“Esther’s Big Break”

Recently, while surfing the blogosphere I found out the Madonna, the self acclaimed queen of pop - turned queen of Kabbalah, or for those living under a rock for the past century, her new found religion, has taken upon herself to try a new career path for the moment; journalist. That’s right, Madge has picked back up the red yarn and Jewish mysticism to try her hand at becoming an international journalist for famed daily Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth for a piece she calls, “ How My Life Changed.” In the article, Madonna will delve into her so-called “religious awakening” after being turned to Kabbalah. Since Madonna is not Israeli, or probably since she can’t read a word of Hebrew, the piece will be written in her native English and then translated over into Hebrew.

Now, being the investigative reporter I am, I took it upon myself to do a little research myself into just what kind of publication would produce such “material girl” material. Yedioth Adronoth or the literal translation into English from Hebrew is Latest News is a daily newspaper that is published in Tel Aviv, Israel and has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. But what really intrigued me was that the paper is currently published in tabloid format and style, and emphasizes “drama and human interest pieces over sophisticated analysis.” It has also taken some flack in the past for being biased against the Islamic resistance movement Hamas in its coverage of the Gaza war.

While my time studying at Hebrew school I learned a great deal not only about the great religions of the world around my such as Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so many more, but a lot more about my very own religion being Judaism. I was interested in Kabbalah since at the time it was such a hot topic as many young starlets chose it at the “hip religion” of the moment. Red strings were seen all around Hollywood and magical water blessed by rabbis could make you millions but I knew that there had to be more to this religion that was indeed not founded by lady Madonna or Ashton Kutcher and stupid trucker hats. In fact, it is still to this day frowned upon by the Jewish world at least by my sect of Judaism and seen simply as mysticism. Simple wives tales or rather; rabbis’ tales that could bring riches or magical cures to ailments that plagued you at the time.

We must all take the time to do a little investigative reporting of our own from time to time. Break down the puzzles that we find in stories just like I stumbled upon. I always believe it all starts with following your gut, your first hunch that something doesn’t seem right. Like my hunch that no major Israeli news publication would willingly allow a piece to revolve around the theme of Kabbalah, a religion that, in all actually, makes everyone blush. Go with your gut and its usually right! Follow your own path and never let anyone tell you your own facts.