The Jerusalem post reveals details of Madonna’s Journey to Israel
After all the media hype and the on-again, off-again announcements, megastar singer Madonna is finally scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, just in time to celebrate Rosh Hashana.
If all goes according to plan, Madonna, who is participating in the international congress of the Kabbalah Center, will be accompanied by members of her family, and will be surrounded by some 2,000 participants from 22 countries.
The Kabbalah Center has booked approximately 1,200 hotel rooms in Tel Aviv and Tiberias for the event.
On Wednesday, Madonna is due to visit Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, where a left-wing women’s group will hold a vigil opposing her presence in “occupied territory.”
Hundreds of Kabbala enthusiasts are expected to join Madonna at Rachel’s Tomb, the traditional burial place of the biblical matriarch.
Madonna’s PR agency, Arad Communications, has requested that journalists covering events with Madonna wear white and not bring writing utensils or cameras to the press conference.
Madonna also asked Jews not to violate the High Holy Days to see her, and she specifically requested non-Jewish photographers.
Click on Full Article to read the full article by Greee Fay Cashman of the Jerusalem Post
Heading the American delegation is the center’s Rabbi Phillip Berg, who has served as Madonna’s spiritual guru during her well-publicized Kabbala studies.
The Web site Israel 21c is reporting that Madonna will be the main attraction at an event called Spirituality for Kids, set to take place next Sunday. The 45-year-old singer, along with husband Guy Ritchie and other high-profile American celebrities, will join Israeli political leaders including Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as part of a Kabbala learning retreat in Tel Aviv over the High Holy Days, the Kabbalah Center announced.
“We need to honor these heroic and courageous children. A gathering of this magnitude can have the power to diminish the volatile gap between Israeli and Arab communities to help the people recognize that love is stronger than hate and that peace is the focus for the future,” said Berg in a press release.
The event will include speeches from Madonna, Elies Jabol ? a Christian Arab who is the head of House and Hope and peace agreement leader in the Middle East ? Sufi Sheikh Manasra, and Druse Sheikh Abulrocan.
Tourism Minister Gideon Ezra, who is also the interim minister for internal security, plans to meet the diva in the former capacity, but also has a good excuse to meet her in the latter, given that the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, where she is booked to stay in the 24th-floor presidential suite, will be saturated with security personnel.
In an interview with Army Radio on Tuesday, Ezra said that it would not hurt if the singer, who is to spend five days in Israel, were to be photographed with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but did not know whether the schedules of the prime minister and the material girl would permit it.
The key beneficiaries in the hotel industry will be the David Intercontinental and Dan Panorama in Tel Aviv and the Galei Kinneret and Hof Gai in Tiberias. Most of the participants in the congress will be in Israel for 12 days.
Israelis who wants to swell the ranks of the congress participants can attend two days of services and eat 10 meals at the David Intercontinental for NIS 4,000. Accommodation is not included.
Catholic-born Madonna was last in Israel in 1993 for a concert appearance. She came to Jerusalem, spent less than an hour in her luxury suite at the King David Hotel, and immediately headed for Tel Aviv.
The Tel Aviv branch of the Kabbalah Center has put Hebrew translations of her books on prominent display. Madonna, who reportedly now also answers to the Jewish name Esther, refrains from eating some nonkosher foods, won’t perform on Friday night, and has been a student at the Los Angeles Kabbalah Center for six years.
Other American celebrities rumored to be coming for the congress include Marla Trump, wife of business tycoon Donald Trump, actress Demi Moore, and fashion designer Donna Karan.
In 2002, Karen Berg founded Spirituality for Kids, which funds, researches, and supports a program tailored to promoting spirituality among children through combining Kabbala wisdom with art, science, music, history, and culture. In Israel, the program caters to Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druse children.
Ahinoam Nini has agreed to do a benefit concert on Sunday night for Spirituality for Kids. Her agent, Asher Bitansky, said that as far as he was aware Madonna would not be singing with her, “but if she wants to join her, we won’t object.”
Matthew Gutman contributed to this report.
Source: Jerusalem Post