The trouble with Jewish cults is that something can be idolatry and still be quite Jewish and even seem kosher. Jewish cults are the modern permutation of idolatry. Just because something is Jewish and 100% kosher does not mean it is not idolatry
The main obligation of the Torah as we see from the second commandment of the Ten Commandment is not to do idolatry.
The way to see this is from the Gemara in Sanhedrin [circa 64] and also in the Tosephta האומר עבדוני חייב
One tells another person, "serve me" is liable under the law of מסית ומדיח (One who tries to seduce another to do idolatry.)
And their supposed "devekut" (ecstasy) is of diabolical origin since the mind and the speech of the ecstatic are confused, as if he were being spurred on by someone else, or as if another were speaking through him.
[This is one area in which Reform Judaism is doing a lot better than the more religious who have a great deal of trouble with cults. I can scarcely even think of any religious group that is not actually doing idolatry. ](You can easily see the problem in the religious world because along with idolatry comes dishonesty. There is no security of possessions or contract or even your own wife and children.)
Another side point about Reform is they are mainly going like R.Shimon Ben Yochai that holds we go by the reason for the verse--דורשים טעמה דקרא
And another important point is that the basic creed of Reform is Monotheism which is in fact the creed of the Torah. That is the belief that God made the world, and He is not the world.
However is there is a authentic Lithuanian kind of yeshiva in the area that is the best. [Authentic can mean either Mir, Chaim Berlin, Torah VeDaat, or Ponovitch,--or it can mean that it is run by someone who learned at one of these authentic yeshivas.]
The trouble with the religious is the "Nirvana Fallacy" You see an imperfect world and they suppose if they were in charge everything would be better. When they get power they always make bad situations worse. And their rule when it comes to secular Jew is "force and fraud." Promises are considered as a way of gaining misplaced trust with no intent of fulfillment. The better system is Reform and Conservative Judaism in which religion is mainly the private sphere. Coercion ought to be separate from Torah.
The main obligation of the Torah as we see from the second commandment of the Ten Commandment is not to do idolatry.
The way to see this is from the Gemara in Sanhedrin [circa 64] and also in the Tosephta האומר עבדוני חייב
One tells another person, "serve me" is liable under the law of מסית ומדיח (One who tries to seduce another to do idolatry.)
And their supposed "devekut" (ecstasy) is of diabolical origin since the mind and the speech of the ecstatic are confused, as if he were being spurred on by someone else, or as if another were speaking through him.
[This is one area in which Reform Judaism is doing a lot better than the more religious who have a great deal of trouble with cults. I can scarcely even think of any religious group that is not actually doing idolatry. ](You can easily see the problem in the religious world because along with idolatry comes dishonesty. There is no security of possessions or contract or even your own wife and children.)
Another side point about Reform is they are mainly going like R.Shimon Ben Yochai that holds we go by the reason for the verse--דורשים טעמה דקרא
And another important point is that the basic creed of Reform is Monotheism which is in fact the creed of the Torah. That is the belief that God made the world, and He is not the world.
However is there is a authentic Lithuanian kind of yeshiva in the area that is the best. [Authentic can mean either Mir, Chaim Berlin, Torah VeDaat, or Ponovitch,--or it can mean that it is run by someone who learned at one of these authentic yeshivas.]
The trouble with the religious is the "Nirvana Fallacy" You see an imperfect world and they suppose if they were in charge everything would be better. When they get power they always make bad situations worse. And their rule when it comes to secular Jew is "force and fraud." Promises are considered as a way of gaining misplaced trust with no intent of fulfillment. The better system is Reform and Conservative Judaism in which religion is mainly the private sphere. Coercion ought to be separate from Torah.
