Following in the footsteps of the 17th and 18th century Jewish Avatars Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank, respectively -- as well as the 19th century Hindu Avatar, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -- all of whom he seeks to emulate, Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain over the course of his 72 years has studied, converted to, practiced and spiritually integrated the four major religions of the world (Judaism, Catholic Christianity, Islam and Hinduism) in order to perform the Kabbalistic Tikkun of "Repairing the Face of God" in his own person -- as have others before him such as Sabbatai Zevi, Jacob Frank and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsah  -- so that "In that day, the Lord shall be One and His name One." (Zecheriah)

Reb Yakov Leib is the author of many published works, including "Kabbalah and the Interpretation of Dreams" (published in the Jungian anthology, Modern Jew in Search of a Soul), "For the Sake of God: An Answer to Jung" (in the Journal of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco), and also "To Die for the People: A Jewish Interpretation of the Crucifixion" (in The Priest: A Journal of Catholic Theology). His other writings have appeared in magazines and journals such as Midstream, Evergreen Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Catholic Critic, Dor L'Dor: Journal of the World Jewish Bible Society of Jerusalem, The Newsletter of the Orthodox Jewish Teacher's Association of New York, and Choice: A Yearly Anthology of Poetry -- and his poetry blog can be found at http://donmehwest.wordpress.com/.

Between 1980 and 1985 Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain studied Kabbalah under his mentor, the Jungian Kabbalist James Kirsch, who at that time was among the last surviving members of C. G. Jung's original inner circle and the founder (at Jung's behest) of the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles -- the first in the United States -- where Reb Yakov Leib did an additional three years of advanced studies. He also studied with, was initiated into Vedanta by, and experienced full Samadhi under the guidance of his guru, Swami Swahananda, head of the Ramakrishna Order of India in Southern California, where Reb Yakov Leib has since been a frequent speaker and teacher over the years.

Presently in his seventy-second year, Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain began his public teaching in 1972 with the founding of  Donmeh West: A Center for the Study & Practice of Neo-Sabbatian Kabbalah. For a number of years during that time he was also the non-ordained but elected Rebbe ("spiritual leader") of the South Bay Kehillah, a small congregation of overtly Orthodox but covertly Sabbatian Jews in Hermosa Beach, California. In addition, he has taught on the Jewish roots of Christianity to parishes in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Except for invitations from the Vedanta Society to give spiritual retreats on Kabbalah, Hinduism and the work of C.G. Jung, his work is now exclusively on the internet  at http://www.donmeh-west.com and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DONMEH_WEST/.