How Kabbalah became the only drug Jesse needed after hedonistic youth

Life may have seemed to be a slippery slope for American author Jesse Bogner, but the teachings of kabbalah transformed his life for the better.

Jesse’s debut book The Egotist explains the journey of a hedonistic teenager to a kabbalist student on a search to find the meaning of life.
The 27-year-old recalled, “Growing up I was always stuck in my own ego. As a teenager I was abusing drugs and I couldn’t connect with other people.

“I had finished college and was interning for Details magazine as a copy editor.

“But I broke up with my girlfriend. It completely threw me off and, because of that, I was fired.

“My Dad had already been studying Kabbalah, but I had never really cared about my religion.

“I was a secular Jew and had a bar mitzvah, but had forgotten about it all wasn’t willing to listen to things above reason.

“I thought there was no god figure behind it, so didn’t listen. I came into Kabbalah about nine years ago when, after being fired, my Dad told me to go to some lessons.

“My father also gave me the book Bundle of Reeds by Professor Michael Laitman which had a profound effect on me.

“At first I didn’t change right away, but after a while felt myself changing and was inspired to stop taking drugs.

“There had been a profound shift in the way I was perceiving the world.”
The Egotist is split into two parts, the first being the basic principles of Kabbalah and how to transform egotism.

The second is his story explaining the theoretical side and showing how the study works.

New York-raised Jesse decided to write the book after Prof. Laitman was speaking in New Jersey.

He continued, “What were the chances of Prof. Laitman, who lives in Israel, being in New Jersey?

“I went with my father to see him and he told me that Prof. Laitman wanted to speak to me.

“So I went up to him and he thought I was a talented writer. He had a feeling I needed to move to Israel to write a book.

“This was a big thing and I normally take time to decide, but I didn’t think twice. I knew this is what I was meant to do.”

Jesse moved to Petach Tikva in 2013, settling in Petach Tikva, where he became more involved in kabbalah.

He continued, “I was resistant, but felt myself changing and knew that it could transform people.

“People need to make their own conclusion, but understand there is a reason for suffering.

“There is a force outside the creator that shows your mistakes so you can correct them and change for the better.”

The book is for anyone who is fed-up with living in a materialistic culture and wants to change themselves for the better.

Jesse added” “The world is in a state of crisis, and we can change that. Anyone in the Western, European or American cultures knows that the world has become materialistic.

“People who may have everything are yearning to change their lives.
“A lot of people are looking to cure anxiety or to look for the spiritual. Kabbalah offers a unique solution to all of it.

This post was written by Zoe Cohen of the Jewish Telegraph (UK)