Episodes

  • Cultural and Intellectual Influence.
    May 10 2026
    Cultural and Intellectual Influence. Impact on Jewish Practice, Law, and Thought. Kabbalah exerted significant influence on Jewish practice through the integration of mystical customs and liturgical innovations, particularly following the 16th-century Safed renaissance. In Safed, kabbalists developed the Kabbalat Shabbat service, incorporating Psalms and hymns such as Lekha Dodi by Solomon Alkabetz and Yedid Nefesh by Elazar Azikri, aimed at welcoming the Shekhinah on Friday evenings. Similarly, the Tikkun Leil Shavuot, an all-night Torah study ritual inspired by the Zohar, originated in Safed circles and became a widespread observance. Other customs include the recitation of Eshet Hayil at the Shabbat table to praise the feminine divine aspect and midnight vigils (tikkun chatzot) for lamenting the exile of the Shekhinah, emphasizing meditative prayer and Torah study from midnight to dawn. In Jewish law (halakha), kabbalistic interpretations provided esoteric rationales for commandments, influencing codifiers who blended mysticism with legal rigor. Joseph Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch (1565), referenced the Zohar dozens of times and incorporated kabbalistic views, such as permitting tefillin on Chol HaMoed based on mystical precedents, as detailed in his diary of revelations Maggid Meisharim. Figures like the Ramban and Vilna Gaon fused kabbalah with halakhic conservatism, using mystical texts to deepen ritual observance, such as emphasizing inner piety during mitzvot performance. This connection posits halakha and kabbalah as complementary, with the former ensuring external compliance and the latter infusing spiritual intent. Kabbalah reshaped Jewish thought by offering a metaphysical framework of divine emanations via the sefirot and concepts like tzimtzum, later popularized through Hasidism in the 18th century. Hasidic leaders, building on Lurianic kabbalah, emphasized immanentism—God's presence filling all reality—and avodah be-gashmiyut, worship through corporeal acts to elevate the material world. Key innovations include katnut and gadlut states in prayer, transitioning from constriction to expansive divine union, and hitlahavut, passionate cleaving to God during study and devotion. This democratized mysticism, shifting focus to personal spiritual psychology and making esoteric ideas accessible for everyday ethical and theological application, thereby revitalizing Orthodox thought against rationalist critiques. Parallels and Borrowings in Non-Jewish Mysticism. Christian Kabbalah emerged in the late 15th century amid Renaissance humanism, as scholars such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin adapted Jewish Kabbalistic concepts like the sefirot and gematria to support Christian theological arguments, positing Kabbalah as a prisca theologia that affirmed the divinity of Christ. Pico's 900 Theses (1486) integrated Kabbalistic interpretations of Hebrew letters and numbers to derive Trinitarian doctrines, while Reuchlin's De Arte Cabalistica (1517) framed Kabbalah as a universal mystical language compatible with Neoplatonic emanationism and Christian revelation. This borrowing transformed Kabbalah from a Jewish esoteric tradition into a tool for Christian apologetics, influencing subsequent occultists despite opposition from Jewish authorities who viewed it as misappropriation. In the 17th century, Rosicrucian manifestos and alchemical circles incorporated Kabbalistic structures, such as the Tree of Life, into a syncretic system blending Christian mysticism, Hermetic philosophy, and alchemy, portraying the sefirot as stages of spiritual transmutation akin to alchemical processes. This tradition viewed Kabbalah's emanative hierarchy as paralleling Hermetic principles of correspondence ("as above, so below") and divine intermediaries, though such parallels often stemmed from shared Neoplatonic influences rather than direct derivation. Rosicrucian texts emphasized Kabbalistic meditation on divine names for enlightenment, extending Jewish practices into gentile esoteric orders without the halakhic constraints of original Kabbalah. The 19th-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn further borrowed and hybridized Kabbalah through "Hermetic Qabalah," developed by figures like Eliphas Lévi and S.L. MacGregor Mathers, who mapped the sefirot onto Tarot, astrology, and Enochian magic, creating a non-Jewish framework for ritual invocation and pathworking. This adaptation paralleled Kabbalah's theurgic elements but decoupled them from monotheistic Torah observance, prioritizing personal gnosis over communal ethics, as seen in Aleister Crowley's Liber 777 (1909), which tabulated Kabbalistic correspondences for occult operations. Scholarly analyses note that while structural parallels exist—such as hierarchical emanations resembling Neoplatonic hypostases—these borrowings frequently distorted Kabbalah's anthropomorphic and theosophical core to fit Western occult ...
