanted me
at the funeral because he loved my class best. I led this poor guy to hell
with Kabbalah.
I left the University in 1983 and became the director of the Jewish National
Fund in Phoenix. My interest in Kabbalah continued unabated. I began to do
spontaneous drawings (automatic writing) at my desk. These strange detailed
bizarre pen and ink pictures would materialize out of the hand of a man who
could only draw stick figures. A secretary from the next office spotted them
and it turned out that she was a witch. I kid you not. Satan was on my trail.
She and I would take turns reading each others minds. She introduced me to an
astrologer who said I had the best chart of anyone since Buddha.
I decided to send my drawings to Ruth Montgomery a leading psychic and author.
She wrote me back and told me I had to go see Ann Puryear a leading psychic in
Phoenix and follower of Edgar Cayce. I did, and that began a couple year
excursion into the dark side of the New Age movement. Ann's husband Herb was
setting up a metaphysical university and he wanted me to teach Kabbalah-Jewish
mysticism. I sent my drawings to a Kabbalistic Journal where they were
published for all to see. I showed them to the Rabbis that I knew in Phoenix.
At this time I was working for the Jewish Federation and knew them all. They
loved the drawings, many of which looked demonic and evil (to me now). They
encouraged me to publish them in a book. We talked on gilgul and how many
great rabbis had spirit guides (demons!).
At that time my wife took a job in New York and would commute home once a
month or so. In 1985, I went to a meeting in LA held by Rabbi Michael Berg,
the current guru of Kabbalah and Madonna's mentor. Hey, he was my mentor
twenty years ago. I had read his books and had gone to LA to get enlightened.
I took my drawings with me. We all immersed in a ritual bath to cleanse
ourselves (not naked) and then had meetings etc. I was into this stuff twenty
years before Hollywood ever was. Been there did that. Rabbi Berg told us how
we could become like God.
My marriage disintegrated and I lost my job at the Federation, not because of
my Kabbalistic dabbling which my wife tolerated, but because of other sins. My
father died and I was diagnosed with MS. God was trying to get my attention. I
found myself working for a Christian company and first met my present wife
Paula in 1987. She and others witnessed to me about Jesus. Yeah right! This
overeducated, know it all, New Age Jew, would have nothing of it. Finally,
after one year of constant witnessing and me saying that I would have to see
the burning bush for myself, God revealed Himself to me, the worthless sinner
of sinners. What Amazing Grace.
Paula and I were married in 1990. Ironically during our first week of
marriage, Herb Puryear called me, and even though we had not spoken or seen
each in years, asked me to come teach Kabbalah at his new metaphysical
university. I told him that we no longer had anything in common and that I had
accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He gasped and hung up the phone.
I burned my Zohar, all my New Age books, my earlier novel and all my demonic
drawings. Praise God. Thank you Jesus.
Beware of any discipline that tells you that it will teach you how to be God.
There is only one God and it ain't you or me. Also, be thankful that our God
has the mercy and grace to save a worthless sinner like me. There is no sin,
not even Kabbalah that cannot be washed away by the blood of Jesus.
Stephen Yulish PhD
http://a9.com/stephen%20yulish