cover their living expenses so they could devote themselves to full-time learning. However, Brandwein faced difficulty in finding funds for the yeshiva and publishing. Berg had become Brandwein's book distributor and fund raiser in the United States, and it is likely he was encouraged by Brandwein to establish the National Institute for the Research in Kabbalah in New York in 1965 to aid the yeshiva. Berg was studying with another of Ashlag's American students, Levi I. Krakovsky, of Brooklyn. Krakovsky was interested in publishing his books through the National Institute, but Brandwein did not agree. In Brandwein's letters to Berg, he also clarified that he did not encourage seeking or accepting funds from non-Jews for the yeshiva, as this was forbidden according to halakha. Eventually, Brandwein allowed Berg to teach one student Kabbalah, and in 1966 Berg received an additional rabbinic ordination from Brandwein which certified his knowledge of Kabbalah. This was subsequently revoked when he started publishing works which were deemed heretical due to pantheistic dogmas. He was subsequently excommunicated by Brandnwein. This excommunication was affirmed by all major rabbis within the Ashlag school of thought. The Kabbalah Center Berg founded was subsequently deemed a school of heresy and idol worship by the entirety of Orthodox Jewish leadership . After Brandwein's death in 1969, Berg returned to the United States and began working again with his former secretary (and future wife) Karen, on the condition that she let him teach her Kabbalah, a discipline he claimed was reserved exclusively for men. In 1971, Philip and Karen married and traveled to Israel. It was there that they changed their surname from Gruberger to Berg, as it was a common practice to shorten a European Jewish surname upon moving to Israel. In 1973, the Bergs returned to Queens, New York, where they established their full-time headquarters during the 1980s. Berg, who had been ill since suffering a stroke in 2004, died on September 16, 2013. He was generally reported to be 86 (although the Los Angeles Times reported that according to public records he was 84). He is survived by his wife Karen and two sons, Yehuda and Michael, who have led the Kabbalah Centre since his stroke. They and their mother, Karen were also excomunicated. Besides these two children Berg also had eight children from his first marriage that renounced Berg and his teachings. The Research Centre of Kabbalah In