Kabbalah Founder’s Son Wants to See Father, “Get Him Out of There”
On Tuesday I sat down with an interesting person in the Kabbalah-Madonna saga: Avraham Gruberger, the 53 year old son of Kabbalah Centre founder Philip Berg, nee Fievel Gruberger. Avraham is the third of the eight children Philip Berg had with his first wife, Rivka, who is now deceased. He left her and the eight kids around 1969 for Karen, who worked for him in his office.
Forty years later, with Philip Berg in his 80s, Avraham Gruberger is concerned and his father’s health and well being. He hasn’t seen him in four years. He says Karen Berg, his stepmother, has barred him and his siblings from seeing their father. None of the original eight children are involved in Kabbalah, by the way. When they were growing up, their father was a life insurance salesman. But he followed their mother’s uncle, Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, a Kabbalah scholar.
“Karen saw that it would be a good business,” Avraham tells me. And so the Kabbalah Center was born. Now with rumors that Karen Berg has a paramour, Muki Opphenheimer, and that Philip Berg has been hobbled by strokes and old age, his son wants to rescue him.
It’s not about money, either, although none of the original Gruberger children have profited from Philip and Karen Berg’s unique abilities to earn millions from creating a religion. It’s not like Avraham has much support within his family, either: their father has never attended any of their weddings, or had much to do with them since his departure and divorce. Two of the children are deceased from cancer, leaving just six. In Florida, Avraham says, he and his family were actually told to leave the local Kabbalah Centre.
For most of Avraham’s childhood, he didn’t see his father. Philip–aka Fievel–had moved the family to Israel. He commuted back and forth to New York, leaving the family in the dark about his other life. At 12, Avraham was sent back to New York and spent some time with Berg. There was another brief meeting a few years ago. But other than that, nothing.
Avraham Gruberger says his only wish now is to “free” his father. “There’s no vendetta. I do believe he’s been drugged up. I’d like him to come live with us and fulfill his mission.” Indeed, Gruberger says that if Karen Berg were to just hand over Philip without discussion, and without money, Avraham would just take him. “We can take care of him,” he says.
PS Avraham knows nothing about Madonna or Raising Malawi, and doesn’t care to hear about what’s gone on since Karen Berg took over the Kabbalah Centre. “I just want to see my father and get him out of there.”
It is wrong to comment on news without knowing all aspects of the story, however I feel so sorry for the wife whom was left with 8 children to raise alone (if true) with limited options to move on, also feel sorry for the children whom grew up without the assistance, physical and financial of their father ( if real). Nobody is free from falling in love for someone else, although there are ways of moving on with dignity if you are a good person: with responsibility, respect and sense of duty – children well being must be a priority . Does not sound correct this behaviour from Philip Berg, someone who says he can show the world how to get GOD’s Light. Before you go about cleaning other people’s homes you should clean your own house ! Being all true, how can Karen Berg not have felt compassion for her young 8 stepchildren and their mother, not have helped their father to be active in their raising at least ? This would be expected from someone whom writes books and makes public speeches about how to be spiritual, telling what people should and should not do to be close to God? They should talk about this to their followers if this was a ( BIG ) mistake/sin in their past, and at least apologise to his first family, showing remorse ! Everybody has a past and very few of us think we will do everything over again exactly in the same way. We always can redeem ourselves, keeping faithful to our good values. If this is a real fact, Kabbalah Centre followers should demand an explanation !!!
Kabbalah center in New York is a money-hungry cult. I feel sorry for the son who is trying to get his father out of the clutches of the witch karen berg.