Paula Abdul Is Going to Have a Bat Mitzvah in Israel

Did you know that Paula Abdul is Jewish? Paula is the former judge of American Idol and star of one of the greatest crash-and-burn reality shows ever (that would be Hey Paula), and now she’s in Israel touring the country as an official guest of the country’s board of tourism.

Paula is visiting religious sites, going to museums, and even hanging out with the country’s president, Shimon Peres. (Fun fact: Peres is the first cousin of Lauren Bacall. I guess that makes it hard for him to get starstruck!) Paula called her journey to the Holy Land “the most magnificent trip I’ve ever taken.”

Now, Paula, whose family is Lebanese-American, is making up for lost time: she’s reportedly going to have a bat mitzvah for herself in Israel. This sounds almost exactly like the schedule for my Birthright trip, now that I think about it.