Paula Abdul Bat Mitzvah Performed at Kotel in Israel Nearly 4 Decades After Traditional Age
Paula Abdul will celebrate her bat mitzvah at The Western Wall in Jerusalem when she makes her first visit to Israel this week, according to local daily publication Yedioth Ahronoth.
Born in Los Angeles to Jewish parents, the 51-year-old singer and former American Idol will arrive in the country Monday and be the guest of Israel's Tourism Ministry. She will meet with President Shimon Pere and Tourism Minister Uzi Landau to reportedly discuss Israeli culture, which she takes an interest in.
She has been connected to the Los Angeles Chabad Rabbi Chaim Mentz and took part in a Chabad fundraiser last November in Toronto, according to the report. She was raised in a Reform community.
Abdul began her career at the age of 8. She worked as an choreographer on music videos with top artists like Janet Jackson. She later launched a solo singing career of her own, to much success. Abdul also served as a judge on the television talent shows American Idol and The X Factor. In 2012 she was a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars.
Abdul was recently announced as a judge on 2014's So You Think You Can Dance Australia. She will the judging panel on the show, to be hosted by Carrie Bickmore from The Project.
Another former American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, with celebrate a Jewish ceremony soon. He and his pregnant girlfriend Lauren Silverman are looking to have a Jewish wedding, according to a new report from Daily Mail. Cowell's paternal grandmother was Jewish.
