Celebrities looking for answers to life’s questions have started a trend by following Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. Members of the Jewish community at ISU said Kabbalah is not a simple religion and has been inaccurately portrayed.

Kabbalah deals with how the world works and how God relates to the world, said Rabbi Berel Simpser of the Des Moines Community Kollel. It is a speculative sect of Judaism that sets out to answer questions often raised about religion and life. It is comparable to Buddhism, because it involves philosophies on life, Simpser said.

“It’s a very exciting thing for people because of the meditative and magical aspects, but it’s not to be marketed to the masses,” he said.

Prayer services are not as rigid as other forms of Judaism, which allows individuals to become more spiritually involved, said Jeff Rothblum, member of ISU Hillel.

“The services are more free-flow,” said Rothblum, sophomore in aerospace engineering. “Most prayer services have order, but Kabbalah is a lot of meditation and reoccurring melodies without words.”

Kabbalah is not meant for everyone to study, because it is not as simple as it appears, Simpser said. Many members of the Jewish community do not even spend time studying Kabbalah, because it is only for individuals extremely interested in mysticism, he said.

“It’s more for the pure of heart and people that are sincere, a mystic for example,” Simpser said. “A mystic is a person that works on who they are spiritually and as a human being.”

Individuals begin studying Kabbalah by reading the Zohar, a book of mystical teachings written in Hebrew, Simpser said.

“Kabbalah means ‘that which is received,'” Simpser said. “It’s studied in a one-on-one fashion, passed on from the teacher to the student.”

Celebrities such as Madonna and Britney Spears have increased the media attention Kabbalah has received recently by claiming to be students of it. They have turned Kabbalah into a trend, which is drawing individuals of varying levels of spirituality to it.

Debra Marquart, associate professor of English, follows Kaballah and said she has been interested in mysticism of different sorts since she was a teenager.

“I was raised Catholic, so I’m not sure why I’m interested,” Marquart said. “It fascinates me.”

Kabbalah has an element of secrecy to it, which makes people believe studying it can answer many of the essential questions in life, such as where we came from, Marquart said.

Kabbalah can be difficult to understand if a person does not know much about Judaism, said Vlad Pogre, member of ISU Hillel.

“It’s technically open to anyone, but it’s known to be really cryptic,” said Pogre, sophomore in genetics. “Unless you’re a religious scholar, you wouldn’t get much out of it.”

Catherine Harbur, president of ISU Hillel and senior in animal ecology, said she doubts celebrities know what they are getting into.

“My guess is that what celebrities may have done is studied some of the teachings, but I doubt they’ve delved very far into it,” Rothblum said. “It doesn’t seem very full hearted.”