Sealed vehicles, sturdy security guards and bodyguards, discreet groups of travelers, and a mask around a mysterious tomb cave are keeping the elders of Safed awake. Well, more accurately, some of the city's young people.
The cause of the tension? The appearance of Mrs. Keren Berg - the widow of Philip Berg, founder of the Center for Kabbalah Research - in the Old City of Safed, where, they say, she is looking for properties to purchase. Berg's visit is causing concern among residents, since, they say, "only gentile actors come to follow the rabbi's grave, Safed is a holy city.".
Philip Berg was controversial in his lifetime and continues to arouse interest even after his death. Berg was known as the founder of the 'Center for the Study of Kabbalah' and in his lifetime was known as the rabbi of celebrities. Many of his followers were gentile actors and actresses who studied Kabbalah at the branches of the Kabbalah Center he opened. Photos of him hugging his gentile followers have often created scandals and raised the issue of Jewish institutions teaching gentiles who view Kabbalah as a way of life and a mystical worldview.
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About seven months ago, when Berg died, his coffin was brought to Israel for burial in the Safed cemetery. At a funeral attended by many famous people that arrived in Israel by air train, his gentile and Jewish followers were seen walking behind his coffin in white clothes. Berg was buried in the tomb's estate, which extends over about half a dunam. The tomb, located inside an ancient cave, is secured around the clock by armed security guards and technological means. Anyone wishing to enter the burial cave will have to wait for telephone approval from the 'Center for the Study of Kabbalah' in Tel Aviv, and only after investigation and submission of details will they be allowed to enter the tomb cave.
Those close to the deceased claim that the security and masking around the grave are being implemented due to concerns about damage and desecration of the grave.
In recent days, as mentioned, mysterious entourages have appeared, and residents of Safed today tell Haredim10 that the head of the secure entourage was Mrs. Keren Berg. "This time she is looking for properties to purchase in the Old City," they say. "Safed is a holy city, and we will not allow this group to enter our alleys.".
Besides the city being flooded with Berg's gentile followers, residents are also angry about the compartmentalization and masking around the tomb mansion. "They built a mysterious structure here, we have no access, the security guards are tough. This is our home here," says Nissim, a resident of the city.
