Diaspora and exile are fundamental metaphors in the modern Kabbalistic cosmology. Historically, the metaphors point to the centrality of migration within the Jewish communities in which the Kabbalistic tradition developed, and in Jewish collective memory. On a symbolic level, diaspora and exile came to refer to the Jewish spiritual condition, as temporarily separated from the Creator. The Kabbalah Learning Centre, based in Los Angeles and with centres in major cities around the world, has opened this metaphor up to include humanity as a whole, regardless of religion and ethnicity. The human souls are separated from the Creator by necessity and by choice, in a process to learn to become creators and to deserve the divine blessings. However, while the soul longs for its return to its divine source, the body and the ego are firmly grounded in the illusionary comfort of the diaspora condition. The challenge of humanity, individually and collectively, is hence to return from exile through a personal transformation of consciousness. Based on ethnographic data from the Buenos Aires Kabbalah Centre, I will explore the meanings of diaspora as metaphor for the modern human condition, and the idea of continuous transformation as a key to predictability in a chaotic world.

Hanna Skartveit is a PhD Fellow at IMER/UiB and Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen. Her present project deals with notions of consciousness, knowledge and urban life management in the Kabbalah Centre.