Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 49
The latest book by Rabbi Yehuda Berg, who leads the worldwide operation with his two
sons, is titled, The 72 names of God: Technology for the Soul. Joel Hecker, a professor of
mysticism at a Jewish college, observes that scanning and meditating on God‘s names have
precedents in classic kabbalah practice, but he finds the Centre‘s self-empowerment
approach ―utilitarian‖ and ―troubling.‖ ―There were many checks and balances in the classic
[kabbalah] system to prevent one from thinking you could manipulate divine energies to do
your bidding,‖ said Hecker.
Former practitioner Gary Wilson, of Mount Airy, PA, who like Tantros attended the Ardmore
Centre in suburban Philadelphia, said that he was shunned, like others he knows, when he
criticized the ―autocratic style‖ of the local leader. And Rick Ross, of the Institute for the
Study of Destructive Cults, in New Jersey, says that some Kabbalah Centre staffers had
advised students to leave a spouse or partner who resists its teachings, counseling that the
critic is ―a negative spiritual influence.‖ A rabbi for Jews for Judaism, which monitors
missionary groups and cults, said he had received complaints about the Centre‘s ―high-
pressure fundraising tactics,‖ in which people are told ―good things only come to them if
money goes to the Centre.‖ (Jim Remsen, Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 7/31/03)
Kids of North Jersey Inc.
Cult Environment Alleged
The approach of Kids of New Jersey rehabilitation center head Miller Newton was not,
according to prosecuting attorney Philip Elberg, about ―tough love‖ but about ―destroying
families as they existed and creating a new family with Miller Newton as the father and Ruth
Ann Newton as the mother.‖
Dozens of teenagers with behavior problems who went through the center — which has now
been closed following suits for Medicaid over-billing — have described the experience as a
living hell. Elberg, who won a $4.5 million settlement for one of the teenagers in 1999,
alleges now that Newton, a 63-year-old rehabilitation guru, violated client Lulu Corter‘s civil
rights, provided treatment that deviated from standard care, and caused her emotional,
physical, and psychological damage. A Utah prosecutor called the program Newton operated
in his state ―a sort of private jail, using techniques such as torture.‖
Witnesses have supported the allegation that Lulu, who entered the facility with an eating
disorder and compulsive behavior, was ―brainwashed.‖ They said that Miller routinely
required patients to shun their families and families to shun children who left the program
before graduating. Lulu, whose parents signed her into the program in 1984, when she was
13, and who ran from it in 1997, said that Newton discouraged her and her mother from
attending her older sister‘s wedding because the sister had left the program too soon.
Former patients who took the stand spoke of the center‘s rules and regulations. Initially,
they had to sit ramrod straight for 12 hours of group therapy daily. They were prohibited
from writing, making telephone calls, or going to the bathroom alone. Graduates were
coerced to remain as staff members. Patients were returned to the earliest, harsh stage of
treatment for the slightest infraction.
Lulu said that she, like others, made up stories during therapy — saying she had sex with a
dog and that her uncle had molested her — in order to advance toward release through the
stages of the program without falling back. Staff psychiatrists say in their depositions that
they rarely saw patients. Attorney Elberg says Newton ―rented licenses‖ and that peer
counselors used rubber stamps to sign psychiatrists‘ names to reports in order to collect
private and Medicaid insurance.
Newton has a 1981 Ph.D. in public administration and urban anthropology from The Union
Institute, in Cincinnati, which calls itself an ―alternative learner-directed‖ school without
The latest book by Rabbi Yehuda Berg, who leads the worldwide operation with his two
sons, is titled, The 72 names of God: Technology for the Soul. Joel Hecker, a professor of
mysticism at a Jewish college, observes that scanning and meditating on God‘s names have
precedents in classic kabbalah practice, but he finds the Centre‘s self-empowerment
approach ―utilitarian‖ and ―troubling.‖ ―There were many checks and balances in the classic
[kabbalah] system to prevent one from thinking you could manipulate divine energies to do
your bidding,‖ said Hecker.
Former practitioner Gary Wilson, of Mount Airy, PA, who like Tantros attended the Ardmore
Centre in suburban Philadelphia, said that he was shunned, like others he knows, when he
criticized the ―autocratic style‖ of the local leader. And Rick Ross, of the Institute for the
Study of Destructive Cults, in New Jersey, says that some Kabbalah Centre staffers had
advised students to leave a spouse or partner who resists its teachings, counseling that the
critic is ―a negative spiritual influence.‖ A rabbi for Jews for Judaism, which monitors
missionary groups and cults, said he had received complaints about the Centre‘s ―high-
pressure fundraising tactics,‖ in which people are told ―good things only come to them if
money goes to the Centre.‖ (Jim Remsen, Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 7/31/03)
Kids of North Jersey Inc.
Cult Environment Alleged
The approach of Kids of New Jersey rehabilitation center head Miller Newton was not,
according to prosecuting attorney Philip Elberg, about ―tough love‖ but about ―destroying
families as they existed and creating a new family with Miller Newton as the father and Ruth
Ann Newton as the mother.‖
Dozens of teenagers with behavior problems who went through the center — which has now
been closed following suits for Medicaid over-billing — have described the experience as a
living hell. Elberg, who won a $4.5 million settlement for one of the teenagers in 1999,
alleges now that Newton, a 63-year-old rehabilitation guru, violated client Lulu Corter‘s civil
rights, provided treatment that deviated from standard care, and caused her emotional,
physical, and psychological damage. A Utah prosecutor called the program Newton operated
in his state ―a sort of private jail, using techniques such as torture.‖
Witnesses have supported the allegation that Lulu, who entered the facility with an eating
disorder and compulsive behavior, was ―brainwashed.‖ They said that Miller routinely
required patients to shun their families and families to shun children who left the program
before graduating. Lulu, whose parents signed her into the program in 1984, when she was
13, and who ran from it in 1997, said that Newton discouraged her and her mother from
attending her older sister‘s wedding because the sister had left the program too soon.
Former patients who took the stand spoke of the center‘s rules and regulations. Initially,
they had to sit ramrod straight for 12 hours of group therapy daily. They were prohibited
from writing, making telephone calls, or going to the bathroom alone. Graduates were
coerced to remain as staff members. Patients were returned to the earliest, harsh stage of
treatment for the slightest infraction.
Lulu said that she, like others, made up stories during therapy — saying she had sex with a
dog and that her uncle had molested her — in order to advance toward release through the
stages of the program without falling back. Staff psychiatrists say in their depositions that
they rarely saw patients. Attorney Elberg says Newton ―rented licenses‖ and that peer
counselors used rubber stamps to sign psychiatrists‘ names to reports in order to collect
private and Medicaid insurance.
Newton has a 1981 Ph.D. in public administration and urban anthropology from The Union
Institute, in Cincinnati, which calls itself an ―alternative learner-directed‖ school without
