Madonna: 'I am an ambassador for Judaism'

JERUSALEM, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Madonna celebrated the Jewish new year in Israel with her husband Guy Ritchie and Israeli President Shimon Peres, Usmagazine.com reported.

Madonna, who was raised Catholic, has in recent years publicly embraced the teachings of Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. She traveled to Israel Wednesday, the eve of the Jewish new year, to attend a conference on Kabbalah.

She exchanged gifts with Peres at his Jerusalem home Saturday.

Peres bestowed upon Madonna a lavishly bound copy of the Jewish Bible, while the singer gave Peres a copy of "The Book of Splendor," the guiding text of Kabbalah, Usmagazine.com said.

Inside the volume, she wrote, "To Shimon Peres, the man I admire and love, Madonna," the Yediot Ahronot daily reported.

"You don't know how popular the Book of Splendor is among Hollywood actors," Madonna reportedly told Peres. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that. I am an ambassador for Judaism."