According to Philippians, what should we think about?

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Progressive Christian

Last updated on: September 17, 2004 at 2:12 pm by Cathleen Falsani

2004-09-17T14:12:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

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Nothing phony about Madonna’s spiritual journey

Leave Madonna alone.

You didn’t like her when she was emphasizing materialism.

You called her a hedonist.

You didn’t like her when she was flaunting her sexuality.

You called her a slut.

You didn’t like it when she became a disciplined practitioner of yoga.

You called her a poseur.

And now that she’s found what, to me at least, appears to be a serious spiritual discipline that seems to have transformed her into a more serious, modest and generous mother, wife and entrepreneur, you call her an opportunist.

You say she’s faking it.

Will Madonna forever be damned by the sins of her past, incapable of genuine transformation and beyond redemption?

It’s as if her interest in Kabbalah, the esoteric Jewish mystical tradition that teaches, among many things, that humans can overcome death and illness by the way they behave and think, somehow detracts from or sullies the tradition itself. As if a single person could diminish such ancient, enduring wisdom.

Even if Madonna’s approach to Kabbalah is more neo-mystical than traditional, how is that a bad thing for anyone besides, perhaps, herself? And who, exactly, is she hurting by wearing a piece of red string around her wrist and spending time studying spiritual texts?

This week, Madonna and her family have traveled to Israel during the Jewish High Holy Days to attend the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Center’s International Congress with 2,000 other Kabbalah enthusiasts. She arrived Wednesday, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

It’s a visit that has been almost universally mocked by the media and has managed to unite some of Israel’s Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders in their condemnation of the pop star’s presence in their troubled land. Because they don’t have enough to worry about already.

The Kabbalah is considered an extremely serious — some even say dangerous — discipline. Historically, women were forbidden to study it, and men had to be at least 40 years old and married with children to begin their Kabbalistic practice. There are even tales of students who went insane studying its main text, the Zohar, which first appeared written in Aramaic in 14th-century Spain.

Reportedly, Madonna and others who traveled to Israel for the Kabbalah Center’s congress plan to visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall; the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who is believed to be the author of the Zohar; and the tomb of the Matriarch Rachel. Before it is cut into individual pieces, the red string she and other Kabbalah practitioners wear around their wrists is wound around Rachel’s tomb. The red bracelet is supposed to ward off stink eye, or envious stares.

Most traditional Kabbalists in Israel and elsewhere insist that Kabbalah is not supposed to be taught to non-Jews. So some would say Madonna really has no business studying Kabbalah in the first place.

She was reared Roman Catholic. I haven’t heard her give her spirituality a particular religious label lately, so I don’t know if she still considers herself a Christian. But I haven’t heard her say she’s converted to Judaism, either.

Perhaps it would have been more acceptable if she had embraced Christian mysticism, or traditional Catholicism, instead of Kabbalah. But somehow I think she would be condemned no matter what path she chose.

Such is the curse of celebrity.

Madonna has been criticized for allegedly making herself out to be an ersatz poster child for Kabbalah. But I have not read or heard her say that she is any kind of Kabbalah expert. Instead, she presents herself as an enthusiastic student who is, at worst, evangelical about sharing lessons that have been helpful to her with others.

“My Kabbalah teacher, one of them, used to say to me, ‘When in doubt, act like God.’ And then you think, well, what does that mean? You know, it’s like — describe God. God would be compassionate. Unconditional. All-giving. All-loving. So, when in doubt, behave that way. You’ll never go wrong,” Madonna told Cynthia McFadden of ABC News in a television interview that aired in June.

“I’m getting better. I mean, I’m a very judgmental person. I mean, I always have been. And, you know, I see people, I put labels on them, I put them in boxes. They behave badly and I immediately want to say they’re a jerk. But in Kabbalah, you learn that, you know, you never know, you never know about people,” the 46-year-old singer said.

What, exactly, is controversial or scandalous about a statement like that? She sounds to me like someone who is trying to clean up her act, an example that all of us would benefit from following, whether we buy into Kabbalah — her version or someone else’s — as a spiritual path or not.

As for the oft-reported bit about her changing her name to Esther, she explains it this way: “Well, let’s say — I don’t go by the name of Esther. But, yes, that is my Hebrew name. Yep.”

I can understand this. When I studied French in college, my French name was Chantal. Cathleen sounded funny when pronounced in French. I didn’t change my name, I just used a different name that made more sense while I was studying.

Madonna told McFadden that she chose the name Esther herself, and explained why. “I was named after my mother. My mother died when she was very young, of cancer,” the singer said. “In the metaphysical world, I wanted to attach myself to another name. So — and this is in no way a negation of who my mother is. So, I read about all the women in the Old Testament. And I loved the story of Queen Esther. She saved the Jews from annihilation.”

If Madonna is guilty of anything, it may be Jewish envy. And I can understand that, being a fan of Judaism myself.

I’m not Jewish, but as I sat through my first Rosh Hashana service Wednesday night, I was transported and inspired by the spiritual beauty unfolding before me in the liturgy and Scripture.

I don’t know from Hebrew, but as the congregation lifted their voices to sing Hash-kiveynu Adonia, Eloheynu l’shalom . . . the words of an evening prayer, I found myself attempting to join them. There’s something implicitly edifying about singing praises to God, of being part of a tradition — even for a moment, even if it’s not your own — with such estimable, ancient roots.

Madonna seems to be attracted to the same thing.

After years of what she admits was a self-centered existence, she says she wants to learn, to make herself more godly and the world around her a little bit better.

Would that we were all guilty of that.

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