Madonna changes name to Esther

[Champ]

Madonna has reportedly changed her name to Esther.

The singer was inspired to take on a new name by her study of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

Madonna is rarely seen out without Kabbalah's trademark red string bracelet.

Her husband, Guy Ritchie, is also a follower of Kabbalah.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_991138.html?menu=news.quirkies.showbizquirkies

[Qanisqineq]

1. is she simply Esther?

or Esther Ritchie? or... ?

[CO Liberal]

9. "Esther Ritchie"

Sounds like a PTA president, doesn't it?

:-)

[BlondieK143]

2. How inspiring.

:eyes:

[Wickerman]

3. I remember when Madonna made the news for music

not for making the news. Heh, call me a fossil and I guess you'd be correct. She is turning into Zsa Zsa Gabor, famous for only being famous. Does she actually still make music? Is it relevant in any way or is it strictly pop drivel?

[Parrcrow]

4. Polly Esther?

[latebloomer]

5. My mother's name is Esther

and she has always absolutely hated it-- thought it was dowdy-sounding.

She's been known as Tasha since she was 15-- much more cool and Bohemian.

Getting my mind around Madonna as "Esther"??-- does not compute.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. It IS a bit dowdy - but it's a significant Jewish name

becauase Esther is one of the most significant Jewish women. My grandmother was named Esther, and so even though I am close relation to someone with that name, I also must say that Esther is a very dowdy, old-woman kind of name. I've not met a woman named Esther who wasn't 60 years or more old. I wonder if it is common in the Orthodox Jewish community.

[shanti]

27. *scratching my head*

i thought madonna was catholic?

[Rabrrrrrr]

35. She's some kind of Christian, yes

But the Jewish heritage (as far as naming goes) is part of the Christian heritage, so using Jewish (or perhaps more rightly, Hebrew) names is part of the tradition.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. I know someone called Esther

she's around 30, and not Jewish either. This is in Britain - but it is a fairly unusual name here.

[Loonman]

6. I remember when Madonna was important

Instead of a tired, old, cliche.

[ForrestGump]

24. I don't

[johnnie]

7. I know some of you might care about this but..

Madonna has never been nor will she ever be relevant. I don't see anything she has ever done in her career that has changed anything. It was all rehashed diva stuff from before. Her music was bland, her acting was worse, and her publicity stunts were bland.
But, I guess she is worth the news still...:shrug:

[mountainvue]

25. Now

she's in a cult.

[jdj]

33. Not true. She's a performance artist.

She uses pop music as her medium, which is lame but ingenious.

I am stunned today when I watch "like a virgin" it is about as punk as punk can be, thumbing her nose at this culture's so-called morality and showing it's ridiculousness.

I don't care for the experience of her music alone, it's just lame and not that good. She used it so she could get the biggest audience for what she was trying to put into culture about sexuality, and she succeeded famously. You have to be old enough (and probably have to be female as well) to remember female sexuality pre-Madonna. There was no one else, except maybe Wendy O. Williams, who conveniently died, saying I own my whoreness without playing idiot to mitigate it. The most significant thing Madonna can do at this point is live to be 93, because she absolutely achieved what she set out to do. I think Liz Phair said it best when she said that people don't give Madonna enough credit for what she did for this whole generation of women; as Liz said (I'll paraphrase) that Madonna bushwhacked a path through the jungle so that women performers after her can stand around and say, wow, look at all the pretty flowers.

A good way to understand Madonna's message is to check out other women performance artists like Karen Finley, Diamanda Galas, etc. They didn't make it mainstream, but their message is very similar in some ways. You've got to hand it to her, she changed the world and got rich at the same time.

[regularguy]

10. Maybe she's a big Sanford-and-Son fan.....

I'm thinkin' of changing my name to 'Grady'....

[Deja Q]

37. No, more of a fan of "Good Times."

I'm going to change my name to 'Florida'... that'll make Jeb happy. O8)


(this is NOT meant to insult Esther Rolle. She RULES, in every role she acted in.)

[tishaLA]

38. damn! DAMN! DAMN!!!!!!

[MallRat]

11. I don't know what to do with this information.

Multiple choice. What should MallRat do upon hearing this news?

a) shake head in disbelief
b) laugh smugly at her brazen self-importance
c) be honored that she feels some connection to his own religion, no matter how obscure that link may be
d) barf

I'm leaning towards D.

-MR

[ronnykmarshall]

12. Esther Hoffman

anyone remember where that name is from?

[AlCzervik]

13. A star is born

and thats the first thing i thought when i read about her name change.

[ronnykmarshall]

14. Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner!

You have won what behind the curtain where the lovely Carol Marrol is now standing.

A life time supply of RICE-A-RONI!

[AlCzervik]

15. I can't have what Jay has in the little box?

I've seen every version of that movie.

