Profile

Manhattan’s five-story branch of the Kabbalah Centre—an international nonprofit focused on the Jewish mystical tradition—prides itself on providing everyone, not just fad-generating celebs like Madonna and Ashton Kutcher, with access to the Zohar, the religion’s primary sacred text. While take-home editions are for sale in the ground-floor bookstore, attendees are encouraged to step up their interest by taking a seat in a pew on the second floor or heading further upstairs to the third floor, where intimate crowds gather for free intro-lectures led by advanced students (lessons held Mondays and Thursdays after work). The speakers keep it simple: God is downplayed; pragmatism is stressed. It’s a self-help sentiment that jibes with busy, control-obsessed New Yorkers who can’t put down their BlackBerries even when learning the enlightened way. — Caroline Kinneberg