Word: jewish
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...Pronunciation has always been a problem with my parents. They insist on pronouncing the name “Tara” with an Indian tone. (“It is Indian,” my mom insists after meeting a Jewish friend with the name.) They exaggerate their borderline inappropriate versions of accents when saying an ethnic name in Spanish or a city name here in China, and they exchange “w” with “v” (“Vow, vunderful”). The problem is, they either take themselves too seriously...
...beginning, there was Madonna. At least that's how most see the modern history of Kabbalah--the New Agey revival of traditional Jewish mysticism recently linked in the tabloids to a love triangle involving the Material Girl and married New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. Yet despite its high-profile Hollywood associations, the Kabbalah tradition--which involves the attempt to more directly understand God through contemplation and arcane textual study--stretches back centuries...
...cohered and still revolves around its essential book, the Zohar--a gargantuan work penned in 13th century Spain by Moses de Len--that explores divine mysteries under the guise of a commentary on the Torah. But it wasn't until the 18th century emergence of Hasidism as a Jewish movement in Eastern Europe that Kabbalah began to expand beyond its tiny group of scholars. Many Kabbalist masters, however, were killed in the Holocaust, causing the practice to languish temporarily...
Most celebrity practitioners, including Madonna and actress Demi Moore, are members of the Los Angeles--based Kabbalah Centre, which distances itself from the tradition's Jewish roots in favor of a more nonspecific spirituality. Followers take expensive courses and wear red strings on their wrists to ward off the Evil Eye (a practice not directly linked to traditional Kabbalah study). While some Jewish leaders have criticized the group for turning an ancient tradition into a sham pop spirituality (see its cynical sales of supposedly curative "Kabbalah water"), the center's emphasis on a more personal connection with the Almighty might...
...President, Mr. Pitt assured me, but I could never run for any public office. "Not in this country, no. Maybe France. They might be a little bigger on porn and hating America," he said. Before I could become Vice President, he told me, America would have its first female, Jewish, Hispanic, gay, Muslim and ex-convict Vice Presidents. Still, Vice President of France doesn't sound...