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2004-09-24 Africa: North

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Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-09-24 9:30:51 AM|| || Front Page|| [11137 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Whatever.

Something I didn't get a chance to comment on last week: How on earth can somebody who calls herself "Madonna" claim to be Jewish? That's like the next Pope being named Pope Muhammed al-Islam I.

Posted by Chris W. 2004-09-24 11:02:33 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:02:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Jeez, no Madonna visit. What a loss for Egypt...

Posted by tu3031 2004-09-24 11:10:34 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:10:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Good marketing strategy--refresh the brand every 18 months or so.

In her next brand campaign the Artist formerly Known as Esther will appear as Fatima, Holy Warrioress fighting to save the Rain Forest and end of cruelty to animals.

Posted by David Ogilvy 2004-09-24 11:10:41 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:10:41 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 I think she reinvented herself (yet again) after the trip into hinduism on some past album. She's now big into what "Jewish mysticism". TW or LH could comment more thouroughly on what that means then I can. I surmise she'll be into this until her next album then it will prolly be as David suggests. I'd wager on a more Xena warrior princess motif.

Posted by Jarhead 2004-09-24 11:22:34 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:22:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Kabbalah

Posted by Frank G 2004-09-24 11:35:37 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:35:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 I'd wager on a more Xena warrior princess motif.

Gettin a bit long in the tooth for that. Not sure anyone would pay to see Cheryl, er Esther, in a thong.

Posted by lex 2004-09-24 11:38:10 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:38:10 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Madonna banned? But, but, we had the Camp David Accord! Jimmy Carter - y'know. Surely that should count for something...

Posted by Pappy 2004-09-24 11:43:39 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:43:39 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 Chris, Madonnna doesn't claim to be Jewish. She's just into studying Kabbalah (from which the word "cabal" derives), the Jewish mysticism that goes back to the early Middle Ages, I believe. The Jesuits picked up on the study at one point, too, and I don't imagine they ever thought of themselves as Jewish ;-)

As I understand it (LH? Pls fix what ain't right. Thx!)the basic premise of Kabbalah is that the universe was originally one whole and complete soul within God. Something shattered that completeness, and now each living thing has a tiny spark of the original. Each spark desires to be once again united with God, and this can be achieved through intense study of the Jewish Bible, applying various esoteric methods to tease out God's underlying message from the words themselves. Thus we get a special numerology for the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, out of body experiences for the most learned/holy practitioners, magic spells, foretelling the future, etc. I think it was the philosopher/poet/doctor Judah HaLevi in Moslem Spain who wrote that no man should be permitted to study Kabbalah until after he had married, reared children, and reached the age of 40, in order to ground him in this world against the seductions of mysticism.

To be honest, I don't see that Madonna has the mental tools to undertake such a study at any level beyond numerology and magic spells. But I admit to being a bit of a snob, and it is possible that I'm wrong about her.

Posted by trailing wife 2004-09-24 11:55:34 AM|| 2004-09-24 11:55:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 Cabal? Speaking of cabal where in the heck is The Mossad?

Posted by Shipman 2004-09-24 12:33:36 PM|| 2004-09-24 12:33:36 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 I told you, Shipman. The Mossad is everywhere...

Posted by tu3031 2004-09-24 12:59:03 PM|| 2004-09-24 12:59:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Egypt bans Madonna after Israel visit.

Maybe, but I bet there are a lot of Egyptians with hairy palms and poster-plastered walls.

Posted by jules 187 2004-09-24 1:33:03 PM|| 2004-09-24 1:33:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 How on earth can somebody who calls herself "Madonna" claim to be Jewish?

No, no! When she's being "Jewish" - or Kabbalistic - she's not named Madonna. Her name is Esther. She was named Madonna when she was born, and she still uses it as her stage name. But when she's Tantric, she's Lingadevi. When she's a lesbian she goes by the name "Dirk." When she's feeling Anglican, she goes by Maudette, and when she's a Catholic she's Claretta. When she's naked and frisky, her name changes to Tits Bunny, but if she's naked and just taking a bath her name's Madeline...

HTH.

Posted by Fred 2004-09-24 1:47:40 PM|| 2004-09-24 1:47:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Remember, she's not actually studying the Kabbalah. She's "studying" some pop crap that was vaguely based on the Kabbalah.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2004-09-24 1:52:33 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2004-09-24 1:52:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 Madonna was born and raised Catholic - even went through penguin torture. But doesn't it seem odd that Israel would want to be associated with her? She is LLL all the way through - although her mother-in-law in the UK is a big Tory. Geez, next thing you'll see is Sean Penn with his hand up Allawi back!

Posted by Jack is Back 2004-09-24 1:53:20 PM|| 2004-09-24 1:53:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 Fred, I'm a big fan of Tits Bunny........good one.

Posted by Jarhead 2004-09-24 2:48:56 PM|| 2004-09-24 2:48:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 That's a bit strange: Egypt doesn't ban people who visit Israel from entering their territory (that's Syria or Iran). As a matter of fact you can freely cross the Israeli-Egyptian border as a foreigner.

Well whatever, in a few months Madonna probably discovers Buddhism or the African-Eskimo faith or whatever.

Posted by True German Ally 2004-09-24 4:33:10 PM|| 2004-09-24 4:33:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Good point Ally

Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-09-24 4:39:39 PM|| 2004-09-24 4:39:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 I don't object to non-Jews who are either studying the Kabbalah or trying to determine if the Jewish faith is right for them, but it's not right to make a circus out of people's religious beliefs. Madonna chose to make herself into a clown complete with a 3 ring circus following her around, and for her to butt in when people are legitimately practicing their faith is downright wrong. She should have been tossed out on her ear.

Posted by Chris W. 2004-09-24 8:25:42 PM|| 2004-09-24 8:25:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]

Posted by Liberalhawk 2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM|| 2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]

Posted by Liberalhawk 2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM|| 2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM|| Front Page Top

12:42 Liberalhawk
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