Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., September 16, 2007 , | | Israel Time: 11:00 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel
Pop star Madonna and her husband director Guy Ritchie in Tel Aviv on Saturday. (AP)
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 10:10 16/09/2007
On Kabbalah pilgrimage, pop icon Madonna meets Peres
By The Associated Press

Pop celebrity Madonna met President Shimon Peres on Saturday during a visit to Israel to attend a conference on Jewish mysticism. She was seen entering the home of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in Jerusalem after Jewish New Year festivities finished sunset Saturday.

Madonna had requested the meeting with Peres, who presented her with a copy of the Old Testament. The meeting was closed to the press.

Madonna joined in a Kabbalah conference on Friday in Tel Aviv to celebrate the Jewish New Year.

Advertisement
She sang Jewish songs with the crowd of hundreds at the David Intercontinental Hotel where the conference on Jewish mysticism was being held.

At one point she pressed another participant - apparently a friend of hers - up to the front where he danced excitedly, making her and the crowd giggle and clap enthusiastically.

The 49-year-old diva was wearing a black jacket with elbow-length sleeves held at the waist with a belt with a large buckle. She also donned a baseball-type hat in red and black with her hair in a ponytail.

The singer arrived in Israel Wednesday night on a private visit and did not speak to the media. The Kabbalah conference she attended was closed to TV cameras. Madonna's husband, Guy Ritchie was photographed swimming in the sea in front of the Tel Aviv hotel where the couple stayed.

Actress Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, were also attending the conference in Tel Aviv, and were seen out on the city streets Thursday night.

Other U.S. celebrities in attendance included TV personality Rosie O'Donnell and fashion designer Donna Karan. Karan was also photographed on a Tel Aviv beach during her stay.

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.

The singer has taken the Jewish name Esther, and has been seen wearing a red thread on her wrist to ward off the evil eye. During her visit she plans to visit sites sacred to Kabbalists.

Madonna paid her first visit to Israel three years ago, on another Kabbalah-centered trip.

