Is Lady Gaga Jewish?

No, pop star, Lady Gaga is not a Jew. Her birth name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta and she is Catholic.

Wikipedia explains that, "Stefani was born March 28, 1986, the eldest child of Joseph Germanotta, an Italian American internet entrepreneur, and Cynthia Bissett... At the age of 11, Germanotta attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side."

Gaga's performance in Madison Square Garden in February 2011 was made into an HBO special.

Her music video, Alejandro, in 2010 stirred up religious controversy and condemnation that it is a sacrilege because the scenes in which the singer displays a cross and wears a red nun's habit alternate with scenes in which she engages in simulated sexual acts and suggestive poses and motions.

Yossi Abramowitz: Madonna is Jewish

We've been posting for nearly seven years that one of our favorite pop singers, Madonna, is not Jewish even though some of her music makes allusion to the Kabbalah and she has been involved in Kabbalah studies.

Now Yossi Abramowitz in the Jerusalem Report, strongly insinuates that Madonna is Jewish in actual fact ("YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ hails the arrival of Madonna to Israel – and to Judaism").

Yossi writes a nice column, but we just don't buy the premise of this story, especially because he has not interviewed Madonna to ask her if she has converted to Judaism. Nice try though.

Is Madonna Jewish?

No, superstar singer and dancer Madonna is not a Jew. She was born and brought up Catholic. However in recent years she has been linked to the Jewish mystical practice called Kabbalah.

On Madonna's 2005 album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor" the tenth track is controversial because it is called Isaac and contains allusions to the Kabbalah. Rabbis in Israel (mistakenly) thought Madonna was trying to cash in on the good name of Isaac Luria, the Ari, the great founder of Lurianic Kabbalah. So those good men condemned the singer and the album.

It turns out that the singer named this song in homage to her quite living London spiritual guide, a Mr. Yitzhak Sinwani - Isaac is his English name. So what do we think? Is Madonna misappropriating the Kabbalah in this song, distorting it in her now-expected sacrilegious manner? (See below for the lyrics.)

What is "Displaced Talmudic Energy?"

Jenna Weissman Joselit asks at HuffPost, "Do These Amazing Jews Have 'Displaced Talmudic Energy?'" If we bought the analysis referred to in the article about talented contemporary Jews, we would begin to refer to this syndrome as DTE. Alas we do not buy the theory.

The Talmud is a literature with distinctive contents and ways of thinking about the world. If it was a source of "energy" we would be among the first to market Talmud-Water or Talmud-Bracelets and try to get Madonna interested in the Talmud.

Wait a second, those are not bad ideas.

We do track a high sense of drama in the world of the Talmud and a conviction that we Jews are stars at the center of the stage. That is at most an idea, a concept or a meme, and not an energy bar.

Newsweek: Madonna's Philip Berg Kabbalah Center Raising Malawi Scandal

It is sad to report that instead of doing good for impoverished children in Africa, Madonna's project Raising Malawi has become a "disaster" according to Newsweek ("Madonna's Malawi Disaster").

The story implies that Philip Berg and Kabbalah Center are to blame.

JPost: David Sarna Praises Tikkun Olam

Repairing the world or Tikkun Olam is a good virtue, says writer David Sarna in the JPost, and we agree.

...Lurianic Kabbala inspired Bee Season, a highly praised first novel by Myla Goldberg, later made into a movie of the same name. Goldberg says, “For modern-day Jews who aren’t so into the traditional and deistic elements of religion, tikkun olam provides a philosophy of volunteerism. This is the idea that the world is flawed, and the only way it’s going to get better is if each individual does something to try to make it a better place.”

This secular use of tikkun olam has been embraced by Madonna, who has studied Kabbala but says she retains her belief in Jesus, as well as by Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow (the daughter of a Jewish father and Quaker mother) and others.

When Shai Agassi, originally from Israel, named his low-emission electric car infrastructure company Better Place, he was undoubtedly informed by tikkun olam, making the world a better place....more...

Exclusive: Celebrity Purim Party Picture

Mel Gibson, Madonna and Elton John 

attend a Purim party in Brooklyn.

