Stranger-friends in Monte Carlo… ready play the game?

 “When is your book coming out in English?” is probably the question I heard the most amount of times in the past three years since I left Hungary. And as much as I’d love to put effort in translating my short stories I have to admit: my mind is like it’s pulled by a bunch of wild horses. In my head I’m always involved with a next project, and I just can’t revisit a book I’m already “done with” in my head. But maybe now… This summer I’m bringing out a new book and in my opinion this is the One I should get done in English as well.

Can you imagine a guy going on a crazy adventure with a complete stranger? Well, now you can: that guy is me. I met my travel buddy, Mary trough Craigslist, where she advertised a rather peculiar opportunity. She needed company for a luxury cruise all over Europe. As we went trough a serious rough patch with my boyfriend back then I decided: it’s time for me to think outside the box… and inside a cabin of the Norwegian Jade. Mary and I spent together eight unforgettable days, and as I got to know more and more about her I found out: my heart wasn’t even broken, next to hers. Our adventures brought us to a fancy wedding on the street in Palma de Mallorca, Naples’s most famous pizza place, known from the bestseller Eat Pray Love, and to the shrine of the Casinos, Monte Carlo, where Mary won a small (well, a really small) fortune on the poker machine.

As I was dancing my nights away on the fancy dress parties with the retired couples and posh American tourists I quickly realized… I’m not so miserable after all, and by the time our ship returned to Barcelona my diary was filled with the most amazing memories a writer can dream of. And now I know how grateful I am for that “almost-break-up” what brought me to experience the ultimate journey of a heart in love. A 4 page story of our trip has been published in the Hungarian Marie Claire magazine, and this summer the best of the rest is hitting the bookstores. This will be my message in a bottle. I believe it can be a secret map to find the island of happiness for all of us.

Kabbalah isn’t what most people think it is. It isn’t a Jewish thing. It isn’t a Madonna thing. It isn’t a self-help thing. It’s not a religion, and in truth, it’s not even spirituality. Kabbalah is a 2000-year-old wisdom for change that over a million people around the world are learning. It is the same wisdom that was once taught and understood only by thought leaders throughout history, including Plato, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein, all of whom used it to uncover the fundamental nature of this world—ahead of their time. Today, because of modern technology the wisdom of Kabbalah is available to anyone who wants to learn.

A bestselling author and luminary authority on Kabbalah, Yehuda Berg is part of a long line of Kabbalistic masters, and the son of Rav and Karen Berg. Recognized as “the world’s leading authority on the Kabbalah movement” by Newsweek, the magazine named him as one of the top five rabbis in the U.S. in 2007. In 2009, GQ magazine’s The Gentlemen’s Fund honored him for being an Agent of Change in the field of Education. Yehuda has authored more than 30 books on topics ranging from self-empowerment and depression to sex and the Bible. His bestsellers are “The Power of Kabbalah” and “The 72 Names of God”, which have been translated into 20 and 14 languages respectively. His daily Tune-ups are sent to more than 200,000 fans, and he contributes regularly to Huffington Post. Yehuda speaks internationally and teaches thousands of people from all walks of life. He believes in the power of human consciousness and personal transformation, and utilizes Kabbalah as a tool for change.

Each and every one of us has a Divine spark of potential inside, a purpose to fulfill in this lifetime. If we are alive, we are here on earth for a reason and we are capable of more. The reason our lives are filled with confusion, uncertainty and fear is because we are not on the path towards achieving our potential. But learning the wisdom of Kabbalah rouses us from our sleep, awakening us to our greater potential, activating our inner compass, and pointing us in the direction of what we came here to do—to shift our mindset and awaken consciousness on a personal level so that we can achieve lasting global change. This is the purpose of studying Kabbalah… and that is why you can’t miss this opportunity to meet Yehuda in Hungary, on the 19th of May, 6 pm sharp, at the Alexandra Bookstore, Andrassy avenue, Budapest. To register for the event, please click here.

Happy birthday, Sylvia, princess of honesty.

“I love people. Everybody. I love them, I think, as a stamp collector loves his collection. Every story, every incident, every bit of conversation is raw material for me. My love’s not impersonal yet not wholly subjective either. I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not omniscient. I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have. And you cannot regard your own life with objective curiosity all the time…”

Cover photo by the legendary Greg Gorman

My book tells how a Buddhist family raised up confused child who went trough heaven and hell. Partying with Paris Hilton, interviewing all kind of celebrities and throwing up my dinner in the restaurant’s bathroom… I just didn’t see the point anymore. I got addicted to painkillers and antidepressants and I developed a serious eating disorder. Buy the time when I realized how fucked up I am, it was kind of too late to get out from the roller coaster. The turning point was when my beloved Mom died. I went to India to spread her ashes in the River Ganges and I asked myself: what the hell am I doing? A lot happened since then. Now I live in Tel Aviv with my most amazing boyfriend, a soon to be doctor and I am healing my soul. Finally I lift myself up to the back of my horse, and I can see the place where I belong. I can see the light in the end of the tunnel. I am not there yet… but I know that I am on the way, and the journey is always more exciting then the destination. A trip trough family affairs, sex, fame, love and spiritualism…

My book will be published in Hungary by a major publisher, Jaffa, on the 6th of November. If you speak Hungarian or you happen to be the head of a world famous publishing house and your only desire is to make me fuckin’ freakin’ rich and famous, than go ahead and order your copy: elorendeles@jaffa.hu. And speaking about serious stuff: the 10% of my royalty will be a donation for the Kids Creating Peace organization. The program is helping Arab, Jewish and Christian children to socialize trough creative games and drama, so they will experience the joy of living together in a world, which doesn’t belong to anyone and yet it’s everyone’s. One world… every child.