Material Girl Heads for Promised Land

Society | September 15, 2004, Wednesday // 00:00
Material Girl Heads for Promised Land Pop superstar Madonna was set to wrap up her world "Re-Invention Tour" with a second sold-out show in Lisbon after more than three months on the road. Then she is expected to visit the Holy Land in Isarel. Photo by AFP

American pop superstar Madonna heads for a five-day trip to the Holy Land, which has elicited a mixture of excitement, bewilderment and anger in Israelis.

Her high-profile spiritual visit will include trips to the graves of rabbinical sages and discussions on Kabbalah.

Madonna, a student of Jewish mysticism, was arriving in Israel for the Jewish New Year, which begins at sundown Wednesday. The singer and her family will join 2,000 other students of Kabbalah, a type of Jewish mysticism taught regardless of religion.

Madonna is not Jewish, but has taken an interest in Kabbalah in recent years. She has adopted the Hebrew name Esther, wears a red thread on her wrist to ward off the evil eye, and reportedly refuses to perform on the Jewish Sabbath.

She also has incorporated Jewish symbols into some of her music videos, much to the consternation of many religious leaders. The organization hosting her in Israel ordered news reporters to wear white clothes and not to take notes when covering Madonna's appearances during the New Year's holiday, or Rosh Hashanah.

Israeli officials were giddy over the presence of a big-time star. Tourism, a key sector of the economy, has been battered by four years of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians.

On Sunday, Israeli Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra is expected to give Madonna an ancient oil lamp and a coin from the Byzantine period.

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