Boycott! Support the Palestinian BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Call from Within is apparently a group of anti-Israel activists led by Tel Aviv (no surprise) professor Rachel Giora. Could it be that an American like Madonna, who in so many ways represents the unabashed Western materialism of our era can come to the Holy Land and put its locals to shame? It seems so…
Gentiles Studying Torah
I remember hearing about the exploits of Madonna Louise Ciccone into Jewish mysticism in the late 90’s. Here is a non-Jew who, at least on some level, holds the Torah with high regard. Madonna is synonymous with a lack of “modesty” of dress-she certainly doesn’t dress herself like an observant Jewess. However, Tel Aviv doesn’t “dress herself” like a religious Jewess either! So, what is the problem? Why is Lady Tel-Aviv bothered by Lady Madonna? On one level entertainers who come here, in the eyes of the anti-settlement movement, raise the profile of Israel and “justify” its actions. On another level it has to be aggravating to see non-Jews who take Torah learning seriously come to a city in Israel that is known primarily for being “post-Torah!” I was, several years ago, invited for Shabbat at a family’s house in Ginot Shomron (in the territories) and the father of the family related to me that Madonna had bought sets of Zohar (the main book of Kabbalah) for every family in the settlement. How is that for a slap in the face to the anti-settler intelligentsia?
Tikkun Jesus?
An irony to this whole story is that Madonna is an Italian-American Christian by birth. Perhaps her *tikkun (fixing) is that she is studies Kabbalah, the Oral Torah that Christians reject. Is it not an amazing irony that someone whose name is essentially connected with being “the mother of Jesus” would study the Torah he rejected and come back to the very country he came from? Maybe that is too much fixing for those suffering from the Englightenment Occupation in occupied Tel Aviv.
*Tikkun Olam תיקון עולם is the concept in Judaism of “fixing the world.” Adam, the first man, sinned and was taken from the Garden of Eden. Judaism works to repair his mistake and restore mankind to his former greatness. One kind of “Tikkun” occurs when we, through proper living and observance of Torah, correct an aspect of our soul that has been blemished.
Gentiles Studying Torah
I remember hearing about the exploits of Madonna Louise Ciccone into Jewish mysticism in the late 90’s. Here is a non-Jew who, at least on some level, holds the Torah with high regard. Madonna is synonymous with a lack of “modesty” of dress-she certainly doesn’t dress herself like an observant Jewess. However, Tel Aviv doesn’t “dress herself” like a religious Jewess either! So, what is the problem? Why is Lady Tel-Aviv bothered by Lady Madonna? On one level entertainers who come here, in the eyes of the anti-settlement movement, raise the profile of Israel and “justify” its actions. On another level it has to be aggravating to see non-Jews who take Torah learning seriously come to a city in Israel that is known primarily for being “post-Torah!” I was, several years ago, invited for Shabbat at a family’s house in Ginot Shomron (in the territories) and the father of the family related to me that Madonna had bought sets of Zohar (the main book of Kabbalah) for every family in the settlement. How is that for a slap in the face to the anti-settler intelligentsia?
Tikkun Jesus?
An irony to this whole story is that Madonna is an Italian-American Christian by birth. Perhaps her *tikkun (fixing) is that she is studies Kabbalah, the Oral Torah that Christians reject. Is it not an amazing irony that someone whose name is essentially connected with being “the mother of Jesus” would study the Torah he rejected and come back to the very country he came from? Maybe that is too much fixing for those suffering from the Englightenment Occupation in occupied Tel Aviv.
*Tikkun Olam תיקון עולם is the concept in Judaism of “fixing the world.” Adam, the first man, sinned and was taken from the Garden of Eden. Judaism works to repair his mistake and restore mankind to his former greatness. One kind of “Tikkun” occurs when we, through proper living and observance of Torah, correct an aspect of our soul that has been blemished.
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