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    10 mins
  • External Criticisms and Misappropriations.
    May 10 2026
    External Criticisms and Misappropriations. Christian Polemics and Supersessionist Claims. Christian scholars in the Renaissance, such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), appropriated Kabbalistic texts to argue that they encoded Christian doctrines like the Trinity and Incarnation, positing that these hidden meanings demonstrated Judaism's obsolescence in favor of Christianity's fulfillment. Pico's Conclusiones cabalisticae within his 900 Theses (1486) claimed Kabbalah revealed the unity of God in three persons and the Messiah's divinity, interpreting Hebrew letter permutations and Sefirot as proofs overlooked by Jews. This supersessionist framework implied Jewish mystics possessed incomplete or distorted knowledge, requiring Christian revelation to unlock true esoteric wisdom. Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) advanced similar interpretations in De arte cabalistica (1517), portraying Kabbalah as a universal philosophy aligning with Neoplatonism and Christianity, where divine names evoked Trinitarian emanations and prophetic fulfillment in Christ. Reuchlin's defense of Jewish books against destruction, amid the 1509–1520 Pfefferkorn controversy, provoked polemics from theologians like Jakob van Hoogstraten, who accused him of heresy for promoting "Judaizing" mysticism that undermined Church authority. Critics contended Kabbalah fostered superstition and magic, labeling its practices as demonic deceptions rather than divine secrets, and linked it to broader anti-Jewish efforts to confiscate texts like the Zohar. These supersessionist appropriations persisted in figures like Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, whose Kabbala Denudata (1677–1684) translated Zoharic passages to affirm Christological readings of Sefirot as Trinitarian hypostases, arguing Jews concealed messianic prophecies to resist conversion. Polemical responses from orthodox clergy, including condemnations by the Inquisition, viewed such engagements as perilous syncretism, equating Kabbalah with occult heresy that distorted scripture and perpetuated Jewish error post-Incarnation. By the Reformation, reformers like Martin Luther echoed these critiques, dismissing Kabbalah as futile rabbinic invention unable to supersede the Gospel's plain truths. Modern Commercializations: Kabbalah Centre and Celebrity Endorsements. The Kabbalah Centre, founded by Philip S. Berg in New York in 1969, represents a modern adaptation of Kabbalistic teachings that prioritizes accessibility over traditional prerequisites such as prior Torah scholarship or Orthodox Jewish observance. Berg, born Shraga Feivel Gruberger in Brooklyn in 1927 and a former insurance salesman, claimed mentorship from Kabbalists including Yehuda Ashlag's son and an anonymous rabbi in Israel during a 1964 visit, though these lineages have been disputed by traditional Jewish scholars for lacking verifiable rabbinic ordination. Under Berg and his second wife, Karen Berg, the organization expanded internationally, establishing over 50 branches by the early 2000s and rebranding Kabbalah as a universal spiritual tool detached from its Jewish ritual context, emphasizing concepts like "sharing light" to mitigate negative energies. The Centre's operations have centered on commercial dissemination of Kabbalistic materials, including scanned editions of the Zohar sold for up to $495 per set, protective red string bracelets priced at $26, and specialized water or candles marketed for spiritual benefits, generating reported annual revenues exceeding $20 million by 2005. Courses and consultations require payment, with introductory classes costing hundreds of dollars, prompting accusations of profiting from esoteric traditions historically transmitted orally and selectively within Jewish communities. Jewish critics, including Orthodox rabbis, argue this model distorts authentic Kabbalah by reducing complex metaphysical systems to consumer products, ignoring prohibitions against studying such texts without rigorous preparation and fostering superficial engagement that borders on superstition rather than mystical insight. Celebrity endorsements significantly amplified the Centre's visibility in the early 2000s, with Madonna emerging as its most prominent advocate after joining in 1996; she donated millions, adopted the Hebrew name Esther, and integrated Kabbalistic themes into her 2004 Re-Invention Tour and album Confessions on a Dance Floor, reportedly influencing the organization's growth to over 200,000 students worldwide. Other adherents included Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, whose 2005 marriage was officiated by a Centre teacher, as well as Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Roseanne Barr, who publicly wore red strings and credited Kabbalah for personal transformations. These figures' involvement lent cultural cachet, spurring media coverage and enrollment spikes, but also drew scrutiny for promoting a version of Kabbalah that traditionalists ...