More Jewish World news and features
Bookmark to del.icio.us
Beefed up
'A recipe for the tastiest roasted meat you've ever had in your life.'
Hope for a new year
The year's cyclical structure is intended to prevent us from getting into a rut.
  1.   just curious-i dont pretend to know everything-please tell me- 19:01  |  yahn goodey 13/09/07
  2.   to yahn 19:50  |  henry 13/09/07
  3.   yahn goodey 20:01  |  baba lalou 13/09/07
  4.   sects no legal significance 20:04  |  Paul Freedman 13/09/07
  5.   for#1 21:40  |  scanadu 13/09/07
  6.   The Kabbalah Centre is intentionally not Jewish but universal 22:19  |  Joe 13/09/07
  7.   to scanadu on making money out of anything 22:41  |  Watcher 13/09/07
  8.   Scanadu 23:34  |  Connie 13/09/07
  9.   The prejudices of Romania - #5 23:46  |  Kate 13/09/07
  10.   like i said am just curious-have read news about these 7 streams? 23:46  |  yahn goodey 13/09/07
  11.   #10: no legal meaning to "sects" re: return 4 u 00:19  |  Paul Freedman 14/09/07
  12.   #6: Bnei Baruch truer to Ashlag 00:42  |  Paul Freedman 14/09/07
  13.   #1 - the answer you WERE looking for 01:34  |  Yael G 14/09/07
  14.   To # 4 01:41  |  Larry 14/09/07
  15.   #1 - the answer you WERE looking for - part 2 01:41  |  Yael G 14/09/07
  16.   #1 - the answer you WERE looking for - part 3 01:44  |  Yael G 14/09/07
  17.   This Esther is a flake.... 03:55  |  Webster 14/09/07
  18.   re: yael g. and paul freedman 04:38  |  yahn goodey 14/09/07
  19.   madonna`s studies 04:50  |  de sterix 14/09/07
  20.   TRUE Kabbalah is NOT Jewish mysticism!!!! 04:52  |  Ben Bekhor 14/09/07
  21.   MODONNA THE KABALIST 05:12  |  JIM 14/09/07
  22.   Once a Catholic 06:54  |  Denise 14/09/07
  23.   for Kate 07:35  |  Ben 14/09/07
  24.   Kates, Black Kettle 07:55  |  Denise 14/09/07
  25.   Madonna and Judaism 09:47  |  Jeff Levine 14/09/07
  26.   about Scanadu 10:47  |  semite 14/09/07
  27.   MADONNA why so much hate? 16:22  |  FOX 14/09/07
  28.   Scanadu, jealous? 16:28  |  FOX 14/09/07
  29.   To # 7 Watcher 16:41  |  Sam 14/09/07
  30.   Money, Boredom, Games, and Old Age 16:52  |  Tony Anthony 14/09/07
  31.   Who is a Jew? 17:21  |  JR 14/09/07
  32.   Madonna the born again sex symbol... 17:21  |  Stan 14/09/07
  33.   Jeff Levine, Madonna is NOT a Jew 17:48  |  Jake 14/09/07
  34.   jim in chicago 17:52  |  wh 14/09/07
  35.   #5: re `insatiable urge` of the seculars 18:13  |  Productive Jew 14/09/07
  36.   for fox at #28 18:21  |  scanadu 14/09/07
  37.   Nu, Madonna... 19:00  |  Curious 14/09/07
  38.   to Sam Sami whatever 19:01  |  Watcher 14/09/07
  39.   U think God and the absence of sex are the same thing?! 19:08  |  *rolleyes* 14/09/07
  40.   Who? 19:15  |  Sam 14/09/07
  41.   Its good Madona wears those `red strings` 19:23  |  Hal 14/09/07
  42.   Kaballah Yes, Zionism No 20:08  |  Kevin 14/09/07
  43.   Man in Photo Appears to Find Her Backside Mystical 20:30  |  Solon 14/09/07
  44.   Yahn 20:43  |  joe 14/09/07
  45.   What Kabbalah IS and What Kabbalah IS Not (i.e. red strings) 21:20  |  Ben Bekhor 14/09/07
  46.   Kevin, lame response 22:07  |  Jake 14/09/07
  47.   #22 Denise and "Once a Catholic" 22:22  |  hala 14/09/07
  48.   To # 38 Watcher 22:24  |  Sam 14/09/07
  49.   Jake#33 22:39  |  HS 14/09/07
  50.   Esther 23:11  |  Jehiel Chaleff 14/09/07
  51.   #1 Scanadu 23:26  |  Jehiel Chaleff 14/09/07
  52.   To Racist Yahn Goodey 00:57  |  B`galil 15/09/07
  53.   to #10 01:04  |  B`galil 15/09/07
  54.   #27..Fox 02:14  |  Nemesis 15/09/07
  55.   Kevin and mysticism 03:44  |  Denise 15/09/07
  56.   46 Jake - Stateless and Clueless 05:02  |  Kevin 15/09/07
  57.   Response To #5 05:37  |  Harry D 15/09/07
  58.   Not my Nemesis #54 09:26  |  FOX 15/09/07
  59.   Phil Berg and his `Star Wars` kabbalah 10:06  |  Rowan Berkeley 15/09/07
  60.   Madonna - Never Gave a Fart about Palestinians! 12:31  |  Hani 15/09/07
  61.   awesome! 15:49  |  stephenl 15/09/07
  62.   Madonna I can understand 16:11  |  Nechama 15/09/07
  63.   #60 Hani 19:27  |  D 15/09/07
  64.   #8 scanatu and connie 19:41  |  reality check 15/09/07
  65.   Hani about Madonna 20:28  |  Hannah 15/09/07
  66.   re:hani-the palestine vagabond?madonna doesnt care about us? 21:35  |  yahn goodey 15/09/07
  67.   Hey, give Esther a break!!!! 21:39  |  Jewish Sean Penn 15/09/07
  68.   re:b `galil-me a racist?no was asking questions on what i`ve read 21:55  |  yahn goodey 15/09/07
  69.   yahn goodey, be as you are, it is perfect and make 22:21  |  vladimir 15/09/07
  70.   Peres Beginning To Understand His Job 23:15  |  Yoram 15/09/07
  71.   Slut madonna 23:15  |  Cristo 15/09/07
  72.   Maybe Nasrallah Sympathizer Lebanese Singer Julia Butros Can... 23:36  |  Yosemite 15/09/07
  73.   madonna 23:52  |  michael 15/09/07
  74.   blaspheme 00:35  |  Esther Gynther 16/09/07
  75.   yahn goodey, on aliyah... 00:38  |  akiva patysh 16/09/07
  76.   no. 67 00:42  |  jp 16/09/07
  77.   This Gives Me Nausea 00:56  |  Jane 16/09/07
  78.   Fox 01:04  |  jp 16/09/07
  79.   michael 01:12  |  jp 16/09/07
  80.   #60 Hani 01:36  |  michael 16/09/07
  81.   michael....in north israel. 04:15  |  maria 16/09/07
  82.   madonna needs to know 04:20  |