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Madonna Versus the Rabbis
Back when she was Catholic, Madonna drew the ire of the Vatican with such ditties as "Like a Prayer." Now a Kabbalah enthusiast, the Material Girl is still feeling the wrath of religious leaders.
The artist otherwise known as Esther has come under fire from religious scholars in Israel for using the name of a revered Kabbalist rabbi in a song featured on her upcoming album, Confessions on a Dance Floor.
According to local reports, rabbis charged with looking after the grave of Yitzhak Luria, a 16th century Jewish mystic buried in the northern town of Safed, criticized Madonna for supposedly defiling his legacy as one of Kabbalah's most renowned figures by titling her cut "Isaac," the English translation of his Hebrew name.
While Madonna might have thought she was honoring a spiritual leader, the Israeli rabbis say she crossed the (border) line and is in danger of incurring God's wrath.
"Jewish law forbids the use of the name of the holy rabbi for profit," Rabbi Rafael Cohen, head of the seminary named after Luria, told Israel's Maariv newspaper Sunday. "Her act is just simply unacceptable and I can only sympathize for her because of the punishment that she is going to receive from Heaven. The Sage Isaac is holy and pure, and immodest people cannot sing about him."
Other ultra-Orthodox rabbis sought a more Earth-based penalty, calling for Madonna to be excommunicated from her mystical faith.
"Such a woman brings great sin on Kabbalah," said Rabbi Israel Deri. "I hope that we will have the strength to prevent her from bringing sin upon the holiness of [Rabbi Luria]."
Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, could not be reached for comment Monday.
At the rate the 47-year-old singer's going, there aren't too many more religions left to offend.
Madonna was reared as a Roman Catholic, and in 1987, Pope John Paul II urged Italian fans not to attend her Who's That Girl World Tour due to her explicit lyrics and suggestive stage show. Two years later, the Church labeled her "blasphemous" for dancing in front of burning crosses and misusing other symbols in her racy "Like a Prayer" video.
She became a Kabbalah devotee in the late 1990s. In 2004, she made a pilgrimage to Israel and visited many of the country's most sacred sites, but not Luria's tomb so venerated by her favored sect.
That same year, Madonna sparked an uproar in her video for "Die Another Day," when she violated a taboo by wearing tefillin--two small leather boxes and straps traditionally worn by orthodox Jewish men--while she sat in an electric chair upon which was written the Hebrew name for God.
While she has had her run-ins with the religious hierarchy, Madonna has put her money where her faith is.
She purportedly plunked down $2.9 million for a five-story Georgian mansion in London's Regent Park district this past June, which she plans to convert into a Kabbalah-themed hotel and drop-in center. She has also writtten a series of bestselling children's books guided by the religion's teachings.
Confessions on a Dance Floor hits stores on Nov. 15.
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