Kabbalah and Madonna's Divorce
Friday October 24, 2008
It's well known by now that Madonna and Guy Ritchie are divorcing. And it's also well known that the divorce promises to be ugly, featuring the work of "pit bull" attorneys working for both sides. It's a shame that with...
Filed Under: divorce, divorce in the bible, ethics of divorce, guy ritchie, jewish attitudes toward divorce, kabbalah, madonna, pop culture, pop stars, the kabbalah center
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About Windows & Doors
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Listed as one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and a regular commentator on Court TV, he is the creator of the popular series, Building Bridges, airing on Bridges TV, and the co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula. More About Brad
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Kabbalah did not fail Madonna.
Madonna is simply not adopting the virtues and lessons of Kabbalah.
The failure is hers.
Dear Rabbi Hirschfield.
Can you please provide more information about the cosmic vending machine, I'd like to buy one.
Giora
Dear Rabbi: I am not sure if the belief system could have helped Madonna and her husband....problems in her marraige probably began she even began her spiritual quest using Kabbalah....For me, having gone through a horrid divorce with an ex husband who is evil---and abusive ...I am sure that Madonna will have a 'cake walk' in her divorce....
The Bible states that there is no divorce unless adultry has been committed. So Kabbalah makes up their own rules.....a man made tradition to fit the lifestyle of the day? Hmmmm....don't sound like any Scripture reading I've been taught to follow....Not suppose to add or take away from the original Scriptures.......
Yours is the most compassionate and complete response to not only divorce, but to life that I have heard to date. As a divorced person who tried to do as you have stated and found myself outside of my childhood religion, despite, it is wonderful to find such truth and wisdom. Truth is, a constant "perfection" of life, apparently, would be grossly imperfect. The Intelligence, within which we all are a most recent emergence, seems to have found universal, evolutional equilibrium a very long time ago. Indeed, it is, as you describe; the best result for the most out of every evolution. We can only try to mirror such balance. Thank you for your healing observations.
In my opinion, for whatever it is worth; no one wins in a divorce...
When a house is divided.... It simply does not stand...
Kabbalah did not fail Madonna...
It is simply being human... Our flesh at times can be weak...
Emotions can run up and down...
Marriage is a union that Holy G-d Blesses...
You must want and desire to work at it....
Without two willing partners working together the
House will fall...
I wish Madonna and her soon to be ex-husband
Prayers of mercy - forgiveness - and compassion.....
The devil is always trying to trip us up...
With all due respect, I don't think Kabbalah is to blame. I think that Madonna and Guy are to blame. Madonna hasn't exactly followed the teachings of Kabbalah throughout her time studying anyway. She has engaged in premarital sex, resulting in her son Rocco with Guy. She has supported Barack Obama in spite of his stance on abortion and his disdain for the nation of Israel. I do not want to question her faith. I am certain that she applies Kabbalah as much as she feels the need. If she had applied Kabbalah whole-heartedly would she be in this situation?
As a beginner in the study of the Kaballah, I sincerely believe that what Madonna is experiencing in her present incarnation is the result of her past incarnations. There are no accidents or co-incidences. Madonna's problems will make her a stronger indiviudal.
PLEASE stop using the term "Pit Bulls" when describing someone relentlessly fierce.
It is prejudicial & only contibutes to the negative stereotyes people have about this wonderful breed of dog. It is the people who abuse them, not the breed which IS very powerful.
It's like racism or antisemitism against animals.
Madonna feels, just as most other celebraties feel...they are above everything & everyone...including G_d! Their lives are based on excess, how can they have any kind of lasting relationships?
To mention ANY so-called popular icon in the same breath as Kabbalah is, IMHO a shandah. Our esteemed rabbi must be at a loss for a subject to devote today's column to these two overpaid spoiled individuals who deserve our pity, but not one jot of our of our attention or our money.
Wow, Michelle, Defense of pit bulls! Let me to add my experience with pit bulls.
Everything Michelle is true; it is true to the Nth degree. Wonderful, loving dogs who have been horribly abused.
Marriage:
Once again I agree with the rabbi. Sunrise sunset, there's season for everything. The how they part is far more important than whether they part ways.
Kabbala
Let's stop this pretense. Madonna and the Kabbala is a fraud. She had not studied Torah for the first 40 years of her life. She could not studied Kabbala even if she had wanted to. Pretending Madonna followed Kabbala is like saying because I met the Maharishi I can give master lessons on the Vedas, whatever they are.
But basically, the rabbi is right -- how we begin marriages, how we behave during them and how we end them -- HOW is the key word.
We really cannot comment on Maddona's divorce because we do not know her or her husband. We cannot begin to understand their lives. Her status as one of the most flamboyant and controversial pop icons of the last quarter century or so certainly makes it hard for her to have a private life and really, that is the only fact the rest of us can be sure of. Any other so-called information we have is tabloid gossip that deserves to be ignored.
