Woman not of the wall Woman not of the wall

Paula Abdul snubs Western Wall

Singer moves belated bat mitzva ceremony to Safed

By AP 6 November 2013, 11:56 am 18

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American singer Paula Abdul visits the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City on October 31, 2013, six days before she celebrated her bat mitzva in Safed. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Paula Abdul moved a Bat Mitzvah ceremony that she’d originally planned to hold at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Israel’s Tourism Ministry said Tuesday.

The normally tireless TV personality came to Israel to connect to her Jewish roots and for her belated bat mitzvah, the coming-of-age ceremony girls typically have at age 12 or 13.

But the ministry, which is hosting Abdul, said she made last-minute changes to her packed itinerary because she’s jet-lagged.

The ministry said Abdul was planning to hold a high-profile ceremony at the Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, but instead had a private weekend affair in the northern town of Safed.

Officiating Rabbi Eyal Riess of the Tzfat Kabbalah Center says Abdul wanted to escape the media circus for a more intimate ceremony.

Abdul was not immediately available for comment.

After a music career that saw her have six No. 1 singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Abdul reinvented herself as a quirky judge of talent on “American Idol.” She left “Idol” in 2009 after eight seasons over a contract dispute. She later had one season as a judge on the US version of “The X-Factor.” She’ll appear next year as a judge on Australia’s version of “So You Think You Can Dance.”