I was wondering if anyone can help me out, today, just while Googling, I came across this site,
KosherTorah, I haven't read through it in detail yet, but, I was wondering if anyone knew it was legit/authentic?.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
This is a new one for me. I've never heard of this guy before, which I think is strange, since according to his website, his yeshivah is less than 20 miles from my doorstep, and I've lived in Los Angeles for most of my life.
On the one hand, some good signals: he indicates that he offers no magical solutions to problems, and that lack of funds is never a problem (i.e., if you can't afford his standard class/consultation fees, he will lower or waive them for you). So chances are he's not a con man, or what the Christians sometimes refer to as a simoniac, pretending to sell magic or miracles to the highest bidder.
He claims Haredi ordination, and he is likely telling the truth, though I've never heard of his rabbis (there's a lot of rabbis in the Haredi world, and lots of them, if you ask their students, are the greatest sage since Rashi or Rabbi Akiva). There are a small, legitimate fringe of nominal Haredim who are open-minded and have taken it upon themselves to teach all Jews, regardless of observance or affiliation, without the teaching being merely cover for aggressive
kiruv (recruitment of Jews to become, literally, more observant, but usually, Haredi). His language and style makes me think it's not impossible that he's one of these types.
On the other hand, his emphasis of Kabbalistic calculations and preparation for the end times approaching and the coming of moshiach makes me deeply skeptical. The fact that he addresses "issues" like aliens, alien angels (whatever they are), UFOs, Big Brother, the Watchers, and suchlike makes me even more skeptical. It's not impossible that he thinks that non-Orthodox people who are interested in Kabbalah will all be confused and gullible and so forth, and so he must address the issues of nutty people in order to help them get a grip-- it's not like there aren't a lot of nuts out there who might appear to validate such a viewpoint. But then again, maybe he's a little meshugah (crazy). If one isn't extremely careful and psychologically well-balanced, immersing oneself in Kabbalah can do strange things to one's mind. Also, I must say, I think it is...shall we say, a shocking coincidence, that a Kabbalist happens to be named Ariel (Ari-el means "lion of God," but it also invokes the ARI, R. Yitzchak Luria) Bar Tzadok (Bar-tzadok is a name I have not heard, and I've lived in Jerusalem. While it's traditional plain meaning is simply "Son of Tzadok," and the format is not uncommon in Israel, it's also a reference to the pure-line High Priest Tzadok, who served King David, and whose descendants Ezekiel envisions serving in the Rebuilt Temple. And it also can literally mean something akin to "[He who is known to be] of the Doer of Righteousness")-- it's just very convenient, and I instinctively don't trust guys who change their names to something cosmic and groovy when they set up shop as professional mystics.
I would advise taking anything on that website with an extremely large grain of salt. Possibly an entire salt lick. It's not at all impossible that some of his information is solid, traditional, well-taught Kabbalah. It's also not impossible that some-- if not a lot-- is not.
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