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    10 mins
  • Sabbatean, Frankist, and Antinomian Abuses.
    May 10 2026
    Sabbatean, Frankist, and Antinomian Abuses.
    Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), a Sephardic rabbi and Kabbalist from Smyrna, proclaimed himself the long-awaited Messiah in May 1665, igniting a messianic fervor that spread rapidly through Jewish communities in Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and beyond, with estimates of hundreds of thousands of adherents by 1666. His chief prophet, Nathan of Gaza (1643–1680), reinterpreted Lurianic Kabbalah to frame Zevi's forced conversion to Islam in September 1666—under threat of execution by Ottoman authorities—as a deliberate mystical descent into the realm of impurity (kelipot) to retrieve divine sparks trapped there, thereby advancing cosmic redemption. This theology evolved into an antinomian doctrine positing that deliberate violation of Torah commandments, including sexual taboos, constituted "redemption through sin," where transgression paradoxically elevated the soul by exhausting the power of evil shells. Followers reportedly engaged in practices such as adultery, incest, and orgiastic rites, justified as sacred acts to shatter divine exile, with fast days turned into feasts and moral boundaries dissolved in pursuit of messianic breakthrough.
    Despite Zevi's death in 1676, Sabbatean cells persisted underground, including the Dönmeh sect in Salonika and Constantinople, who outwardly adopted Islam while preserving crypto-Sabbatean rituals blending Kabbalistic meditation with antinomian secrecy. These groups' excesses—documented in rabbinic polemics and excommunications—fueled widespread disillusionment, as initial enthusiasm gave way to reports of familial disruption, financial ruin from messianic donations, and ethical scandals that eroded communal trust. Rabbinic authorities, such as those in Amsterdam and Italy, issued bans against Sabbatean sympathizers, associating unchecked Kabbalistic speculation with such aberrations and thereby intensifying traditional prohibitions on disseminating esoteric texts to the uninitiated.
    Jacob Frank (c. 1726–1791), a Podolian merchant's son raised amid Sabbatean undercurrents in Ottoman territories, founded Frankism in the 1750s as a radical offshoot, claiming incarnation as Zevi's successor and the biblical patriarchs. Operating primarily in Poland-Lithuania, Frank's sect escalated antinomianism into systematic ritual transgression, including group sexual encounters framed as "purification through defilement," where participants—often involving family members—engaged in acts of incest and promiscuity to invert and thereby transcend Torah law, drawing on distorted Kabbalistic notions of uniting opposites. Eyewitness accounts from the 1756 Lanškroun gathering describe Frank orchestrating such rites, leading to accusations of moral depravity and cultic coercion; Frank himself was imprisoned by Polish bishops in 1760 for these practices before a mass conversion to Catholicism in 1759, after which adherents maintained covert Frankist cells while publicly assimilating.
    Frankist theology explicitly repudiated normative Judaism, advocating the abolition of halakhic observance in favor of esoteric "knowledge" attained through sin, which Frank dictated in aphoristic writings collected posthumously. These abuses prompted vehement rabbinic opposition, including the 1759 Lwów disputation where Frankists leveled blood libels against rabbinic Judaism to curry favor with authorities, resulting in their excommunication and the burning of Talmudic texts. The scandals reinforced Orthodox wariness toward Lurianic Kabbalah's messianic emphases, contributing to stricter gatekeeping—such as confining study to married men over forty versed in Talmud—to preclude interpretations that could rationalize ethical dissolution as spiritual elevation.


