Kabbalah Bookstore Opens in Clayton

A teacher and student said this week they hope a new Clayton bookstore will help raise awareness of Kabbalah. The store, located at 8121 Maryland Ave., is the first to be opened by The Kabbalah Centre in St. Louis. 

It hosted a reception and ribbon-cutting happened Tuesday.

Kabbalah refers to a way of being, thinking and reacting, said Yehuda Guez, the Los Angeles-based teacher for the St. Louis Kabbalah Study Group. It gives students greater control over their actions, he said, and predates any religions while conflicting with none of them.

"Kabbalah is not a New Age thing," said Guez, tracing it to an ancient text called The Book of Formation.

Store manager Miriam Steinau is a Kabbalah student.

For her, Steinau said, Kabbalah provides tools that "can lead me on a path that doesn't have to include chaos and suffering." She loves the idea that people will be able to walk into the store searching and later leave with a good feeling about the place.

(Hear Steinau talk about Kabbalah in this St. Louis on the Air interview.)

St. Louis has had a Kabbalah study group for more than five years, Guez said. Of the 1,200 St. Louisans who have interacted with the group in some form, 50 are active students who regularly attend classes.

Items for sale at the Clayton store include books, CDs, DVDs, incense and candles.

The store also will host classes. Guez will visit St. Louis once a month to teach, and additional teachers will provide instruction at other times.

Among those planned:

• 7 p.m. Tuesday (weekly): Practical Kabbalah
• 7 p.m. Wednesday (weekly): Kabbalah lectures
• 7 p.m. Thursday (weekly): Ancient writings
• Jan. 15 and 29: Power of Kabbalah 1

Guez said St. Louis is blessed with a unified group of Kabbalah students. Steinau attributes that to the fact that Missouri is the Show-Me State.

Once Missourians learn about Kabbalah, she said, "it's really hitting home."