WHEN THE MATERIAL GIRL MET AYN S OF Five years ago my friend, Sue, finally convinced me (after a couple years of cajoling ) to give the New York Kabbalah Center a chance. I went to classes once a week for a month in the heat of July in Manhattan. It was a very good experience. I liked the Rabbi teaching the basics of Kabbalah. But most people there were looking for a quick fix to their problems. I was already exploring Kabbalah through books and I was still under the impression that Judaism was a closed door to me. I've had many deep, spiritually engaging (often confusing) experiences throughout the years. I was pretty much deep into Gnosticism, which I still have high regard for. I'd investigated evangelical Christianity, Buddhism and while I found Judaism fascinating, no one had ever taken the time to give me anything more than the more cursory look into it. I was also still struggling with my abusive marriage and was wide open with pain, vulnerable enough to try to f...