Demi Lovato: Being Baptized in Israel Filled 'God-Sized Hole in My Heart'
On Tuesday, actress and singer Demi Lovato shared that she recently had the “amazing opportunity” to visit Israel, where she was baptized in the Jordan River, “the same place Jesus was baptized.”
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Lovato, who grew up Christian and has Jewish ancestry, said that when she was given an opportunity to travel to the places she’d read about in the Bible, she said yes.
The pop singer shared that she felt her spirituality come to life on the trip, experiencing a “connection to God” — something she said she had “been missing for a few years now.”
“There is something absolutely magical about Israel. I’ve never felt such a sense of spirituality or connection to God…something I’ve been missing for a few years now,” she wrote. “Spirituality is so important to me…to be baptized in the Jordan river…I’ve never felt more renewed in my life.”
“This trip has been so important for my well-being, my heart, and my soul,” she added. “I’m grateful for the memories made and the opportunity to be able to fill the God-sized hole in my heart. Thank you for having me, Israel.”
The 27-year-old singer also shared a photo of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Center in Jerusalem.
“My heart was absolutely broken in Yad Vashem. This was such a beautiful tribute and a reminder that we can never forget,” she wrote in a separate post, sharing several photos from the memorial.
Lovato also shared another photo of herself with a child at the Shalva National Center, a nonprofit organization that supports children with disabilities, writing “What an amazing center for children with special needs.”
Lovato also visited the Shalva National Center for children with special needs, where she wrote she “fell in love” with one of the little girls there.
The Push-back
The comments on her baptism photo were turned off, but that did not stop people from leaving anti-Israel, pro-Palestine comments on Lovato’s other posts.
“Are you kidding me? Palestine literally exists,” one user wrote, adding, “Free Palestine.”
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“There’s a lot of injured Palestinian children they was attacked by the Israeli Occupation Army, hope you’ll visit them next time,” another user added.
Other users commented hundreds of Palestinian flags, hashtagging “free Palestine,” while calling Lovato a racist.
“Calling Israel a ‘magical place’ and posting about their work for Israeli children with special needs meanwhile Israel is deliberately injuring thousands of Palestinian children leaving them permanently disabled with barely any access to medical care simply because they’re Palestinian,” one angry user wrote. “Your hypocrisy and racism is clear.”
Lovato has not addressed the push-back she received from her angry followers, and there’s certainly no need to. The spiritual renewal she’s experienced warrants only celebration, not an apology.
