Madonna: Call Me Esther

Ever-morphing singer drops virgin mom moniker, adopts ancient Hebrew name Esther

By Lia Haberman Jun 17, 2004 9:00 PMTags

Talk about reinvention.

Just a week after shedding her record label, Maverick, the artist formerly known as Madonna has traded in one biblical name for another.

The pop chameleon has adopted the ancient Hebrew name of Esther...at least in her religious life.

The Kabbalah devotee, who's midway through her re-Invention Tour, shared the name change with ABC's 20/20 in an interview to be broadcast Friday.

Madonna says the name she shared with her mother, who died of cancer when she was just 5, gave off bad vibes.

"My mother died when she was very young, of cancer, and I wanted to attach myself to an other name," the 45-year-old tells ABC.

"This is in no way a negation of who my mother was. I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name."

Esther, circa a long time ago, became the queen of Persia who saved fellow Jews from persecution.

Madonna, circa 2004, is the queen of pop who regrets the bratty ways of her youth.

"I brought a lot of chaos to people's lives because of my selfish behavior," said the former Material Girl.

Now, she's trying to convince her two tykes, Lourdes,7, and Rocco, 3, to do as she says not as she once did, describing herself as "naughty child, number one."

"Even my children have to clean up their mess. Manners, thank you, please, take your dishes to the sink," said Madonna, adding, "I mean if it's traditional to be a decent human being, then I'm traditional."

Snicker, if you will, at Madonna's maturity leap, just don't question her devotion to Judaism's trendy offshoot, Kabbalah.

"I'm a little bit irritated that people think that it's like some celebrity bandwagon that I've jumped on, or that, say, somebody like Demi [Moore] has jumped on," she says. "We don't take it lightly.

"Paris Hilton did come to the Kabbalah Centre once, because her parents brought her...and they wanted to help her and they were desperate and they brought her there and she had a meeting and she left and she never came back and suddenly, Paris Hilton studies Kabbalah. I mean that's what happens and people...they don't know the whole story."

Indeed, the spiritually minded superstar is getting ready to publish her next Kabbalah-flavored kiddie book, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, due in stores next week.