What is the Kabbalah?

Mystical ideas were a part of Jewish belief from its earliest times. In the Middle Ages the doctrines of Jewish mysticism came to full flower. Some historians think that the bleak historical circumstances of the riots, expulsions, and persecutions of the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries forced many Jewish thinkers to retreat into the complicated and esoteric realms of mystical contemplation.

To understand this important side of medieval Jewish thought, we need first to set out a general definition of mysticism. Rufus Jones, an interpreter of mysticism, defines it as follows: "Mysticism expresses the type of religion which puts the emphasis on immediate awareness of relation with God, on direct and intimate consciousness of the Divine Presence. It is religion in its most acute, intense and living stage."

This definition focuses on the experience of God and the extreme feeling of the participant. According to this view, the mystical "moment" is far from a routine and quiet contemplation. It is an alive and vibrant dimension of religious life.

Jewish Woman Auctions Off Her Modernity on Ebay

You've heard of women who try to auction off their virginity on ebay...

Now we have a woman who offers her modernity on ebay. She offers to wear more modest clothing. Makes sense? Who is to say?

I Will Wear Tznius Clothes for a Week - bidding starts at $300.

Here is the post that explains her motives.

[Note: Picture not related to blog or auction. We just like Madonna.]

Times: Kabbalah brought Jesus Luz and Madonna together

 Here is a celebrity and her boyfriend at a Jewish mystic's tomb in Israel. 

Now, the Times is not a gossip sheet, nor is this blog interested in such mundane matters as celebrity pairings. But if Kabbalah is involved, well that is a whole other story for us.

...Jesus Pinto na Luz, who has two younger brothers, moved frequently as a child, especially after his parents split when he was almost 5 years old.

“I grew up with many ups and downs,” he said. “I also saw the beauty of people who were living an intellectual life and also people who were humble and had nothing.”

As a teenager he pursued modeling and acting, working odd jobs, including as a salesman at a surf shop in Ipanema.

“When I was a teenager, I thought I couldn’t do nothing in my life,” he said. “I felt very hopeless. And then something started to happen.”

He studied Buddhism and yoga and an ex-girlfriend introduced him to kabbalah. “I’m just looking for something to make me strong, and kabbalah has given me that,” he said. “I’m looking for something to make me comfortable and happy in my life.”

In 2006, he spent six months in New York, living with an aunt and learning English.

When he met Madonna, also a kabbalah devotee, last December, she had been divorced from the filmmaker Guy Ritchie for one month...more, "For Madonna’s Boyfriend, Fame by Association"...

AP: Lovely NY Neighbor Sues Madonna for Dancing and Loud Music

Duh! to the third power. What else is new? When you let her in to the building, maybe did you think she spent her time sitting quietly, meditating and studying the Kabbalah or the Talmud?

So which lovely neighbor is suing her? We will follow this, and we will let you know.

NYC Neighbor Sues Madonna Over Loud Music, Dancing
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) -- One of Madonna's New York neighbors says the superstar's loud music and frequent dance sessions are causing a commotion.

Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park.

She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbors to endure ''blaring music, stomping and shaking walls,'' for up to three hours each day.

George complained about ''unreasonably high-decibel, amplified music'' and vibrations pouring through walls, ceilings and radiators.

The building's board says it has already threatened to evict Madonna.

Madonna's representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Has Madonna abandoned Kabbalah?

Madonna is in Israel again.

Some say that Madonna has abandoned Kabbalah. That may mean that she no longer wears her red bendel. Does it mean she no longer wants to be called Esther? What does all this really mean to us?

