"There are clearly some similarities between the vernacular we of the Kabbalah Centre use and SFK," she wrote in an e-mail. "That is because both organizations strive for simple, universal language that makes sense to everyone, including children."
At Beachy Avenue Elementary, Principal Alan Lewis said the program's easy-to-grasp message is one reason he supports it. He said he saw improvements in children's behavior after it was used there last year.
Principal Priscilla Currie of 109th Street Elementary agreed. "When they come into the office, we talk about the good guy and the opponent," she said. When "they make the wrong choice, they [say], 'I should have listened to the good guy.' "
A 2008 Rand Corp. study funded by $80,000 from the spirituality program found that it improved children's social and study skills, leadership and communications, and helped with behavioral problems.
But others are skeptical, including Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, an adjunct chair in Jewish law and ethics at Loyola Law School, who doesn't believe the program belongs in public schools. He said that as the nation has grown more diverse and religion has been removed from the public square, there is a yearning for moral teaching. But he said the program's founders offer more hype than substance.
"Whenever there is a hunger, there is a danger that hucksters will feed the hunger with phony food," he said.
The program was discontinued at Stoner Avenue Elementary in Culver City. When asked why, Principal Pamela Williams said the school lacked funding. Reminded that the class was free, she declined to comment further and hung up.
When officials at Wonderland Avenue Elementary tried to expand the class into its magnet program this year, some parents were incensed.
"I think they're trying to spread [kabbalah] without using the word," said Carolyn McKnight, whose daughter is in fifth grade at the school.
Another mother, who asked that her name not be used because she works in Hollywood and fears repercussions and because her daughter remains at Wonderland, said she met with school and Spirituality for Kids officials. It did not assuage her doubts.
"It was really teaching a belief system as opposed to teaching situational ethics or ethics in general," she said. "It was a way of approaching life, which I just didn't feel was appropriate for a public school."
