Madonna introduces Esther

Call her Esther: That’s the Hebrew name Madonna has chosen for herself as a follower of cabala.

“I was named after my mother. My mother died when she was very young, of cancer, and ... I wanted to attach myself to another name,” the singer says in an interview on ABC’s “20/20,” airing at 10 tonight. “This is in no way a negation of who my mother is ... I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name.”

During the interview, Madonna wears the red string around her wrist that’s a symbol of the Jewish mysticism, though she wears it beneath her watch. She says she’s sensitive when critics suggest her interest is just a trend. “I’m a little bit irritated that people think that it’s like some celebrity bandwagon that I’ve jumped on, or that, say, somebody like Demi [Moore] has jumped on,” the 45-year-old says. “We don’t take it lightly....

“Paris Hilton did come to the Kabbalah Centre once, because her parents brought her ... and they wanted to help her and they were desperate and they brought her there and she had a meeting and she left and she never came back and suddenly, Paris Hilton studies cabala. I mean, that’s what happens and people ... they don’t know the whole story.”