[elfwitch]

16. Kind of in her defense...

But not too much in her defense.

When you convert to Judaism or when you are born Jewish, you are given or choose a Hebrew name. Your Hebrew name if you are a convert then becomes (your name) ben/bat Avraham v' Sarah.

So when I converted I became Devora bat Avraham v' Sarah. And my husband became Yakov ben Avraham v' Sarah.

Our son is Gidon ben Yakov v' Devora.

It is a part of conversion to choose a Hebrew name. That being said, there are many that feel that she ha not converted to Judaism. Kabbalah is the New Age Crystal Hugging mysticism part of Judaism. Jewish men aren't even allowed to study Kabbalah until they are 40. Women are allowed to study at any time but normally wait until 40 as well.

She chose, if this can be said, the "easy" part of Judaism to follow. It would be like someone saying they are a a "Christmas-ian". You can't really call yourself Jewish if you are only "in to" the Kabbalah. So from that angel, she is just being a publicity whore again at the expense of a religion/culture/race that has been around for almost 6000 years.

[Interrobang]

28. In some traditions...

Gerim (converts) take only the name of the patriarch or matriarch, depending on which sex they are (ie. men become so-and-so bar Avraham, women become so-and-so bat Sarah). I like your tradition better, because if I were actually to convert, I'd wind up being Sara bat Sarah, and I don't care for that too much. :)

In the tradition my fiance's family follows, though, even after you convert, you take a Hebrew name (if you don't already have one) and your father's name (or a Hebrew equivalent) on top of that. So, I'd be something like Sara bat Raanan (since that's about the closest Hebrew name to my father's name).

As much as I don't really care about Madonna or what she's up to, I think it's interesting that I'm seeing so much anecdotal evidence recently about people converting to Judaism. Is that because I'm just now paying attention, or is there really an uptick?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

17. "The Artist formerly known as 'Madonna'"?

:evilgrin:

[Mr.Green93]

18. who gets to be Mordecai,?

[Caution]

19. Very doubtful

ananova is usually garbage and her agents, her record company and everyone else around her would freak out. She has built a huge brand recognition around the name Madonna (heck i think of her before i think of the mythical "virgin" mary these days). This would be an incredibly stupid move on her part. Even dumber than Prince changing his name (Prince was never anywhere near as big as Madonna).

[Screaming Lord Byron]

20. Oh, come on. We all know it's crap, we're just having some fun with it.

Maybe she'll use the name for some crazy pseudo-kabalah ceremonies, but she'll still be known as Madonna.
However, Esther the Molester sounds good if she wants to do a sequel to the Sex book.

[mrboba1]

21. Prince actually did it to

spite the label he signed with. He didn't want them have the "Prince" name associated with them anymore.

Then when the deal was over, he brought it back.

[Westegg]

22. In related news, Sting changes his name to Claude...

...and Cher now wishes to be known as Myrtle.

Love them wacky celebs!

[Dogmudgeon]

23. Meanwhile, BareKnuckledLiberal ...

... wishes to be known henceforth as Nicole Kidman's Social Security Number In Base Sixteen.

--bkl aka nkssn₁₆

[shanti]

26. mmmmmmkay

n/t

[Dukkha]

29. Should've changed her name to

Desperate Act
:boring:

[the Kelly Gang]

30. yawn

[qwertyMike]

31. Mick Jagger

said of Madonna "A thimbleful of talent in an ocean of ambition"

So she's Edna now?

What's Guy? Cecil?

[LastKnight]

32. heheh... oh, thats irony

the madonna was originally a name for the mother of christ...

and now... madonna the pop singer is a follower of kabbalah... lol. sorry, maybe im the only one who finds that weird.

-LK

[Deja Q]

36. Lovely name, nutcase woman who married a creep...

Wasn't Madonna into Buddhism just a couple years ago, with the yoga and everything-else-about-her-that-she-could-advertise-(poorly)-in-any-movie-she-could-get-a-role-in?

She was best in the late 80s/early 90s though her one single "Ray of Light" put her back into the top 10 for about a week.

I gather Guy Ritchie is a homophobe too whose movies are sesnelessly violent when not being simply crude rubbish. I thought Madonna was always better than him...

[pink-o]

39. Nobody has mentioned

That the name Esther means "Star" in Hebrew. (Close to the Latin Estrella or Stella).

Gotta be a reason she chose that one instead of Deborah or Naomi...?


PS..had an aunt Esther from my Jewish father and an aunt Ruth on my Gentile mother's side. I got saddled with the Ruth as my middle name, because all the Jewish relatives freaked out at the thought of my mother naming her daughter after a family member that was still alive. Although both women in the old testament were strong and enduring, the names just suck.

PPS...got no religion at all growing up, but studied Kabbalah on my own in my 20s. Buncha superstitious nonesense. Might as well buy a self-help book.