. . . but that would be quite a change!
Posted on 09/19/2007 5:57:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
Apparently, Judaism has found a new representative: Madonna. "I am an ambassador for Judaism," Madonna proclaimed this week while visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres. In particular, Madonna sees herself as an ambassador for Kabbalah, a mystical school of Jewish thought.
Never mind that Madonna isn't Jewish. Never mind that Jewish thought itself prohibits the study of Kabbalah unless one becomes expert in all other areas of Jewish law, practices all 613 of the Jewish commandments (Madonna has broken at least eight of the Ten Commandments) and is at least 40 years of age. Never mind that Madonna's brand of Kabbalah is a concoction of fallacious philosophy and creepy voodoo.
No, Madonna is well-qualified to be spokeswoman for Judaism. "You don't know how popular 'The Book Of Splendor' is among Hollywood actors," Madonna told Peres, ignoring the silent retching of thousands of Jews worldwide. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that. I am an ambassador for Judaism." Fellow Hollywoodite and faux Kabbalah devotee Ashton Kutcher told Israeli newspapers that Kabbalah made him a better actor -- one shudders to think how much worse "The Butterfly Effect," "The Guardian," "A Lot Like Love," "Cheaper By The Dozen" and "My Boss's Daughter" would have been without Kabbalah to guide Kutcher's masterful performances.
Kabbalah is the new Scientology in Hollywood. The faux Kabbalah conference that attracted Madonna and Kutcher to Israel also brought moral beacon Rosie O'Donnell. Other celebrities who have flirted with faux Kabbalah include saintlike figures Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Sandra Bernhard and Demi Moore.
Hollywood's fascination with Kabbalah springs from a lust for spiritual reward without spiritual work. The glitterati love any religion that allows them to sleep at night without restricting whom they sleep with. And the Kabbalah Centre caters directly to such glitterati.
The Kabbalah Centre, run by husband-and-wife team Philip and Karen Berg, suggests that those who invest the right amount of cash can earn prosperity, protection and absolution from God. The Bergs started the Kabbalah Centre in 1971, when they realized that religious snake oil sells even better than regular snake oil. Between 2001 and 2005, Madonna alone had reportedly handed over $18 million to underwrite the Centre's activities. The Centre sells red string bracelets at $26 a pop, scented candles for $15, water in a perfume bottle for $10 and copies of the Zohar for $415.
The Bergs rake it in because Hollywoodites have guilty consciences. They feel guilty about their prosperity, since many are closet Marxists. They feel uneasy about their spiritual prospects. But they certainly don't feel guilty enough to change their behavior. They prefer instead to use their money to buy a cloak of fake piety. Then they don it, bragging about their spiritual depth.
That's why Madonna, the Pied Piper of Raunch, ponies up millions to wear a red thread bracelet she could buy for 50 cents at the nearest CVS. That's why Scientologist Tom Cruise spends bundles to cleanse himself of "thetans." That's why Hollywoodites embrace cultish environmentalism, pledging to drink their own purified wastewater (Cate Blanchett this week) or use one square of toilet paper per restroom visit (Sheryl Crow).
The glitterati are quite willing to take on obligations, as long as those obligations aren't moral. The Kabbalah Centre doesn't force Madonna to stop encouraging promiscuity or cease simulated sex acts on stage. She gets the benefits of egoistic religious observance -- she gets to feel "deep" -- without actually having to be deep. As Andrew Breitbart, who co-authored "Hollywood, Interrupted" with Mark Ebner, told me, "The only piety Madonna has adhered to throughout her entire career has been at the altar of the Church of Narcissus."
Madonna is no ambassador for Judaism -- she's an ambassador for Hollywood arrogance, egocentrism and hypocrisy.
If Madonna’s Jewish, I’m the Baal Shem Tov.
Sounds like spiritual carbon offsets.
You were Queen Boudicca, last time I checked in ...
Bump.
Very good
CC&E
. . . but that would be quite a change!
![](http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:GZaNXFwegLNLZM:http://www.rbmission.org/Donate/boxtop2.jpg")
I'll earn prosperity? Sheeesh, give me a break.
I love your beard!
Once again we see people struggling to search for the truth and coming up with some odd mixture that neither satisfies nor answers the most basic of questions. Anything to avoid Christianity I guess
(he didn't think much of kabbalah, btw).
Well Said! Bravo!
(See my tagline - It’s sorta like that, but religious)
Madonna is to religion what Pop Rocks is to nutrition.
It is a cute hat ... a beret on steroids ...
McDonna, over a billion served.
Louise Veronica Ciccone and her Kabbaloney is a God-send for the proverbial Jewish sense of humor.
Anything to avoid moral responsibility is more like it.
Christianity does not have a monopoly on righteousness, IMO (I am a practicing catholic - so it is not a dig).
These folks have no other measure of their own self worth beyond their peers who share space in the elite social bubble they call life. It is no wonder they are not grounded and have no moral compass by which to guide their lives. They create their own realities and rules so as to tilt the judgment scale in their favor. Odd, really. They continually look for reasons to move the goal posts closer and then shout to the world what a great person they are by THEIR OWN STANDARDS.
What kind of person seeks out some set of guidelines that condones a lifestyle already burdened with debauchery and hedonism, and then announces their self righteous purity measured by standards that condone it?
It is actually insulting to those of us that do have moral standards and live our lives by an unshakable set of values and faith. The truly righteous is humble in their faith and on a life long journey to perfection (religious or otherwise). They don’t flout or idolize themselves. They don’t seek approval or consolation from peers for their good deeds.
What of the character of a human being? When can we go back to actually condemning the character of a person without being slapped a bigot? When can we drop the PC warm and fuzzy rhetoric and sympathy and call a slut a slut (Madonna).
Rant over! Sorry about that.
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