In an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (2005 73(2):361-393): "Imagining Power: Magic, Miracle, and the Social Context of Rabbinic Self-Representation", Kimberly Stratton of Carleton University, Ottawa makes some ambitious claims:

In western discourse "magic" carries various negative connotations that stem from its use in ancient polemic and are reinforced by post-enlightenment biases against so-called primitive religious practices or superstitions. For this reason some scholars recommend dispensing with the term altogether (Janowitz: 18). Others see it as a potentially useful heuristic device if applied critically, noting the possibility that magic can be considered a source of power or prestige in certain societies (J. Z. Smith: 17). This article examines the ambivalent attitude toward magic in rabbinic discourse and argues that diverging portraits of it in rabbinic literature reflect different attitudes toward ritual power in Palestine and Babylonia. In other words, rabbinic writings indicate that magic could carry positive as well as negative connotations in certain parts of the ancient world and demonstrate the need to conceive of "magic" more broadly as a discourse of power- situating discussions of it in particular social contexts. Furthermore, this article seeks to illuminate the relationship between attitudes toward magic and social structure by delineating the evolving role of magic in rabbinic ideology and self-representation.

Modern rabbis are still struggling with magic, with Madonna and with the "red bendel". Here is a March 2005 posting on the subjects at Mesora:

Judaism.com supports the notion that the Red String has been infused with mystical, Kabbalistic powers at the tomb of Rachel, promising the protection of the Evil Eye. Judaism.com wants to reclaim this Red String as Jewish tradition, when if fact they admit they are ignorant of its source. It is actually heathen and idolatrous. Judaism.com also displays a video claiming the Red String becomes blessed with special authentic and proven qualities; to remove pain, defend against the Evil Eye, to bless children, and to afford easier pregnancies. Mesora intends to reveal each of these views as falsehood, and contrary to true Torah ideals.

This contemporary posting does not fit Stratton's interpretive model. I don't see how it is a "discourse of power" or in any way "ambivalent".

Speaking of magic and power, I found myself quoted in an essay on "Intercessionary Prayer, Healing and Jewish Shamanism" by Rosie Rosenzweig. She chose to illustrate her context with this passage from my Studies in Jewish Prayer (p. 17):

A primary issue at the outset of the Yavnean age was, in a word, local survival. The rabbinic leadership struggled to assert some authority against the forces of foreign political domination. Rabbinic Jews, like many other subservient subordinate populations, were essentially powerless and accordingly indigent. Day after day, the people had to struggle against the elemental forces of nature for rudimentary sustenance.

The rabbis turned their attention where they could. They espoused the view that through their knowledge and religious virtuosity, the Jew could help fend off the powers of nature, protect persons from the harm of the elements and of the unknown, of sickness, and of the dangers that lurked throughout the world inside the village.

The rabbis in the age of Yavneh afforded the Jews means to control the immediate vicissitudes of nature. Through their teachings and practices,through the rabbinic Torah, and mainly through prayer, the masters of this time postulated that they could for instance bring rain, or stop the rain. They could avert the dangers of the natural world or the likelihood of attack by bandits or other potential human enemies. They offered the people a way to cure their diseases, or at least to foretell the outcome of sicknesses. In the Yavnean period after the fall of the Temple, the rabbi who employed prayer and engaged in the study of Torah evolved by the necessity of the context in which he thrived into the local holy man par excellence of Judaic life.

Nice thoughts -- you need to read the whole book.
[repost from  8/07]

Is Britney Spears Jewish Yet?

As Andy Borowitz wrote in one of the funniest essays ever to appear in the New Yorker, Britney Spears may be a Jew soon.

Or then again, maybe not.

Borowitz reveals the entries from Britney’s Conversion Diary.

Under the sway of Jason Trawick and Madonna and with the help of the legendary Rabbi Pearlstein, Britney valiantly describes her struggles with her conversion to Judaism.

All we can say is LMJAO.

[hat tip to mimi]

A Kabbalah Purim for Madonna and Jesus Child on the Upper West Side

Revelations from The Mirror last week to explain Queen Esther's costume:

Queen of pop Madonna looked like she had raided her teenage daughter's wardrobe while out at a fancy dress party last night.

The singer wore a dark wig, Converse baseball boots and fishnets for the bash to mark the Jewish celebration of Purim at the Kabbalah centre in New York.

The eighties-style outfit, finished off with stripey arm warmers and a smiley face signet ring, wasn't a million miles away from 13-year-old Lourdes’ signature look.

Toyboy Jesus Luz also joined in on the fun, arriving as The Joker, complete with green wig, pinstripe suit and full make-up.