The only reason I am commenting is to respond to the woman who condemned her for her support for Obama and her pro-choice stance. These are legitimate views and do not mean that she lacks morality or spiritualiy. I did not know her son was concieved before she got married but even if he was, it seems to me that at least, she has been a good mother. What I would criticize, however, is her nasty portrayal of John McCain during her recent concert tour, and her disrespectful treatment of Catholic symbols. I am Jewish but I believe it is wrong to treat anyone's religous symbols with disrespect. I plan to vote for Obama, but John McCain is also a man who deserves to be treated respectfully.
I have to say, I am uncomfortable with Kabbalah being used as a sort of pop religous/spiritual practice. I thought one needed to be thoroughly grounded in the Torah, first. Somehow, it makes me squirm.
But as to Maddona's divorce, why don't we all just ignore the gossip and let them get on with their lives. Remember, there are three children involved.
Lucy G.
B"H
Lucy's correct IMHO...Madonna's Kabbalah dabbling is a sham. The teachings of Kabbalah, especially as explained in Chassidut, can lead a person to a more holy life in harmony with G-d.
Certain Madonna hasn't been able to even superficially achieve that level. And I doubt whether her teacher(s) are any more sincere or live this lifestyle than she.
Everyone suffers during a divorce! I hope Madonna and her futer ex-husband remember they have children who are old enough to see what is happening, and pull back the laywers.
It should not be about money! If you come into a mariage broke or with less than your partner, and you really care about the affect a divorce will have on your kid, leave money out of it. Just move on and get it over with.
As for the Kabbalah and any religon, it is the people tha are responsible for making it work for them. You only get out what you put in, and well intensions without devotion won't work.
Many of these responses are both carefully stated and pensive in nature. I watched a special about Madonna over a year ago. I expressed to my daughter who was watching as well, how upset she(Madonna) seemed and how important her husband and family were to her. She was a little desperate over Guy and his time spent at the Pub. Religion is not in place to save us as much as it is to guide us and keep us on the right path. While most of us strive to acheive love and happiness, the majority that does not have any love are in attendance of the Coliseum, watching people being put to death when it does fail. A sad commentary on humanity not religion.
The heavy duty circumstances in our lives give us an opportunity to grow spiritually if we let them and open to ourselves to receive a new way to be who we are. To say a teaching has failed - as in this case Kabbalah - is placing blame in the wrong place. Like Ginni stated in the previous post. - It is the people who are responsible for making it work for them.
I can't judge Madonna. To me Madonna is not the least bit likeable and I just simply do not care for her style of entertainment. Many years ago a friend of mine met her in a coffee shop as he was in a city where she was being filmed and said she was pretty and very nice, unassuming, and just like anyone else.
Her brand of Kabbalah may be a self-serving thing like in "what can it do for me," type practice, or it may be a sincere spiritual search.
But who is to say if she is affected spiritually and has become a better person. The culture she lives in seems so different and so removed from that of a Torah observant person practicing Kabbalah,
But who is to say if the Noahide laws are not a part of her life. I just have a hard time relating to her.
The word Kaballah and the word Madonna should not be in the same sentence.
Kaballah is genuine and honest.
Madonna is Madonna.
They don't match.
I am a divorce attorney. I see people engage in the ritual combat of divorce every day. It never ceases to amaze me how their spiritual beliefs disappear the minute the start the ritual.
For make no mistake-- divorce IS a ritual. An unholy one, a destructive one... but a ritual public ritual.
For most people it is a ritual with far greater power than their private spiritual practice.
It is also sad that someone who made a particular spiritual practice part of their public personal to publically abandon it... but it is NOT surprising. It is, alas, a collective phenomenon.
Until we change the public ritual, it will continue to hold the power to cause most people to abandon their highest beliefs and aspirations and engage in the public battle. And we are all complicit, to a degree.
There... I said it.
Karen,
"The Bible states that there is no divorce unless adultry has been committed."
I'm sorry Karen, that may be your bible, but it is not ours.
Judaism permits divorce.
Kaballah didn't fail Madonna. Madonna failed Kaballah. As Rabbi Hirschfield said, Kaballah is not a cosmic vending machine. You can't place an order and expect delivery according to instructions. G-d does not follow instructions; G-d gives them. Kaballah is a road to spirituality. Those who step off the road should not be blaming the road when they step on a rock and fall on their faces.
Gavriella
Just because one engages in legal council it does not suggest that a divorce is going to be "ugly". Everyone in the media is speculating that this divorce is going to be ugly and public, when in fact both Madonna and Guy Ritchie have yet to say a word about the divorce (with the exception of the statement), and both of them have handled themeselves with grace to date. The media are the ones doing a disservice to the children, by suggesting that one had an affair, and the other was abusive and etc....Both Madonna and Guy have done their best to keep this matter private...neither of them have spoken a word to the press to date, and chances are they both will continue to keep this divorce private. Again, engaging in legal council does not negate compassion in a divorce...it merely suggests that issues need to be resolved by Madonna and Guy and executed legally by council.
Hmmm...
