JERUSALEM?After decades as a performer and a provocative celebrity, Madonna is making her debut as an Israeli newspaper correspondent with a piece about her spiritual awakening.

Writing in Friday's edition of the daily Yediot Ahronot, the Material Girl informs readers that upon discovering Jewish mysticism "all the puzzle pieces started falling into place."

Madonna is bringing her Sticky & Sweet tour to Israel in September, which no doubt explains the timing of her journalism debut here.

But she also has ties to Israel and Judaism through her involvement with the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Center. She has taken the Hebrew name Esther and made a pilgrimage to Israel in 2004 along with other Kabbalah devotees.