The 22-year-old male model arrived at the party accompanying Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry, who was dressed as Cleopatra.

The further details of the deep theological and philosophical background from The Mirror:

Madonna's new boyfriend Jesus Luz has given up his life in Brazil to move in with the superstar singer in New York – just three months after they first met.

Jesus has ditched his modelling agency in Rio de Janeiro and signed with elite agency Ford Models in the Big Apple.

And he’s set up home with the star in her Upper West Side apartment.

His new millionaire surroundings are a far cry from his life in Rio just a few months ago, when Jesus was an unknown jobbing model earning about £160 a shoot.

Madonna, 50, and Jesus, 22, have settled into such domestic bliss that she’s even cooking meals for her young boyfriend most evenings.

They have been attending Kabbalah meetings together and he has grown close to her three children Lourdes, 12, Rocco, eight, and David, three.

A source close to the couple said: “Jesus has left his old life and his old friends behind. His whole world has turned on its head since he met Madonna."

But wait, stop the presses. We just had a comment on another post that claimed something remarkable: "Lindsay Lohan is a soon-to-be Jew, by the way." Details anyone?

Alex Rodriguez Spied Shopping at Park East for Silver Judaica Gifts for Madonna

From a reliable source we learned today that Yankee star Alex Rodriguez - ARod - was seen shopping recently at the famed shop of Michael Strauss Silver Smiths, Ltd. located in the lobby of the Park East Day School building at 164 East 68th Street in New York.

ARod had to be stopped and signed in by the security officer before he could enter the building and purchase some "kabbalistic" silver baubles for his flame, the famed Madonna.

Word of the Yankee star's visit to the building spread quickly through the school.

Sorry but we don't know exactly what the famed ARod (site) bought for Madonna.

Strauss lists these objects on their web site: "Sabbath candlesticks, a kiddush cup, a seder plate, a tzedakah box - these are just a few of the items that will be cherished and will become family heirlooms."

They invite shoppers to, "Come and browse in our glittering showroom. You will see exclusive, one-of-a-kind works of modern silversmiths and authentic reproductions of the treasures of European Jewry. You may choose from modestly priced gift items - a mezuzah case, a Chanukah menorah, and many others - that are ours alone. You will receive expert advice and personal attention from our highly experienced staff. Engraving and gift wrapping are available, of course."

Kabbalah Does Not Save Marriage of Madonna and Guy Ritchie

Update: Even  the power of the Holy Kabbalah could not save Madonna's marriage.

Original post 7/6/08:

This is a perfect example of how the Kabbalah Center is helping to perfect the world through Tikkun Olam. by restoring the broken vessels and recovering the lost sparks. How lucky we are to have the great asset of the KC to make things right in this topsy turvy world for all of us poor simple folk... I guess.

RABBI HELPS MADONNA SAVE
MARRIAGE

Madonna and Guy are fighting for their future

By Mike Parker

MADONNA and Guy Ritchie have turned to a rabbi for counselling in an effort to save their marriage.

Rabbi Yehuda Berg is founder of the Los Angeles Kabbalah Centre, which practises the mystical offshoot of Judaism of which the singer is a devotee.

“He still believes they love one another,” a fellow worshipper said last night. “He believes they can work through their problems and feels that any resentments they are holding can be overcome in time.”

Madonna, 49, and film director Ritchie, 39, have both spent time with Rabbi Berg since Christmas. Madonna is said to phone him two or three times a day.

Ritchie, who embraced Madonna’s beliefs before their wedding at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands in 2000, was rumoured to have become disillusioned with the doctrine.

But the follower said: “I know from Rabbi Berg and others that he is still firm in his faith.”

The rabbi has spoken of the devastating effect divorce would have on the couple’s children – their biological son Rocco, seven, adopted son David, two, and Lourdes, 11, Madonna’s daughter from her previous relationship with her personal trainer Carlos Leon.

“It might be considered to be old-fashioned these days,” said the Kabbalah devotee, “but their kids do come first and both Madonna and Guy are very worried about how they would react to them splitting up.

