Bio
I was born on June 29, 1973, in Jerusalem, Israel. As a child, I traveled frequently between the United States and Israel as my parents, kabbalists Rav and Karen Berg, created an international organization to bring the once-secret ancient wisdom of Kabbalah to the public.
My childhood was a unique, to say the least. My parents were publicly teaching a sacred wisdom that had been studied only covertly for thousands of years. As my parents made Kabbalah available to the peoples of the world, regardless of national origin, religion, or gender, there were many factions opposing them. Yet we persevered, because my parents believed that the fate of the world rested on everyone having access to Kabbalah.
During my school years, I was often ridiculed for my parents’ “unusual” beliefs — something difficult for any child to bear. I was relieved to graduate high school and begin my rabbinical studies. It was always my passion to become a teacher of Kabbalah and to join my parents in their mission to remove pain and suffering from the world.
During the days, I devoted my time to my studies. But my fondest and most rewarding memories are of studying the secrets of Kabbalah throughout the night with my father and my older brother, Yehuda. These study sessions were an oasis of learning for me, especially since the curriculum at my Yeshiva taught us to simply believe whatever was written in The Bible. As students, we were rarely asked to test-drive ideas for ourselves. At home, I was given access to the depth, beauty, and power of spirituality, which went beyond the rote beliefs and prejudices being taught at school. In 1996, I passed the rabbinical ordination exams administered by the revered Rav Eliyahu Levi from Yeshiva Kineset Yechezgel in Jerusalem, Israel. It was the culmination of years of study, and I was finally ready to teach.
As studies in Kabbalah continued with my father, I began an immense task never attempted before: I devoted more than a decade to editing the first-ever English translation of The Zohar, the world’s most sacred book of spirituality. For hundreds of years The Zohar had been accessible to only a few elite scholars. Originally composed in the ancient language of Aramaic, it had been translated only into Hebrew. Under the guidance of my father and the great kabbalists before him, I opened the concealed wisdom of this great text to the entire world through a series of 22 volumes in English — including the original Aramaic, the English translation, and commentary.
The wisdom I gain by translating The Zohar inspired me to write books that conveyed the tools of Kabbalah in a highly accessible format. My first book, The Way: Using the Wisdom of Kabbalah for Spiritual Transformation and Fulfillment, is a comprehensive introduction to the principles of Kabbalah and their application in the modern world. My second book, The Secret, is now used as a spiritual study guide in churches, temples, and mosques throughout the United States. More recently, Becoming Like God has become my best-selling book and is a guide for achieving the ultimate form of personal transformation.
I now serve as the co-director of The Kabbalah Centre, conducting weekly lectures in the U.S. and abroad; overseeing our Web site, www.kabbalah.com, which receives more than 100,000 visitors per week; and managing Student Support, a group of 100 instructors who teach Kabbalah over the phone to people all over the world. I am also co-director of Kabbalah Publishing, the publishing arm of The Kabbalah Centre.
One of my greatest passions is The Kabbalah Centre Charitable Foundation. This foundation was established to dramatically reduce the devastating impact of poverty and natural disasters by providing basic necessities to the poor and suffering of the world. Most importantly, the Foundation empowers at-risk individuals with the skills and wisdom to use their challenging circumstances as a means for personal empowerment.
Writing this biography has been a wonderful exercise for me. It has “led me back down memory lane.” As I reflect on my upbringing, it is clear that my greatest role models were my mother and father. As teachers, friends, and parents, they were and are everything to me. They gave me a solid foundation on which to build my life, and I am always amazed by the wisdom they showed in nurturing Yehuda and me. By educating us in Kabbalah, my parents allowed us to be active participants in our own decision-making process. They taught us not to let life lead us, but instead to be the masters of our own destiny.
I currently live with my wife Monica and my three children in Los Angeles.
