Reactions & Comments
First of all, I want to thank you all so much for your support of KabbalahCurious.com in its opening days. We have received way more traffic than I thought we would thanks to many articles posted by both mainstream and adult publications. I want to especially thank those of you who have decided to leave comments here at the blog. At the bottom of each entry is a link for you to post comments, suggestions, personal experiences, questions, etc. and I promise I will get to each of them individually. You can also share with other readers there. I love the idea of everyone leaving their own energy here, so please by all means, post away!
Interestingly enough, it is the Kabbalists and Rabbis themselves who seem to be the only ones taking a disliking to the page and that has disappointed me, though I'm not really surprised. I did a search over the weekend for Kabbalah sites that feature links to others and emailed them with mine. Here are some of the responses I received:
If you want to put a link to my site on yours you are welcome to do so. You'll have to forgive me if I don't put a link to your site on mine. Slightly too risqué. BTW I used to be a Rabbi at the Chabad Russian Synagogue/Chabad of West Hollywood which is right near you on S.Monica Bl. If you want to be part of the CyberYeshivah Kabbalah School join the group. - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KabbalahCyberYeshivah
WOAH...I just looked at your site.......I am recinding my offer of linking sites...I do NOT do porn in any way. My site is spiritual, not sexual....and I HATE guns! Please remove me from any lists or any further communication. Naomi Shifra[Automated Signature reads:] May all peoples of the planet Earth know that all things are connected in all ways, always..and that peace is the ONLY way. Blessed be...in love and light, Naomi Shifra,B.D.,R.N. Quanyin Spirit Garden and Third Eye Images http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/1299/index.htm
Dear Jason, You would benefit greatly from Rabbi Ginsburgh's book What You Need to Know About Kabbalah. Blessings, Rabbi Ginsburgh's Secretariat - www.Inner.org
The Rabbi and his assessment, though handled diplomatically, seems hypocritical; almost as though he is afraid of what his reader's reactions would be. But Kabbalah is big on No Fear, especially fear of being judged. Meanwhile, Naomi's harsh reaction is just the furthest thing from Kabbalastic behavior I've ever seen. True Kabbalists don't "hate" anything and definitely do not behave in "reactionary" manner. I was pleased by the response from Rabbi Ginsburgh's "secretary," that is until checking out his book and finding that one of the first chapters is titled: "The Misuse of Kabbalah." Misuse? Like anything in life, Kabbalah is a reflection of what you bring to it. Saying that Kabbalah can be misused is like saying everything from a hammer to the Bible can be misused. A hammer can be used to pound nails for hanging pictures on a wall or it can be used as a lethal weapon for murder. It is what you bring to it. But this line of judgmental thinking is exactly what kept its wisdom a secret for ages.
I am not angry at these people, nor do I feel they are wrong. They have their own path to follow and have to do what they feel is right. It was just interesting to me, that not one of the so-called experts of this spiritual belief system were practicing what it is they were preaching.
Someone asked me when I started the site if I felt the Bergs (the founders of The Kabbalah Centre) would approve of it. My immediate reaction was, "Absolutely!" But now, I'm starting to wonder.
Oh well! And on we all blindly stumble...
L,
J.
JASON'S OTHER SITES:
JasonCurious.com
JasonSechrest.com
DV8Entertainment.com
RELATED SITES:
Kabbalah.com
72.com - Technology for the Soul
The Zohar - Weekly Studies
SpiritualityforKids.com
* KabbalahCurious.com is not endorsed or sponsored by The Kabbalah Centre. Though we would love to be!
Have questions? Need advice? Want to share? EMAIL Jason at jason@jasonsechrest.com
posted by Jason Sechrest | 11:27 PM
8 Comments:
Rock on Jason. It looks good to me. nothing wrong
with a bit of T&A, let alone A to M, although one kid
in my class, said he can't sleep anymore because his
head is full of porn. He's 12. But there you go,
there were bound to be casulaties in the information
war.
big up yer bad self,
much love,
Logan.
Wow, Logan... are you a teacher? I would love to hear more about your personal experiences with Kabbalah and if you manage to incorporate it into your teachings even at an elementary level. xox L, J.
Not everyone will agree with you. I know that you've faced that since you were thirteen, at least. Geeze! How long I've known you and how little I've known about you.
You're awesome and you've always been an inspiration to me. On the 8th-grade news or in Terri's acting class in Sarasota.
Please take their responses as a sign that you are doing something RIGHT! You are ROCKING THE BOAT, pushing the envelope, and making people THINK. If no one in the entire world is threatened by you, then you aren't being "you" enough.
With much love,
Lizz
Lizz, Your blogs really pulled me in! Love the talk about your sexual fantasies. Soooo sorry to hear about your father's passing. How sad. I'm sure it's still hard for you. It looks like you have THREE blogs, at least one of which is devoted to spirituality. What is the theme of each? xox L, J.
Dear Jason,
I hope that some of my earlier posts in the Comments section did not contribute to some of the cold-shoulders sent your way vis-à-vis linking from other Kabbalah websites (I try very hard to avoid using vulgarity... there are SO many unattractive ways to refer to human anatomy...!)
Unfortunately, there are many sites that decide to err on the conservative side so as to not alienate 'family-friendly' content. Problem is, every family has its own definition of 'friendly'.
On a fun note, I showed my good friend my 'red bendel' comments I made to your 2/18/06 post, and she was so tickled that she has now bookmarked www.kabbalahcurious.com on her computers at work and at home.
So ya win some, and ya lose some...!
Lotsa love,
Charles Barrett
Granada Hills, CA
OMG how can you have a religious site with guns, semi-nude women and men, and...and...and...porn stars?? lol.
LIGHTEN UP AMERICA! Jason, I admire your willingness to mix genres and shake things up. American needs many more people like you that are not afraid of who they are and are willing to share that with others.
This website is truly courageous and hopefully will inspire others in their religious and everyday beliefs.
Religion is ripe with hypocrisy and those that are not afraid to acknowledge that and be who they truly are the true modern day heroes.
Keep it up!
I'm currently only writing one blog. I've started four, total. One when I was writing my novel, one when I was trying to help my dad with his cancer, and one with blogprompts that I simply abandoned.
pixelady.blogspot.com is the only one I really keep up--almost 1000 posts! I've kept it up with everything from massage school to starting and running a business, sexuality, spirituality, exercise, and all kinds of daily-life stuff.
Charles, hogwash! I'd never want you to censor yourself here. Feel free to let it all hang out -- literally and metaphysically! ;-O xox L, J.
tom!, Thank you for the support, as always. I hope you come back and check out the site more. I'd love to hear your comments and feelings on this awesome form of spirituality. xox L, J.
Lizz, got it! Thanks for the explanation. lol Now I know which one to focus on. ;-P xox L, J.
Post a Comment
<< Home