“The kids might just end up being the glue that holds them together, but both Madonna and Guy as well as Rabbi Berg are aware they have a lot of negative personal issues to resolve if they are to survive as a couple long-term.”

In an ironic twist, Madonna is helping to console a fellow celebrity whose wife has left him. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez has been a regular late-night visitor to her Manhattan flat.

He and Madonna, who share the same New York agent, both deny they are having an affair.

And the Sunday Express can reveal the truth about their relationship. Rodriguez, 32, is also a devout Kabbalist and has been seeking
spiritual advice from Madonna about his marriage problems.

His wife Cynthia, 34, left him just two months after the birth of their second daughter and was last week said to be in Paris with rock star Lenny Kravitz, 44.

A source said: “Madonna has become his shoulder to cry on at a time when it looks as if his own marriage has vanished down the pan completely.

As a fellow Kabbalist and a friend already, it was kind of logical he should turn to her.”

Meanwhile, Madonna and Ritchie, who flew into New York last weekend in an effort to patch up their differences, are said to be taking their own marriage crisis “one day at a time”.

A member of Madonna’s family said yesterday: “You’ve got to admire Guy for flying in and making it very obvious to everyone he does care and doesn’t want their marriage to end.

“We’re all hoping she sees it that way too.”

UK Sun: Madonna's Guy Goes Sane and Dumps Kabbalah

Now this is not just a piece of gossip about celebrities. This blog is not into that cheap tabloid stuff.

This is an item describing a profound theological shift by a thoughtful public figure.... gotcha!

Kab for Ritchie

GUY RITCHIE and MADONNA’s marriage has been thrown deeper into meltdown after he told her he’s quitting Kabbalah.

Madge has become increasingly involved with the mystical Jewish religion, but her film director husband is a step closer to hitting the road after losing his faith.

Friends say his recent revelation has widened the gap between the pair, who are leading separate lives despite officially remaining man and wife.

Yesterday I revealed how they barely spent any time together during a three-day break in the romantic Italian city of Milan.

Now a source close to the couple has revealed: “Guy has turned his back on Kabbalah once and for all.

“He has gone hot and cold on the religion in the past, but now he’s given up on it altogether. It has always been her thing and is more a part of her life than ever.
Swerve

“Guy threw himself into it at first and even filled his movie Revolver with obscure references to the faith.

“He was genuinely into it and it helped the bond between them. But then he backtracked a little with his gestures of public backing, like wearing the bracelet, because he didn’t like being such a high-profile follower.

"He also became suspicious of all the Kabbalah crowd living off her money.

“But he always told Madonna he had kept his faith — until now.

“A few weeks ago he told her he doesn’t want anything else to do with it. It didn’t go down well.”

In March the Snatch director was snapped at his wife’s side at the Purim Jewish Festival at London’s Kabbalah Centre.

They have turned up to the annual event for the past few years dressed in elaborate fancy dress costumes — which helped make Guy a poster boy for the movement.

But it looks like Guy will give the event the swerve from now on — assuming their odd marriage survives until next March anyway.

Earlier this year The Sun revealed the couple were sleeping in separate beds, but were staying together for the sake of their kids, Lourdes, 11, Rocco, seven, and adopted two-year-old David.

The source added: “The cracks are widening and Guy’s latest revelations about Kabbalah has just taken a sledgehammer to them.”

If this was a relationship being held together by a thin red bracelet, it may have just snapped.

Madonna, Rabbis, and the President

You have to follow up on Madonna in Israel. Real Kabbalists are not happy with her trip. But she exchanged gifts with the President...

Jpost (with AP) reports:
During her trip to Israel, Madonna toasted Rosh Hashana with President Shimon Peres and declared herself an "ambassador for Judaism."

The singer, who is not Jewish, met Peres at his official Jerusalem residence on Saturday evening, and the two exchanged gifts, with Madonna receiving a lavishly-bound copy of the Old Testament.

She presented Peres with a volume of the Zohar (The Book of Splendor), the guiding text of Jewish mysticism, or Kabbala, inscribed, "To Shimon Peres, the man I admire and love, Madonna," the Yediot Aharonot daily said. A Peres aide confirmed the meeting but had no details.

