The London Times reports that representatives of Madonna, 47, have called home-owners in Rosh Pina, offering to pay generously for their property. Madonna was raised as an Italian Catholic, but has dabbled in Kabbalah study for several years and recently adopted the Hebrew name Esther. She visited Israel in late 2004, and wants to open a Kabbalah study center in Rosh Pina, a small town not far from Tzfat (Safed).
Another celebrity, broadcaster Geraldo Rivera, also recently acknowledged that he once planned to move to Israel. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that though his father was a Puerto Rican Catholic, one of 19 children, his mother was Jewish and that he had a Bar Mitzvah celebration. He said that he even looked for an apartment to purchase in Israel, and would have liked to run for the Knesset. The idea was shelved when his wife, Erica Levy, to whom he was not married at the time, rejected the idea.
"I would die for Israel," Rivera said, but said that Israel must not be "persecutors" and that he thinks the partition wall - opposed both by Jews of Yesha and Arabs of the Palestinian Authority - is a good idea.
Some 23,000 immigrants made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 2005, fulfilling the Zionist vision to bring home the exiles. This number includes 3,052 immigrants from North America in 2005, the highest number to have arrived from that direction in 22 years.
Another celebrity, broadcaster Geraldo Rivera, also recently acknowledged that he once planned to move to Israel. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that though his father was a Puerto Rican Catholic, one of 19 children, his mother was Jewish and that he had a Bar Mitzvah celebration. He said that he even looked for an apartment to purchase in Israel, and would have liked to run for the Knesset. The idea was shelved when his wife, Erica Levy, to whom he was not married at the time, rejected the idea.
"I would die for Israel," Rivera said, but said that Israel must not be "persecutors" and that he thinks the partition wall - opposed both by Jews of Yesha and Arabs of the Palestinian Authority - is a good idea.
Some 23,000 immigrants made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 2005, fulfilling the Zionist vision to bring home the exiles. This number includes 3,052 immigrants from North America in 2005, the highest number to have arrived from that direction in 22 years.