According to a source for Heat magazine, the X Factor boss has “agreed they could be blessed by a rabbi and partake in Jewish traditions, including the bedecking ceremony [in which the groom identifies the bride in a room just before the wedding]”.
How about Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen to kick off the simchah celebrations?
The source added: “He’s even said he’ll have some Israeli dancing lessons for the party afterwards.”
The piece even went as far as to say that Cowell had always felt a connection with Judaism
This is not a new development.
Back in 2008, he told the JC that, three years earlier, he had discovered details of his own Jewish background.
His father, Eric, was Jewish. Eric’s parents Esther and Joseph Cowell had married at West Ham Synagogue in 1915. “I wasn’t surprised, I was absolutely thrilled,” he said at the time.
Cowell also has links with Israel. He recently donated £150,000 to an Israeli army charity at a dinner in Los Angeles.
So, assuming the wedding goes ahead — although his representatives said this week that the couple have no plans to marry at all — what might it look like? And what should he be thinking of?
For a start, he would probably like the ceremony to be near his mother’s home in Sussex.
So maybe he could hire Arundel Castle or the Brighton Pavilion.
As for the entertainment, having Jewish performers who are at home with their roots could mean Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen kicking off the celebrations
Having said that, Laughing Len’s lugubrious demeanour may not exactly be ideal for getting the party going.
If he wants an experienced wedding singer, there’s always Alexandra Burke, who sang at many a simchah before winning the X Factor in 2008.
Then there are the guests. There has to be a place at the simchah for fellow Jewish judges Sharon Osbourne and Paula Abdul, who appeared on the US version of the show.
Gary Barlow can expect an invitation — but Cheryl Cole? And Louis Walsh will no doubt be on standby in case there are any late
cancellations.
As for a rabbi: the best bet may be a Liberal conversion for the husband-to-be. Their baby will be Jewish whatever they decide, but since Cowell is Jewish only on his father’s side, he will need to go through an official conversion process.
As Rabbi Neil Janes of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John’s Wood says: “We do offer blessings to mixed faith couples who wish to mark a change in their relationship. However, if they wish to have a Jewish wedding, they would need to come and talk to us about it.”
A conversion would take between a year and 18 months and involve Cowell coming to weekly classes and attending services regularly.
He added: “But there’s no auditioning our choir. We have an outstanding professional choir and it’s not the X Factor, that’s for sure.”
