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Africa: North
Egypt bans Madonna after Israel visit
2004-09-24
Cairo's exclusion order seen as routine vilification of Jewish state
Egypt has issued an order barring pop star Madonna from entering the country because she visited Israel.
"Vogue! Vogue! Strike a pose!"
Members of Egypt's parliament have demanded Madonna, who has not requested entry into Egypt or announced any plans to visit the country, be barred from entering Egyptian soil. The parliament directed Egyptian embassies abroad to deny any visa requests from Madonna.
That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense...
The demand comes after Madonna, aka Esther, visited the Jewish state last week making daily headline news with midnight trips to a Jewish cemetery, a quick drive by past the Wailing Wall, and even the arrest of her security detail. The Material Girl praised Israel during her trip and urged people to visit the country.
"Yeah! They'll give you a visa, usually!"
Madonna said she was hesitant at first to tour the Holy Land, but upon her arrival, she said she realized "that it is no more dangerous to be here than it is to be in New York, and I would like to emphasize the fact that I feel very safe and very welcome. ... I'd like to say how happy I am to be back in Israel. I promise not to stay away for another ten years." The singer was last in Israel for a 1993 concert.
Refresh my memory: When was the last time a bus blew up in New York? But then, she didn't take the bus, did she?
Mort Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, was not surprised by Egypt's decision, and called on the U.S. to speak out against Egypt's anti-Israel actions. "America has plenty of leverage with Egypt," Klein told WorldNetDaily. Egypt has received more than $50 billion in U.S. aid since singing a peace agreement with Israel in 1978, but the country routinely vilifies Israel in its media, has not stopped terrorists from building weapons smuggling tunnels into Palestinian territory, and has suspended formal relations with Israel.
Posted by:Mark Espinola

#20  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.

Thats a pretty good intro. Not sure if it was Halevi, but thems pretty much the rules about prerequisites. Oh, and also a thorough grounding in and following of traditional Jewish religious texts. Cause their are aspects of the mysticism that can lead people astray.

But today we have lots of pop-kabbalah. Many followers are non-jews with little interest in the rest of Judaism.

As for her mental abilities, I dont know. Dont really follw here that closely, beyond listening to some songs. NOTE WELL - there are some Jews who have historically tried to popularize mysticism - notably the hasidim - the Lubavitch will eagerly teach mysticism to low IQ Jews - though not to gentiles, and they encourage Jews who study with them to learn the rest of Judaism.

I still give a hearty Mazel tov to Madonna for going to israel and defying PC anti-Israel opinion.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM  

#19  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.

Thats a pretty good intro. Not sure if it was Halevi, but thems pretty much the rules about prerequisites. Oh, and also a thorough grounding in and following of traditional Jewish religious texts. Cause their are aspects of the mysticism that can lead people astray.

But today we have lots of pop-kabbalah. Many followers are non-jews with little interest in the rest of Judaism.

As for her mental abilities, I dont know. Dont really follw here that closely, beyond listening to some songs. NOTE WELL - there are some Jews who have historically tried to popularize mysticism - notably the hasidim - the Lubavitch will eagerly teach mysticism to low IQ Jews - though not to gentiles, and they encourage Jews who study with them to learn the rest of Judaism.

I still give a hearty Mazel tov to Madonna for going to israel and defying PC anti-Israel opinion.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-09-24 12:42:51 PM  

#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  

#17  Good point Ally
Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-09-24 4:39:39 PM  

#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  

#15  Fred, I'm a big fan of Tits Bunny........good one.
Posted by: Jarhead   2004-09-24 2:48:56 PM  

#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  

#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  

#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  

#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  

#10  I told you, Shipman. The Mossad is everywhere...
Posted by: tu3031   2004-09-24 12:59:03 PM  

#9  Cabal? Speaking of cabal where in the heck is The Mossad?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-24 12:33:36 PM  

#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  

#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  

#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  

#5  Kabbalah
Posted by: Frank G   2004-09-24 11:35:37 AM  

#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  

#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  

#2  Jeez, no Madonna visit. What a loss for Egypt...
Posted by: tu3031   2004-09-24 11:10:34 AM  

#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  

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