During Madonna’s recent trip to Israel she met and exchanged gifts with Israeli President Shimon Peres, but she also ticked off some of the country’s leading religious figures. The Material Mom, who was in town for a Kabbalah conference along with other red-string-sporting celebs and their pals including Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Donna Karen and Rosie O’Donnell, toasted the Jewish new year with Peres and jokingly declared herself an “ambassador for Judaism.” But not everyone was amused. David Batzri, head of the Shalom Yeshiva, objected to a non-Jew (Madonna has yet to convert) receiving lessons in Kabbalah, The Jerusalem Post reports. “Even Jews are not allowed to delve into the secrets of the Kabbalah until they have thoroughly reviewed the entire Talmud,” Batzri said. The director of a major Jerusalem-based Kabbalah yeshiva was even more scathing, and spoke only on condition of anonymity. “It is a known fact in Kabbalah that impurity and evil are inherently attracted to sanctity. That’s why people of Hollywood, a place of iniquity and lasciviousness, are naturally attracted to the holiness of Kabbala,” said the rabbi. “That’s why someone like that lady — I don’t even want to mention her name — is so attracted to the Kabbala.” Between these verbal smackdowns and the threats leveled by terrorists at Madonna (and Britney Spears) due to their proliferation of “Satanic culture,” Madonna may want to steer clear of the Middle East for a little while.

[Photo: WENN]