Photographers asked to respect religious laws during Madonna’s visit to Israel

Organisers of Madonna‘s spiritual retreat in Israel requested that Jewish photographers would not cover her visit so they won’t break religious laws and that all journalists wear white clothes.

The self-proclaimed Material Girl, a keen afficionado of the ancient Jewish mystical tradition known Kabbalah, is due in Israel Wednesday for a three-day retreat which begins with a traditional blessing ceremony to welcome in the New Year.

But organisers from the Kabbalah Centre have made clear they will not accept any photographers of Jewish origin in order not to encourage Jews to break a religious edict banning work over the holiday, a spokesman said.

Jewish reporters may attend the ceremony but they will not be allowed to write inside the synagogue set up inside Madonna‘s Tel Aviv hotel. And any journalist wanting to attend any of the events must be dressed in white.

“The Kabbalah Centre does not want (Jewish photographers) to do anything which will break the religious rules over the holidays,” spokesman Lior Horev told AFP.

Commenting on the dress code, Horev said “all Kabalah Centre members would be wearing white for traditional religious reasons” and organisers did not want the media to stand out by wearing other coloured-clothes.

Source: AFP