Madonna Caps Israel Trip Greeting Jewish Sabbath With Netanyahu

US pop diva Madonna (C) prays at the tomb of Ha’Ari Ha’Kadosh, or Rabbi Isaac Luria Ben-Shelomo, at the ancient cemetery in the northern Israeli city of Safed, on Sepetmber 4, 2009 after her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour concert in Tel Aviv?s Yarkon Park in Israel. Getty Images

Madonna declared Israel to be “the energy center of the world” and draped herself in an Israeli flag

Bloomberg | Sep 5, 2009

By Calev Ben-David

Pop star Madonna capped a week-long visit to Israel by joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah at their Jerusalem residence Friday night and helping them ceremonially usher in the Jewish Sabbath.

“The singer Madonna and her Israeli manager Guy Oseary were hosted Friday evening in the Prime Minister’s Residence for the welcoming of the Sabbath. Mrs. Netanyahu and Madonna performed together the lighting and blessing of the ceremonial candles,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a text message to reporters.

The singer gave two concerts in Tel Aviv this week to conclude her world-wide “Sticky and Sweet” tour, between visits to local Jewish holy sites motivated by her interest in a popularized form of the traditional Jewish mysticism known as kabbalah.

At one concert Madonna declared Israel to be “the energy center of the world” and draped herself in an Israeli flag handed her by an audience member. Two years ago she made a private visit to Israel in which she attended a kabbalah seminar in Tel Aviv.

While her two concerts together drew some 100,000 Israeli fans, Madonna’s visit also attracted criticism from both Jews and Palestinians. Hania Bitar, director-general of the West-Bank based Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activism, told the Ynet news Web Site that Madonna should have also spoken out against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

A prominent Israeli scholar of traditional Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri of Jerusalem’s Shalom Yeshiva, told the Arutz-7 news Web site that “there is no connection between what the singer learns and true kabbalah,” and condemned her performances as immodest.

The Roman-Catholic born entertainer, who said in a 2004 televison interview she also wants to be known by the Jewish name, Esther, has studied for several years at the Kabbalah Centre, a Los Angeles-based organization that teaches a popularized form of the ancient Jewish mysticism.