Shouldn’t Madonna Change Her Name to Yenta?
MADONNA AT KABBALAH CONFERENCE IN ISRAEL
JERUSALEM – Madonna joined other devotees of Kabbalah, Judaism’s mystical sect, at a Tel Aviv hotel Thursday on the occasion of the Jewish New Year.
Welcome to Hotel Kabbalah!
Your stay begins with a three hour discussion of the numerological meaning of your room number.
Then levitate yourself to your room. If you need an elevator, why are you here?
In our four-star-of-David dining hall, you’ll enjoy debates with your waiter. Should you win–as determined by a panel of rabbis–you’ll be fed.
Finally, when you leave, pay the bill without any questions. There are some things that must be accepted on faith.
One wonders: is the etymology of “meshuggener” associated with kaballah? Could Hebrew have needed an entirely new and separate word to describe its own brand of conspiracy theorists and New Agers way back in an age not now so new?
According to Joseph Campbell, the very idea of monotheism was “meshuggah.” Well, Campbell didn’t use that exact term, but he did express his disdainful amazement how any people could ignore the physical world and place their faith in an abstract and extraneous power.
(Actually, a Scotsman should have had some sympathy for a people too “frugal” to spend good money on marble statues.)
Eugene