Universal Kabbalah Communities
About Us

The Universal Kabbalah Communities (or UKC) is committed to helping create and/or support communities throughout the world that will provide a safe, loving environment for every human being who seeks to participate in the creation of a better world.

These communities are based upon the teachings of the great prophets of the Bible as well as upon the teachings of the Kabbalistic Sages that followed their vision.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is based on the Universal Truth that Love of the Creator is revealed when mankind displays that Love and respect to other human beings above and beyond ideology, race, religion, language or appearance.  The mission of the Universal Kabbalah Communities is to empower individuals and communities to create a world of peace, love, joy, and harmony for humanity.

OUR VISION

Love your fellow man

• Rav Ashlag, the founder of the modern renaissance of Kabbalah had a vision of a “One World Spiritual Movement”. This is the movement of “Love your fellow man as yourself”.

• According to Rav Ashlag’s vision this is the way to bring the world to peace through social and economic justice on a personal level and among nations.

 

Beehive Group Based Communities

• Rav Yehuda Ashlag teaches that the only way a person can transform, function at his best, and achieve cleaving to The Creator is when the person is in a group of people that love him, care for him and support him to become a better, more free, loving human being.

• UKC is committed to help creating and/or supporting communities throughout the world that will provide a safe, loving environment for every human being who seeks to participate in the creation of a better world.  These communities will be based upon the teachings of the great prophets of the Bible as well as upon the teachings of the Kabbalistic Sages that followed their vision.

• The transformation achieved will bring “immortality,” which can be experienced every moment as joy, happiness, success and good fortune through the bliss of The Light of the Creator.

• This is based on the main principle of the Abrahamic faiths that every human being is created in the image of God and his soul is a divine spark of God.  Therefore, every human being has been created for and is entitled to living a life of happiness, fulfillment and bliss.

  
THE WISDOM

• Traditional Teachings

The study of this global movement is based on the traditional tools of Kabbalah: The Bible, The Book of Formation (Sefer Yetsira), The Zohar (Book of Splendor), The Ari’s writings, Rav Ashlag’s writings, and many traditional Kabbalists whose teachings are also based on these main bodies of work.

• Modern Teachings

UKC is open to researching and adopting some of the many modern methods and techniques that can support spiritual growth as long as those techniques align with traditional Kabbalistic teachings

 

MAIN PRINCIPLES

• Every human being is a spark of The Creator, therefore, a human soul is good by nature

• Love your fellowman as you love yourself

• No coercion in spirituality

• Every human being should be empowered and supported to be a creator in his personal life and in the movement

• Rituals and beliefs are subject only to the individual's free choice and inner faith

 

FORM OF WORSHIP

• Our form of worship is based on the prayers, meditations and rituals as described in the writings of The Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria, a 16th Century Kabbalist from the city of Safed, Israel) and the subsequent teachers of Lurianic Kabbalah. However, every individual community may decide on the specific style and melodies on their own.

• These rituals are similar in scope and content to that of most Orthodox Sephardic congregations around the world in that:

1. Prayers are conducted thrice daily (morning, afternoon, and evening)

2. Shabbat (Friday sundown until Saturday sundown) is every week, and special prayers are added for that day.

3. All normally recognized Jewish holidays (i.e., Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, etc.) are celebrated using the commonly recognized rituals, in addition to certain lesser known Kabbalistic traditions and methodology which differentiate our organization from other synagogues and Jewish associations.

• Rituals will include a weekly meeting of the members of every Beehive Group, the meeting will be held according to a special code and directions that will support a non judgmental, loving and supporting environment for personal and spiritual growth.

 

OUR HISTORY

Kabbalah (in Hebrew) means “Wisdom that has been received”.

Adam
Kabbalah is the wisdom that explains the laws of the Universe, Life and God.  Adam received this wisdom directly from God. Some traditions say that The Book of Raziel the Angel (Sefer Raziel HaMalakh) and others like it contain some of Adam’s wisdom.

Abraham the Patriarch
The wisdom was handed down through the generations from teacher to student until it reached Abraham the Patriarch.  Abraham the Patriarch received revelations from The Creator that enhanced Adam’s wisdom.   The Book of Formation (Sefer Yetsira) is the first great work of Kabbalistic writings in the history of Kabbalah. Abraham handed this Kabbalistic Wisdom to his son Isaac and to his grandson Jacob.

Moses
The line from Abraham continued until Moses, together with the whole nation of Israel, received (Kibel) the Torah from God on Mount Sinai. Moses handed down the wisdom to Joshua who handed it over to the Elders. The Judges received the wisdom from the Elders and the Prophets of the Bible received it from the Judges. The people of the Great Assembly (Anshei Knesset Gedola) received the wisdom from the Prophets and the Tannaim received it from the prophets.  This lineage is described in the Mishnah in The Ethics of the Fathers.

