This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.

Just when you had decided that Madonna and a host of other celebrities were right, and you joined the cult religion of Kabbalah (see note), comes the sign that your cult is now passe, and “So over.” Just like the Meatpacking District was dealt a fatal blow of coolness last week by a New York Times article, or how pilates is now last year (don’t get me started about Yoga for Dogs), Kabbalah is now officially over. You can now get your own Kabbalah Red String at Target. Yup, that Target. Time for all of those celebs to go back to that other Cult.
UPDATE
OK, so calling Kabbalah a cult is pretty straight up harsh, but in my defense, the strain of Kabbalah which Madonna et al adhere to is not the traditional Kabbalah handed down from Jewish mysticism. And it is especially not the Kabbalah that the Hasidic and Conservative Jews follow. What the rich and aimless follow, is nothing more than a cult of personality – following a “new” cool and hip world view, without really stopping and actually understanding what it is all about. I am no Kabbalah scholar, but from the different interviews of celebrities discussing Kabbalah, it is fairly clear that their involvement is nothing but a “me-too” endeavor. I mean, ask them about how Kabbalah and Gnosticism intertwine, and I am sure that a blank face will greet your question.