Do you know anything about Kabbalah?

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

The reason I ask is, I have seen those little red string bracelets and I was wondering what the significance and meaning of them is.

If I wanted to, say, make red bracelets and sell them as "Kabbalah bracelets," do they have to be of a special material, or have to be "blessed"?

As far as marketing them goes, I have a good idea for a design using paracord, but I don't know if the untraditional-ness of them would invalidate them for interest from Kabbalah practitioners. I would like to have something to say about them but I really don't know what the Kabbalah bracelet is all about.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[gus 1]

There was an interesting article about it in this weekend's Guardian, including an explanation of the red string.

Part 1


Part 2

In summary: it sounds dodgy.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[Deuce 1]

Quote

Do you know anything about Kabbalah?

No. All my vehicles are fuel injection.

[piisfish 140]

do them with break cord riggers use to put the lead on the reserve

All I know is Madonna is a Kabbalaian

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Muenkel 0]

No, I do not know anything about Kabbalah (sp?).

So why did I reply to this thread, you ask? Because I'm just a plain ole post whore.

Chris

_________________________________________
Chris

[Snowwhite 0]

The Kabbala's were a great group, used to play in the midwest. Klezmerpolkarock. One of my very good friends was their drummer. He died. No more group. The sax player WAILED!

skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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There was an interesting article about it in this weekend's Guardian, including an explanation of the red string.

In summary: it sounds dodgy.

Gus

Sure does! Thanks for the link. I scanned over it but didn't see anything about the red string. Was it in part I or II? I'll have to read it more thoroughly when I have time.

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[gus 1]

From part 1:

Quote

My eye falls on the famous red string, as worn by Madonna and friends, here attractively presented with an instructional CD. I ask the friendly young volunteer for an explanation of the red string's protective powers against the so-called "evil eye". Those powers were guaranteed, he says, by virtue of the fact that the red string is wrapped seven times around Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem, and meditated upon, and tied around your wrist with a special prayer. I pick one up and see the price: 180 shekels, or around £20. I also see a sticker on the sealed package saying "Made in China".

From part 2:

Quote

Just before he leaves the office to make way for his mother, I ask about the red string. Why is it so expensive? Why not just hand it out to people? Yehuda gets a little testy: "There are things we do for free. We have free membership. But there is a Kabbalistic concept of bread of shame: you don't get something for nothing. For us to get the red string, we have to get an armoured car to Rachel's Tomb; they get shot at every time they go, it's a dangerous situation. We have to pay a private security firm. So there's a lot of money that's laid out by the centre. Other people who wear it from elsewhere don't necessarily get the benefit. We give them the whole technology of special wrapping and prayers. The minimum people should do is appreciate that and pay for it."

Later, when I ask the rabbis who have a permanent presence at Rachel's Tomb and have been there for the past 10 years whether they have ever seen this going on, the answer is a definite no: no armoured vehicles under the protection of a private security firm, no shootings of this description, no one observed arriving with large quantities of red string and wrapping it around the tomb. The area is under heavy military protection. A spokeswoman for the ministry of tourism and also for religious affairs stated that no special permits had been given to the Kabbalah Centre to enter Rachel's Tomb with large quantities of red string.

Not long ago, Karen Berg tried to patent the red string in the US as a trademark. While the final decision is still pending, the application has been provisionally rejected: the KC could not persuade the US patent office that its red string is distinguishable from other red strings worn for "protection". And while the KC sells its own for $26 (without CD), you can buy similar ones on eBay for 99 cents. The red string was introduced by the KC quite a while after the Bergs moved to the US; in their early years, it was worn occasionally, but wasn 't considered important.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Didn't the US military bomb it off the planet last year?

[debonair 0]

I can't comment on Kabbalah but my Jewish Grandmother Janie Sable (may she rest in peace) believed a small piece of red thread would be helpful in warding off the evil eye.

She would take a small amount of thread and tie it to her bra strap. It wasn't important to have it be seen, just to know it was there.

If someone she knew was having a round of bad luck she would ask, and then suggest that maybe it wouldn't hurt to try a small piece of red string for a few days. If your luck was bad enough, why not give it a try.
Oh, she also would "puh, puh, puh" (as if she was spitting but not really) over our heads if someone said something that she thought was threatening or might draw unwelcome attention.

I sure miss her. She made the best chicken soup.

.

AZChallenger JFTC99/02 GOFAST300 STILLUV4WAY
"It's nothing 1000 jumps won't cure..."
- Jeff Gorlick, Seattle Sky Divers

[marcandalysse 0]

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my Jewish Grandmother Janie Sable (may she rest in peace) believed a small piece of red thread would be helpful in warding off the evil eye....

Thanks for sharing that...that is really cool! Although my grandparents were orthodox from 'the old country', I never heard them talk about mystical judaism or folk beliefs along those lines.

The Guardian articles were eye opening! Thanks also for sending the link.

Remember folks, that doesn't mean that Kabbalah is hokum (I have no idea or opinion on it....I can't judge it because I haven't read much about it)...but just because some group claims to be the source of wisdom for something, doesn't mean they really are teaching the truth. And the more that $$$ are attached to the teaching, the less I tend to listen.

BTW, This applies to most religious/spiritual groups of any sort....

marc

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Yes, that was a cute story. Thanks for sharing it.

It's funny to me, though, about people's superstitions. If someone has been having a "run of bad luck," it usually means that there's been substantial-enough bad luck to merit being noticed -- and by that time, surely right around the time he or she would apply the red string "because it can't hurt," the luck turns around. It seems as though the string did the trick, but really when you think about it, how long was the bad luck run gonna last in the first place. Coincidence? That's what I think it tends to be.

That article posted sure doesn't seem very flattering about these Kabbalah shysters. They sound like any other scam artists.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Casurf1978 0]

My moms been in it for about 4 years now. Way before hollywood got into it as the 'new thing'. Basically the red bracelet is some sort of protection. From what she told me a long red string is prayed over by a few Rabhi's in Israel and then cut into separate sections. You cannot put one on yourself, it has to be put on by someone that loves you (left hand), all the while you are scanning the Zohar or a certain passage from it. Also seven knots have to be tied to the string. She tried to get me into Kabbalah, but I'm not into organized religions.