Madonna arrived in Israel Wednesday night, the eve of the New Year, with her film director husband, Guy Ritchie, to attend a Kabbala conference.

Other celebrities who flew in for the event included movie star Demi Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, ex-talk show host Rosie O'Donnell and fashion designer Donna Karan.

"You don't know how popular the Book of Splendor is among Hollywood actors," Yediot quoted Madonna as telling Peres. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that." Kutcher was quoted by an Israeli daily as telling a group of Israeli businessmen and entertainers on Saturday that Kabbala had answered fundamental questions in his life and made him a better actor.

Madonna, who was raised a Roman Catholic, has taken the Hebrew name Esther, and has been seen wearing a red thread on her wrist in a Jewish tradition to ward off the evil eye. Madonna paid her first visit to Israel three years ago, on another Kabbala-centered trip.

"I can't believe that I'm celebrating the new year with you in Israel," Ma'ariv quoted her as telling Peres on Saturday. "It's a dream come true."

Haaretz: Orthodox Prefer to Worry About Chulent - Not Madonna

Madonna.

Shimon Peres hosted her - lucky dog.

Supposedly the Orthodox oppose her visit. Haaretz is sometimes quite comical in their realism about the news of the Jews.

Here the paper straightens out those who would like to create some imaginary clash between the Material Girl and the Haredi World.

WHO'S THAT GIRL?
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Jewish World Correspondent

"Rage on the streets of Mea Shearim," was until about ten years ago a pretty standard sentence in any report of real or perceived insults to Jewish ultra-Orthodox sensibilities.

It took the best efforts of a small group of dedicated journalists to change the accepted stereotype of the Haredi community as a homogeneous group, ready to take to the streets at the drop of a black hat. Most news editors and at least part of the paper-reading public now understand that there are different views within the ultra-Orthodox sector and that not all of them are Pavlovian demonstrators.

This paragraph in a Associated Press report over the Rosh Hashanah weekend proved that there at least some who still see Jewish orthodoxy in black and white: "Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie was raised a Roman Catholic, but she has become a follower of Jewish mysticism in recent years, raising the ire of many Orthodox Jews who see the adoption of Kabbalah by non-Jewish pop figures as an abomination."

Yes, well not quite.

Madonna's current visit to Israel as part of a group of Hollywood celebrities and hangers-on and their "Kabbalah conference" at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv was not high on the list of subjects for gossip among the faithful who thronged synagogues over Rosh Hashanah.....

Yes it is sad but true. They don't care about Madonna.

Warning to passing boats: Madonna to Cast Her Sins into Mediterranean Sea

jpost tourism blog reports that Madonna (our favorite pop singer and (non) kabbalist) will be performing tashlich ("casting off of sins accumulated over the past year") on the beach in Tel Aviv this year.

Small craft alert - you may be swamped by the turbulent seas that follow.

Pop star Madonna knows where she'll be performing tashlich this year. Do you? The singer, who will spend her second Rosh Hashana in Israel this month, will participate in the traditional High Holy Days ceremony on the shores of the Mediterranean, where she'll join other participants on her Kabbalah Center trip in throwing bread crumbs into the water. The ceremony, a symbolic casting off of sins accumulated over the past year, is just part of the season-long process of requesting forgiveness.

More from jpost on High Holiday touring while we are on the subject...

For non-pop stars still struggling to decide where they'd like to perform slichot, or forgiveness prayers, Mini Israel is offering a solution: the entire country. The Latrun park, which features 360 models of historical and religious sites around Israel, is promoting special slichot tours of its grounds, where visitors can, within a short period, visit places of religious importance including Rachel's Tomb and the Cave of Machpela. Those unable to visit the actual Western Wall in Jerusalem this year can place private messages to the Almighty in a collection box next to a replica of the site - which, like the park's other replicas, is precisely 4 percent the size of the real thing. Visitors' notes left at Mini Israel are delivered to the original Western Wall every Thursday. Organized slichot tours of Mini Israel should be arranged in advance, park officials note.

Pardon me but I do not see the connection between the Penetential Prayers and the Mini Israel park.