Designed by Chopard co-president Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele herself, the ring features 258 brilliant cut white diamonds with the signature Chopard floating diamonds in the flourish of the letter M.
This is the second partnership between Chopard and Madonna; their first was the pave diamond “Hung Up” necklace the Pop Queen wore onstage from her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album.
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Confused American Celebrities.
The thread that ties Madonna to her celebrity friends is a scrap of red yarn, scratchy to the touch, frayed at either end and knotted seven times.
The $26 Red String bracelet — said to deflect “envious stares and looks of ill will” — is perhaps the most visible symbol of Kabbalah, the spiritual movement rooted in Jewish mysticism that’s weaving through Hollywood in a way not seen since Scientology attracted converts and controversy a decade ago.
And since Madonna first started singing Kabbalah’s praises six years ago — literally, on her 1998 album Ray of Light— she has arguably become the practice’s most prominent advocate.
I have yet to understand why this intense and mind bending form of mystical Judaism has become so trendy but there are some pretty basic rules Madonna seems to have ignored.
The Cross ? How a cross has any association with Kabbalah makes me wonder what is in her mind and only she knows and could explain this.
For the record, Kabbalah studies should commence from the age of 40, normally amongst males who have been ordained as Rabbis and always in the company of a fellow learner never alone. There are many observant Jews who never go down this track because it is a specialist field.
It is not unusual that those who go down this track can go mad. Madonna luckily has the good fortune to be protected by her immense wealth.
But for all the good vibes and ego-shrinking that Madonna says she has received thanks to Kabbalah, she has courted plenty of criticism, too — namely, for preaching a practice whose ties to traditional, ancient Kabbalah are tenuous at best and treacherous at worst, rabbis and scholars say. Watchdog types say the Kabbalah Centre is more about merchandising — “empowered” stones, soul-cleansing water, those $26 strings — than enlightenment.
Some are more blunt. The center is “not just a cult, but a dangerous cult,” says Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, a Toronto-based scholar of Jewish philosophy and mysticism. “They are distorting Kabbalah … taking some of our sacred books and reducing it to mumbo jumbo, all kinds of hocus-pocus.
“Simple answers don’t grow souls. Red threads and magic bottles of water don’t change the world and don’t change people,” says Rabbi David Wolpe of L.A.’s Conservative Sinai Temple. “To the extent that deep spiritual truths are put in a blender and served as superficial pablum — it’s a disservice to a great tradition, and it is no better than spiritual snake oil.”
Madonna archly acknowledged the critics when she was photographed leaving the centre wearing a T-shirt emblazoned “Cult Member.”
No doubt this brand of modern Kabbalah faced further scrutiny with the start of Madonna’s Reinvention tour, which did not feature Friday night performances, reportedly so the star could observe the Sabbath.
Still, Reinvention is an apt title: Madonna, who was raised Catholic, has credited Kabbalah with helping to quash her Material Girl persona and achieve spiritual clarity.
Rosh-Pinna : The restored section at the top of the town is a nice place to visit, strolling along the cobblestone streets and visiting the restored houses.
Rosh Pinna, translation Cornerstone, once a place you passed through on the bus has become very trendy with small coffee shops and dress shops opening up on the sides of once dusty forgotten streets and lane ways. It’s a pretty place compared to thirty years ago when I used to live in the area. It amused me because the name Rosh Pinna rhymed with the Czech words ” motz shpina ” translation big mess.
And what a big mess it is too. Studying Kabbalah without studying Chumash, the foundation, is tantamount to building a house with the roof first.
Anyway it’s business as usual… don’t forget to buy your genuine Madonna ” kabbalah crosses ” hanging on some cheap red thread. It might make you feel good and only make you look confused to those of us who know better.
Hooooroooo from De Guru
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Diamond Imports
