Madonna News

Sep 19

'Spiritual Girl' has paparazzi, prayer-filled Rosh Hashana

Madonna is to speak Sunday night at the "Spirituality For Kids" benefit for a "spiritual fund for children" at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, following a holiday weekend of prayers, religious study, and a paparazzi mishap.
Hosted by Dan Shilon, the evening will include speeches from Labor Party leader Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert, and Druse leader Sheikh Abulrocan. Singers Ahinoam Nini and Amal Murkus, a Palestinian, are to perform.
"The 'Spirituality For Kids' Israel event will mark the beginning of a peace movement that will show children and adults around the world that the road toward peace begins with embracing your voice and others' with compassion, respect, and acceptance," the US-based Kabbalah Center wrote in a press release.
The Catholic-bred American pop icon is in town for the Kabbalah Center's Rosh Hashana gathering.
The pop diva's first venture out of her hotel on Friday night resulted in turmoil, sending two photographers and a policeman to hospital.
As she went out for a brief walk along the Herbert Samuel Promenade in Tel Aviv and then for a bite to eat, photographers tailed Madonna's moves. But two of her bodyguards hit the lens-men. First an Associated Press photographer was attacked, then another photographer coming to his rescue was assaulted, and finally a policeman hoping to end the scuffle suffered wounds.
"Two security guards were detained for questioning by the Tel Aviv police department," police spokeswoman Liat Pearl said.
Since her arrival Wednesday evening, Madonna has spent the majority of her time in the confines of the David Intercontinental Hotel.
On Thursday, she and husband filmmaker Guy Ritchie attended a lecture in the hotel delivered by their spiritual teacher, Eitan Yardeni of the LA Kabbalah Center.
Some 2,000 Kabbala enthusiasts from 22 countries are taking part in the Rosh Hashana conference. Other celebrities rumored to be coming for the congress include Marla Maples, ex-wife of business tycoon Donald Trump, actress Demi Moore, and fashion designer Donna Karan.
"It's an annual world convention," said Shaul Youdkevitch, head of the Kabbalah Center's Tel Aviv branch. "Usually it's held in the States; this year there was a decision to hold it in Israel. And the only place big enough is in Tel Aviv."
Familiar to controversy, Madonna's participation in the conference has caused ire among both Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians charge her of ignoring their suffering, while Orthodox Jews have portrayed her as religiously insensitive.
Kabbala has long been thought of as the exclusive domain of devout male scholars. But US-born rabbi, and the director of the Kabbalah Center and Madonna's guru, Philip Berg, popularized it in the West in the 1960s.
"It is forbidden to teach a non-Jew Kabbala, not even Talmud, not even simple Torah," leading kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri told AP Television.
"Non-Jews can study Kabbala and women can study Kabbala. There are some people who don't understand that the Middle Ages aren't over yet," said Youdkevitch, in response.
For her part, Madonna, who reportedly no longer performs on Shabbat, has said she is not following some trend but is truly devoted to Kabbala. She has used Hebrew letters and Jewish prayer accessories in her music video clips. And she wears a red thread on her wrist to ward off the evil eye.
Besides prayer services, the conference itinerary includes trips to popular tourist sites including the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, and the graves of famous kabbalists in Safed.
source : jpost.com

Categories : General News