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    4 mins
  • Orthodox Prohibitions: Age, Gender, and Preparation.
    May 10 2026
    Orthodox Prohibitions: Age, Gender, and Preparation.
    In traditional Orthodox Judaism, the study of Kabbalah has been subject to stringent prohibitions aimed at preventing misinterpretation, spiritual harm, or heresy, with restrictions centered on the student's age, gender, and preparatory qualifications. These guidelines, rooted in medieval rabbinic caution, emphasize that Kabbalah's esoteric doctrines require mature discernment to avoid psychological distress or doctrinal deviation, as articulated by authorities like Rabbi Moshe Cordovero in the 16th century, who warned of its dangers without proper foundation.
    The age restriction, commonly set at 40 years, derives from a Mishnah in Avot (5:26) stating "at forty, wisdom," which later commentators extended to mystical texts to ensure intellectual and ethical maturity. This threshold was formalized in works like the Magen Avraham (17th century gloss on the Shulchan Aruch), prohibiting study before 40 to safeguard against premature exposure to abstract concepts that could lead to confusion or apostasy. However, this is not a binding halachic rule in the Shulchan Aruch itself (Yoreh De'ah 246), and exceptions abound: the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, d. 1572) taught disciples in their youth, and Hasidic masters like the Baal Shem Tov disseminated Kabbalistic ideas broadly without strict age limits, arguing that spiritual readiness trumps chronological age.
    Gender prohibitions exclude women from Kabbalah study, aligning with broader exemptions for women from intensive Torah obligations, particularly time-bound or intellectual pursuits deemed unsuitable for domestic roles, as per Talmudic precedents in Kiddushin 29b. Rabbinic sources, such as the Zohar (itself a core Kabbalistic text), imply male-centric transmission, with women barred to preserve doctrinal purity and avoid symbolic imbalances in Kabbalah's gendered sefirot cosmology. While some modern Orthodox voices advocate limited access for women via popularized texts, traditionalists maintain the exclusion, citing risks of misunderstanding the system's androgynous divine imagery without male scholarly mentorship.
    Preparation demands extensive prior Torah mastery, piety, marital stability, and guided instruction, as outlined by the Ramban (Nachmanides, 13th century) and echoed in Safed Kabbalistic circles, requiring proficiency in Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, and halachah before esoteric delving. Students must be married—ideally with children—to embody ethical wholeness, free from youthful impulsivity, and study under a qualified teacher to contextualize revelations, preventing the antinomian abuses seen in movements like Sabbateanism. These criteria, per Rabbi Chaim Vital (Arizal's disciple), ensure Kabbalah enhances rather than supplants practical observance, with violations historically linked to heresy outbreaks.


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    3 mins
  • Criticisms from Within Judaism. Medieval Rationalist Objections.
    May 10 2026
    Criticisms from Within Judaism.
    Medieval Rationalist Objections.
    Medieval Jewish rationalists, exemplified by Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), objected to mystical doctrines that presaged Kabbalah by insisting on a rigorously incorporeal and unified conception of God, rejecting any intermediaries or emanations that implied division within the divine essence. Maimonides systematically demystified proto-Kabbalistic elements, such as the reification of angels, the shekhinah (divine presence), or ritual purity as possessing independent ontological status, interpreting them instead as metaphors for natural forces or psychological states conducive to intellectual perfection. In works like the Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed, he excluded esoteric texts such as Sefer Yetzirah—later foundational to Kabbalah—from the Jewish canon, viewing their ascription of creative powers to Hebrew letters or numbers as superstitious and incompatible with Aristotelian causality, which demands empirical observation over speculative symbolism.
    Followers of Maimonidean rationalism extended these critiques to explicit Kabbalistic innovations, such as the doctrine of the sefirot, ten dynamic emanations channeling divine influx, which they condemned as introducing multiplicity and hierarchy into the absolute unity of God (yichud), verging on heresy akin to Neoplatonic or Gnostic compromises of monotheism.
