The Material Girl

Madonna accompanied by her partner Jesus wrapped up her Israeli tour with a visit to the Safed tomb of Rabbi Isaac Luri father of the Cabala. At the site she sang "Lecha Dodi/Come My Beloved."

There are many laws in the Torah concerning how to conduct one’s self in a cemetery; it is known from the Cabala though the soul ascends into heaven a bit reminds with the bones of the body that resemble the YHVH–Four Letter Name of God.

According to the strict interpretation of the Torah the voice of a woman singing is considered Airva/Nakedness. One can not fault the pop star for her insensitive ignorance, but the rabbi who accompanied Madonna and Jesus to gravesite certainly should have known better.

A few years ago she made a scene at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and later almost broke her neck in a freak accident. Just as there are laws of nature with adamant repercussions so too are there spiritual laws regarding ultimate profundities like death.

The Jewish People pray at the gravesite of the righteous because it is hollowed ground, hollowed because the person buried there lived an exemplar life, giving the Creator pleasure–the essential connector. We stand at the foot of that connection between man and the Creator with awe and wonderment while praying to God. Respect in front of those who can not respond is customary.

Respecting the Dead

President Barack Obama has paid his respects to 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, the first time he has honored the fallen in this way. The President stood solemnly saluting as the coffins pasts by.

In Hebrew the giving of one’s life for the sake of a higher cause is called Maser Nefesh/Giving Soul, a seemingly strange term since the soul lives, but it is the body which dies. The soul is eternal, the body is temporal but sacrifice is the ultimate action of the soul.

In the two Temples in Jerusalem which existed for nearly 1000 years animal sacrifices were continual upon the Altar of God through the day and burned all night as a sign to the people of the earth that it is our sacrifice from which God gets pleasure. Pleasure according to the Cabala is the highest of human attributes.

It is explained in the Torah how in the next world the soul stands while in this world the soul walks, meaning once the soul and with it the consciousness of the person separates from the body they can no longer effectuate their place in creation–the dead are laid to rest and as a result the soul stands in heaven.

These souls gave their all to their country; they are the constant sacrifice upon the altar of man.