A-Rod Boning Up on Kabbalah as Madonna's Marriage Crumbles

Yankees slugger knew Madonna's divorce was coming and headed to Miami last week to avoid being linked to her

Where's Waldo? What about A-Rod?

E! News has learned that Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez knew Madonna was planning to drop the divorce bomb and was miles away "lying low" to avoid being connected to the split.

But while not physically together, the all-world ballplayer is apparently doing his best to keep up a spiritual bond. He attended Monday night's annual Sukkot services at the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles—the same spiritual center the Material One frequents when in town.

"Alex is really taking it seriously," says a source close to Rodriguez, who is reportedly holed up at the Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel.

A rep for the Kabbalah Centre could not be reached for comment.

Rodriguez initially retreated to Miami during the weekend of Oct. 4, while Madonna descended on the New York City area for her Sticky and Sweet World Tour.

He made an effort to be photographed by paparazzi partying it up at Prime 112 steakhouse, a hot spot eatery in South Beach.

"He was in Miami because he didn't want any gossip to come up when she was in New York," another insider tells E! News. "He wanted to make sure he was seen in Miami. He wanted to be seen out."

The revelations come amid renewed reports that Madonna and Rodriguez are more than "just friends"—and that status had a big role in their respective divorces.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have barely been seen together in months, even as the "Causing a Commotion" crooner reportedly dined with Rodriguez and was spotted at a Yankees game in recent weeks.

Rodriguez's estranged wife, Cynthia, filed for divorce in July.

Madonna, meanwhile, is currently en route to Boston, where she's scheduled to perform two concerts tonight and tomorrow.

(Originally published Oct. 15, 2008, at 12:16 p.m. PT.)