    Thinkers like Shem Tov ibn Falaquera (c. 1225–1295), a committed Aristotelian, prioritized philosophical exegesis of scripture through logic and science, dismissing mystical theosophy as subjective fancy that obscured Torah's rational core and risked anthropomorphism under guise of esoteric depth. This stance reflected a broader causal realism: true divine knowledge arises from human intellect aligning with observable order, not from unverified visions or theurgic manipulations purportedly affecting celestial realms.
    These objections fueled ongoing tensions, as Kabbalah emerged partly as a mystical riposte to rationalism's perceived aridity, yet rationalists countered that esoteric secrecy fostered dogmatism and elitism, undermining Judaism's universal ethical imperatives derived from reason. By the late medieval period, such critiques persisted in Spanish Jewish philosophy, where rationalists like Profiat Duran (c. 1350–1415) emphasized linguistic and logical analysis over kabbalistic allegory, attributing greater fidelity to tradition's plain sense. Despite Kabbalah's growing influence post-1270 with the Zohar, Maimonidean purism endured as a bulwark against what rationalists saw as innovation masquerading as ancient wisdom.


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    3 mins
  • Interpretations and Branches.
    May 10 2026
    Interpretations and Branches. Classical vs. Lurianic Kabbalah. Classical Kabbalah, spanning from the 12th to the early 16th centuries, primarily draws from texts like the Sefer ha-Bahir (c. 1180) and the Zohar (late 13th century, attributed to Moses de León), emphasizing a theosophical framework of divine emanation. In this system, the infinite divine essence (Ein Sof) unfolds through ten sefirot—structured attributes or channels representing intellect, emotion, and action—that form the blueprint of creation and the soul's ascent via contemplative union. Practices focused on meditative visualization of the sefirot tree and theurgic rituals to influence divine flow (shefa), with evil viewed as an imbalance or privation within the unified structure rather than an independent force. Lurianic Kabbalah, formulated by Isaac Luria (1534–1572) in Safed, Palestine, revolutionized this paradigm through oral teachings recorded by his disciple Hayyim Vital in works like Etz Hayyim (published posthumously in the 18th century). Luria introduced tzimtzum, the primordial contraction of divine light to form a void for finite creation, followed by shevirat ha-kelim (shattering of vessels), where primordial lights overwhelmed and fractured the lower sefirot, scattering holy sparks (nitzotzot) into shells of impurity (klipot). This cosmology posits evil as ontologically real, arising from the cosmic rupture, necessitating human-led tikkun (rectification) through precise mitzvot to elevate sparks and restore primordial harmony, elevating ritual observance to a messianic imperative. Key divergences lie in ontology and soteriology: classical models maintain a static, emanationist procession from unity to multiplicity without catastrophe, prioritizing intellectual mysticism and equilibrium among sefirot. Lurianic thought, conversely, depicts a dynamic, fractured cosmos demanding active repair, shifting emphasis from passive contemplation to performative ethics where every deed participates in rebuilding the divine form (adam kadmon). This innovation explained the exile of Israel post-70 CE Temple destruction as mirroring cosmic breakage, fostering widespread adoption in Safed's academies by 1570 and influencing subsequent Jewish thought, though critics like Moses Cordovero (1522–1570) favored retaining classical harmony over Luria's dramatic upheaval. While classical Kabbalah restricted study to elite scholars versed in Talmud, Lurianic dissemination via Vital's codifications democratized esoteric praxis, integrating it into liturgy like Lekhah Dodi hymns, yet retained prohibitions against unguided interpretation to avert antinomian errors. Empirical traces of Luria's impact appear in 16th-century Safed manuscripts, where over 20 disciples documented variants, underscoring interpretive pluralism absent in unified classical texts. Hasidic Popularization and Democratization. The Hasidic movement, initiated by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov (c. 1698–1760), emerged in the 1730s–1740s in Podolia (present-day Ukraine) amid socioeconomic distress following the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648–1657 and subsequent pogroms, which left Eastern European Jewish communities seeking spiritual renewal. The Baal Shem Tov, a former communal