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai
One of the Tannaim is considered by Kabbalists to be the author of the Zohar , the main work of Kabbalah. The Zohar contains the foundations of Kabbalistic faith, traditions and rituals. After writing the Zohar, the wisdom of Kabbalah and the Kabbalists went into hiding because of persecutions.  From that point on the wisdom of Kabbalah was hidden and the bestowing of the Kabbalistic Ordination (Semikha) occurred “underground” until the 13th Century.

The Ari (Rav Isaac Luria)
The Ari was the greatest Kabbalist of the awakening of Kabbalah in the post middle ages (16th Century). The Ari left us his writings through his main student Rabbi Haim Vital. The Ari created and organized The Wisdom of Kabbalah for the modern era. He based it on all the previous ancient Kabbalistic texts, specifically The Zohar and showed how all previous teachings are parts of one inclusive highly organized cosmology. The system introduced by The Ari is called after him The Lurianic Kabbalah and is the foundation of modern theology of Sephardic Judaism and of The Hasidic Movement founded by The Baal Shem Tov (18th Century).

Rav Yehuda HaLevi Ashlag
Rav Ashlag was the greatest Kabbalist of the 20th Century.  Rav Ashlag is responsible for the renaissance of Kabbalah in our modern time. A student and teacher of The Hasidic Movement, Rav Ashlag managed to create a new way of teaching that is a synthesis of the intellect of  Lurianic Kabbalah with the heart of the Hasidic way. Rav Ashlag’s works connected the teachings of The Zohar and the writings of The Ari into one system and laid the foundation for the synthesis between Kabbalah, Modern Science and Modern Philosophy. Rav Ashlag was a great believer of Spiritual Socialism based on the humanistic principles of Kabbalah as a way to heal the miseries of humanity.

Universal Kabbalah Communities
The Universal Kabbalah Communities has been established by students who feel the need to preserve the original teachings and to especially focus on the original vision of Rav Ashlag to combine the focus of the study of Kabbalah with the creation of spiritual communities.. These communities will be centered on building a safe, loving, supporting environment that will promote, enhance and support the journey of the individual towards cleaving to God, which is the only purpose of The Creation.

 

Organizational Structure

When the world movement is established, its organizational structure from the beginning should be functional all the way till all of Humanity becomes part of it.
Rav Ashlag

When a spiritual movement is created, its main challenge after its first stage of charismatic leadership is to create an organizational structure that can support the ideology.
Prof. Jody Meyers

Throughout history, there have existed many Kabbalistic movements that have arisen with great, charismatic leaders but then have faded into history. Our goal is to create a movement that will stand the test of time, based upon democracy, ownership, intimacy, decentralization, transparency, accountability and equal opportunities.

In order to keep the order in every society, the majority has the right to force its rules upon the minority. However, the majority must guarantee the freedom of the minority to express itself and to have a debate. Since wisdom can grow only through the debate, without an open debate The Wisdom will wilt and die.
Rav Ashlag

The publishing of the Sulam commentary on The Zohar made the final redemption possible. The only way a person can achieve enough fuel to transform his selfish nature is when he has a teacher he can look up to and supportive friends to maintain his reverence to the teacher and to the teachings.
Rav Ashlag

The Kabbalah Movement will start with groups of idealists who will support each other in their spiritual journey. Newcomers will be educated to become altruistic so they can join the journey.
Rav Ashlag

In a spiritual society there should be a system of rewards and honoring based on the person’s achievements and performance since it takes a long journey to transform and elevate of the ego totally.
Rav Ashlag

 

Universal Kabbalah Communities
Rules and Regulations

1. The movement will be based on many communities.

2. A community can be built around a community center, house of worship; school etc. or it could be a virtual community or a guild-like community (according to vocation or area of interest).

3. The inner structure of every community will be of cell groups, Hexagons. A member of a Cell Group will be committed to his spiritual work and will follow the rules of the cell (attending meetings, taking responsibilities and commitments).

4. A member of the community must be part of a Hexagon in order to be elected to any office or to have voting rights.

5. A Cell member has to be recommended by his own group first in order to be nominated; they can also recommend his removal from office in case that they see that his personal problems can interfere with his function in his office.

6. A person can be a member of the community without being part of a cell group. He/she can get services from the community and be supported by it but he/she can’t be elected to any office neither can he/she vote.

7. Every group will have a leader that will be elected by the group.

8. When a member of a cell group has an idea or a complaint in organizational matters of the community, that member will present the issue in front of the group. If the group sees the issue relevant, the group leader will bring the issue to the Board of that community and make sure that it’s being dealt with properly.

9. Every community will have its own elected board; the board will run the community together with the teacher/spiritual leader.

10. The teacher/spiritual leader will be elected by the community.

11. The different communities will elect a General Assembly that will run the global administration of the movement.

12. A central system of education and guidance will support all the communities worldwide.

13. A central system of education will support the creation of spiritual leaders from all the communities for all the communities.

Elections and Votes

1. Elections for the Board or for other main positions will be held once a year.

2. A spiritual leader will be elected when needed.

3. A spiritual leader can be impeached by the Board after having a hearing. A majority of two thirds is needed for the impeachment.

4. After impeachment a two thirds majority vote of the community is needed to remove the spiritual leader from office.