We all face struggles and the lessons of life are difficult. Anyone who has reached the age of 50 has had ample opportunity to learn this, and still we fall. That is part of being human. Fortunately, the fury of our wounded self subsides and in the silence of the desert of our hearts, we have a place to see clearly.
One of the major failures of the practice of mysticisms in the West is that being gifted with awareness of the Divine Presence, does not always or even often translate into changes in our daily lives. That is a terrible observation. Perhaps in these times of economic collapse, we can learn to drop one of the major idols that impede our progress, materialism. Is is too much to hope that the "material" girl will move beyond this? Is it too much to hope that you and i can? Time to ditch the idol and embrace the Presence of God, abandoning and surrendering anything that stands between us.
Here's an email from the Kabbalah Centre that shows what it's all about - money:
Ruthie showed a movie in class that was made by the Kabbalah Centre about the tremendous negative impact nuclear waste and Chernobyl has had on our civilization. It has caused a rise in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and physical deformities anywhere from 30-150%, and is considered to be the root cause for the onset of AIDS. Why is the atomic bomb so destructive? Because it removes the central column. We know that life is a balanced system, necessitating a central column. Nuclear waste is what's left after central column is taken away. Most diseases and chaos today are a result of nuclear waste.
The Centre received permission from the Russian government to try to reduce the negative effects of Chernobyl by using Kabbalah water. After months of research, they found that adding the equivalent of just one drop of Kabbalah Water to 50,000 drops of contaminated water, the level of radioactivity in Chernobyl dropped as much as 32%. The Kabbalah Water didn't just "clean" the lake – it actually changed the structure of the water molecules in the lake, to bring them back to a healthy state. This says volumes about the power of water, and specifically why Kabbalah Water is so powerful.
We know through science and through Kabbalah Water studies that the structure of water can change based on human thoughts. It actually absorbs thought. That's why you should never drink water in front of an angry person, or when it's been sitting in a room with people fighting. Water is the #1 matter for absorbing thought, and it's the #1 tool for controlling mind over matter. What happened during the flood was a critical mass of negative human thought entered. The internal structure of the water got corrupted. Kabbalah Water rearranges the structure of water so it can go back to its original state of positive energy.
to all who make assumptions w/out really knowing, take a look at the roots and open your eyes. There is 1 Hebrew Bible - the Old Testament, and only the Jews who are dedicated to the study of the Torah are equipped w/the proper tools to interpret it correcly - from the Hebrew language. Anyone else who makes claims about what their bible states should think twice before stating it as fact before others, after all, we have 1 Torah, while there are thousands of versions of theirs and they fight between e/other about who is right and who is wrong - while the truth remains one and the same with the Jewish people. Better ask a Jewish Torah Scolar what the "Bible" says rather than making damaging remarks such as according to the bible one needs to commit adultery in order to divorce. If you would only look with a keen eye, you will surely see, unless you want to be in denial, that all the other versions of the "Bible" and the "Idol" who serves as an intermediary between G-d and "His" followers are for the most part made up by men. Better stick to the 7 noahide laws, that way you will not break one of the ten commandments - You shall not worship Idols - there is only 1 G-d, 1 creator and you do not need an intermediary in order to pray to him, on the contrary, G-d wants you to direct your prayers directly to him and to turn to him alone and not put an intermediary between you and Him, an intermediary is an Idol.
In regards to Madonna and Kabbala, I used to b Madonna's biggest fan.
At this point I'd like to have a chat w/her about my experience living in Tzfat for 3 years - the true essence of hidden knowledge lies in the sweetness of recognizing G-d and drawing faith/strength in/from him in the midst of struggle, fear, confusion and disappointment - which a struggling relationship/divorce can put u through such feelings. In order to get to the heart of the revealed kabbala - one needs to be humble, modest, down to earth, compassionate, gracious. The power of coming closer to the divine is more like water, it is soft but can be very strong at the same time. It is not pushy or aggresive, it is nourashing, giving, selfless not selfish. It is not pride, it is not "I'm better than you" and so forth. It is about being a servant of G-d - nullifying yourself to his will - setting a good example. We are not perfect, that's why we are here. We are here to make our mistakes and to fix them, thus polishing ourselves in the process - and what you learn - inspire others with, we are here to help one another. Madonna, there is a reason why the observant Jewish Women dress modestly. If you are truly interested in Kabbala, look into the sacredness of dressing modestly, there is a big reason behind it. If you show a man a beautiful woman who is modestly dressed and next to her equally beautiful one but with cleavage, tight jeans or mini skirt, and then ask him, if you can have either one of them tonight which one will you choose? U'll be surprized how many of the men will want the modestly dressed one over the other one. Modesty is mysterious. There is mysticism behind modesty and not behind when it's all out in the open. One needs to sacrifice in order to gain. This is some of my advice to Madonna and everyone else out there who thinks Kabbala is a "kool phad" kabbala is free and real.
ps. next time u want to go to the mikve Ari, you should better get in touch w/me. And to think I was only a few miles away . . .
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