About Kabbalah Circle

Hi, I'm Marc.

Kabbalah Circle is an independent personal project I'm working on, with the goal of helping people find greater meaning, spiritual growth, and fulfillment in their lives — through Kabbalah, psychology, human connection, and community.

Kabbalah Circle isn't affiliated with any school or institution, and it isn't meant to replace one. If anything, I hope it encourages people to go deeper — including with the established teachers and centers who have carried this wisdom far longer, and far better, than I can.

I've been studying Kabbalah on and off for over 30 years, and recently rediscovered it, through the Kabbalah Centre (opens in new tab) in New York, alongside my own self-directed learning to explore different viewpoints and approaches. This project was actually inspired by a teacher at the Kabbalah Centre, who challenged me to go out and start something that could help spread the wisdom and Light of Kabbalah.

"The essence of human life is to constantly strengthen ourselves in the repair of our character traits. If not — of what purpose is life?"

Growing up, my grandmother Rose, whose family came from Lithuania, told me we were descendants of the Vilna Gaon (opens in new tab), one of the greatest sages and Kabbalists. I'm not sure if that's true, but I have a distinct memory of a large, framed image of an austere sage, looking over us, in her apartment in Pretoria, South Africa. It looked similar to this one.

A little about my background: I'm a trained lawyer with an MBA from INSEAD. I've worked at companies like Sony and Softbank, and lived and worked in South Africa, Israel, Germany, and the United States.

I'm also a certified coach (executive and relationship coaching), a mediator, a startup founder, and a venture capitalist.

I grew up in South Africa and currently live in New York City with my wife, our three kids, and our Sheepadoodle, Ferdi. In my spare time, I spend time with our family, write, read, study Kabbalah and psychology, and run around Central Park with Ferdi and friends. (I start a Master's in Relationship Therapy in August 2026 — wish me luck!)

Like many people, I approach religion, astrology, and spiritual wisdom, with a healthy dose of skepticism. I oscillate between believing and questioning, but carry a profound sense that we're connected to a higher energy, and have a purpose here: to connect with one another, and to serve something larger than any one of us.

Kabbalistic Astrology (also sometimes known as Hebrew Astrology or Jewish Astrology), is relatively new to me, and while Kabbalah teachers us to embrace "certainty beyond logic", I have spent many skeptical days researching the origins of Kabbalistic Astrology, and whether it is broadly accepted or not. Despite much debate around the acceptability or otherwise of Hebrew Astrology by different movements, it is agreed that the cosmic constellations have never been seen as predictive of the future by Kabbalists. There may be cosmic influence, but humans always have free will, and the ability to direct and transform their own lives and Tikkun (regardless of the cosmos). What's also excited me about Kabbalistic Astrology is that it brings the tangible beauty and awesomness of the universe into our spiritual quest

What's excited me about Kabbalistic Astrology is that it brings the tangible beauty and awesomeness of the universe into our daily spiritual quest. We gaze out at the same skies that the Patriarch Abraham and Matriarch Sarah gazed at many thousands of years ago.

I am also inspired to see that some of the great modern psychologists like Carl Yung, who although not a Kabbalist (or Jewish), developed frameworks like the "Jungian shadow", which parallel ancient Kabbalistic concepts such as Tikkun, where we learn to identify, restrict and repair darker patterns (shadows) hidden in our soul or psyche.

Even if we don't quite believe that our date of birth can yield a specific cosmic signal, there is much we can learn about ourselves and others if we study the Tikkun's "Shadow Patterns" (a term I borrowed from Yung to refer to the required spiritual "corrections" necessary for the soul to perfect its purpose). In doing so, we may begin to understand ourselves better, and what stands in our way of transforming our lives and the lives of those around us.

I'm sharing all of this as someone who is still learning, and hoping to learn alongside you.