leader and healer, drew from Lurianic Kabbalah—particularly its doctrines of divine contraction (tzimtzum), the shattering of primordial vessels (shevirat ha-kelim), and human participation in cosmic rectification (tikkun)—but reframed these esoteric concepts for mass appeal by prioritizing ecstatic prayer, joyful worship, and unmediated divine attachment (devekut) over intellectual mastery. This shift elevated spiritual intention (kavanah) in everyday rituals, enabling even illiterate Jews to engage in mystical elevation of mundane acts, such as eating or working, as acts of repairing the divine sparks (nitzotzot) scattered in the material world. Hasidism democratized Kabbalah by dismantling traditional barriers to its study, which had restricted it to elite, married male scholars over age 40 proficient in Talmud and philosophy, as codified by figures like Moses Cordovero and echoed in Lurianic circles. The Baal Shem Tov and his successor, Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch (d. 1772), taught that genuine devekut transcended textual expertise, allowing women, youth, and the unlearned to access Kabbalistic insights through emotional fervor and the tzaddik (righteous leader)'s intercession, who served as a communal conduit for divine influx (shefa). This approach proliferated via itinerant preachers and courts (shtiblekh), fostering a network of dynasties like Chabad and Breslov by the late 18th century, with estimates of Hasidic adherents reaching tens of thousands by 1800 across Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Key texts, such as the apocryphal Tzava'at HaRivash (attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, compiled posthumously) and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya (...
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    10 mins
  • Later Works: Cordovero, Vital, and Hasidic Innovations.
    May 10 2026
    Later Works: Cordovero, Vital, and Hasidic Innovations.
    Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522–1570), known as the Ramak, produced a systematic synthesis of prior Kabbalistic thought in Safed, Galilee, most notably in his Pardes Rimonim (Orchard of Pomegranates), completed around 1548. This work organizes the expansive Kabbalistic literature into a structured code, akin to Maimonides' codification of Jewish law, presenting the sefirot and divine emanations in a comprehensive framework that reconciles earlier traditions like the Zohar with philosophical elements. Cordovero's approach emphasized intellectual rigor and accessibility for scholars, serving as a foundational text before the arrival of Isaac Luria, under whom he briefly studied.
    Chaim Vital (1542–1620), Luria's primary disciple, documented the innovative Lurianic system in Etz Chaim (Tree of Life), compiling oral teachings delivered in Safed study circles during the 1570s. This text elucidates core Lurianic doctrines, including the contraction (tzimtzum) of divine light, the shattering of vessels (shevirat ha-kelim), and their rectification (tikkun), framing creation as a dynamic process of cosmic repair rather than static emanation as in Cordovero's model. Vital's redactions, drawn from his own prolific writings, preserved Luria's esoteric cosmology, which Vital claimed derived from prophetic revelations, influencing subsequent Kabbalistic practice despite Vital's self-acknowledged role as interpreter rather than originator.
    In the 18th century, Hasidic innovators, led by Israel ben Eliezer (c. 1698–1760), the Baal Shem Tov (Besht), adapted Lurianic Kabbalah for broader Jewish audiences in Eastern Europe, shifting emphasis from elite intellectualism to emotional devekut (cleaving to God) through joyful prayer and everyday devotion. The Besht's teachings, disseminated orally and later by disciples like Dov Ber of Mezeritch, democratized mystical concepts by prioritizing sincere intent (kavanah) in mitzvot over scholarly mastery, viewing the common person as capable of elevating divine sparks via simple acts. This Hasidic synthesis integrated Kabbalistic symbolism with folk piety, fostering communal ecstatic worship and reinterpreting gilgul (reincarnation) as opportunities for personal redemption, though critics noted deviations from traditional study hierarchies.
    Traditional recommendations for authentic study of Kabbalah emphasize primary engagement with texts such as the Zohar, the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari), and Chassidic teachings, focusing on spiritual and interpretive depth rather than claims of supernatural abilities.


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    3 mins