Jewish agency calls upon prominent rabbi to reject blessing pop star Madonna.

(PRWEB) April 22, 2004

The International Society for Sephardic Progress has sent a formal request to His Honor HaRav Yitzaq Kaduri, shelita, the foremost kabbalist of our generation, to deny American pop star Madonna a blessing, on her up coming visit to Israel.

American entertainer Madonna has been taking lessons in a bizarre version of kabbalah (which is not a religon--but is a part of Judaism) at the Kabbalah Centre, a cult-like organization founded in Los Angeles by Philip Berg. Madonna's zeal for Berg's teachings have become a catalyst for the over-sexed pop star to reportedly donate more than $6 million dollars to Berg's center in London.

Selling "Kabbalah Water" and other meaningless token items, Berg exploits some of Judaism's most important ideals. For example, Berg exploits the Zohar, a holy book of Judaism which was revealed to the world in 14th century Spain by a Jew named Moses de Leon. Berg sells this expensive multi-volume set to his "students," then "teaches" them to scan the book with their finger tips. The Zohar, written in Aramaic, is read according to the Kabbalah Centre by looking at the letters without needing to know their meaning--this is of course is an absurd idea and is not consistent with Judaism.

Madonna's objective (according to press reports) is to arrive in Israel and seek the legitimacy of her aberrant ways by obtaining a blessing from Judaism's most renowned mystic, and insomuch she will be seeking validation of her ways, as well as that of the Kabbalah Centre. For this reason, the International Society for Sephardic Progress asks that His Honor Rav Yitzaq Kaduri, shelita deny any request of the pop star, for her self-indulgent games make a mockery of Judaism and the Jewish people.

The International Society for Sephardic Progress is a leading Sephardic Jewish advocacy agency in the United States. We were founded in the spirit of the Sephardic immigrants who came from the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Balkans) in the early 20th century. ISFSP functions as a leading agency producing high quality Jewish educational projects, and is an advocate for Jewish causes.

Contact: pressroom@isfsp.org

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