NEWSDinner & Dancing! Madonna Hosts Rowdy Hanukkah Celebration With Kids
Madonna kicked off the holiday season with a fancy Hanukkah dinner and celebration.
In photos and videos shared to her Instagram Story on Monday, December 19, the Queen of Pop, 64, danced around and banged on her dining room walls with her daughter Mercy James, 16, twins Estere and Stelle Ciccone, 10, and her son David Banda, 17— who wore a kippah to the occasion.
Madonna's eldest children — Lourdes Leon, 26, and Rocco Ritchie, 22 — appeared to miss out on the exciting evening.
The "Material Girl" singer wished her followers a very "Happy Hanukkah" as she shared highlights of the family lighting the menorah and twirling around to festive songs.
While Madonna was born and raised a Catholic, she has dabbled in Kabbalah, also known as Jewish mysticism, throughout the years and has previously spoken out about her relationship with religion.
In 2007, Madonna joined other celebrity Kabbalah worshippers for a conference on Jewish mysticism in Tel Aviv, Israel, where they additionally celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, as OK! reported.
At the time, she raised a toast with former Israeli President Shimon Peres and declared herself an “ambassador for Judaism.”
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In 2015, Madonna conducted an interview with The Independent and declared she did not identify as Jewish, or any specific religion, for that matter.
"No, I don't affiliate myself with any specific religious group," she explained at the time. "I connect to different ritualistic aspects of different belief systems, and I see the connecting thread between all religious beliefs."
Madonna went on to confirm she studied Kabbalah, occasionally observed Shabbat and even had a bar mitzvah for her son David — but has not specifically converted to Judaism.
"This appears like I'm Jewish, but these rituals are connected to what I describe as the Tree of Life consciousness and have more to do with the idea of being an Israelite, not Jewish," she continued to explain to the Irish media outlet.
"The tribes of Israel existed before the religion of Judaism existed, so you have to do your history," Madonna quipped. "So, am I Jewish? I mean, some people would say, well, you do a lot of things that Jews do, but I would say I do a lot of things that people did before Judaism existed. And I believe what I practice has to do with something deeper than religion, that it embodies all religions, including Judaism. And Christianity. And Islam."
