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November 02, 2005

Lurid confessions

Madonna is under fire for "Isaac", a tune on her new album. Many observers, including the Flea, assumed a reference to kabbalah super-genius Isaac Luria. It turns out the Isaac in question is Yemeni singer Yitzhak Sinwani. Though I doubt Madonna's rejoinder is likely to win over her kabbalistic critics.

A song on the new album titled "Isaac," which uses Jewish musical motifs, has outraged some kabbalist rabbis. They claim the song is about Isaac (or Yitzhak) Luria, a 16th-century Jewish mystic. "Jewish law forbids the use of the name of the holy rabbi for profit," Rabbi Rafael Cohen, who heads a seminary named after Luria, said in a statement.

Madonna insists that her song is not about Luria at all but about Yitzhak Sinwani, who sings on the track. "They're saying I'm committing a blasphemy, but that's not what the song is about," she says. "What are they doing commenting on pop songs? Don't they have synagogues to pray in?"

Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 2, 2005 07:33 AM

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