FOREVER AMBER?

By JOAN FLEISCHMAN
jfleischman@herald.com

Amber Ridinger got a $500,000 bat mitzvah party with performances by Ja Rule and Ashanti -- but who performed the religious ceremony, and where?

Rabbi Zev Katz, 31, of Chabad House on Wheels, conducted the Friday, Nov. 11, service at the Ridinger family's $15 million waterfront estate on North Bay Road.

Her mom, Loren Ridinger, 37, says Amber met with the rabbi ''twice a week for several months'' to prepare. ``She didn't go to traditional Hebrew school like I did.''

Loren's mom, who died of a heart attack at 42 when Amber was 7 months old, was Jewish. Loren's dad, a Roman Catholic, converted to Judaism.

Loren's husband, James, 55, says he was raised Methodist but loves the Jewish faith. ''We observe holidays from both in our household,'' he says. ``I think Jewish traditions strengthen the family.''

Just 32 family members and close friends attended the two-hour ceremony, Loren says. Then came the Shabbat kosher dinner -- gefilte fish, poached salmon, stuffed chicken and challah bread.

The night after, the Ridingers threw the Butterflies and Bling bash at The Forge in Miami Beach. Amber, a Miami Country Day School eighth-grader, wore a $27,000 purple Dolce & Gabbana gown, later changing into a short black Fernando Garcia dress.

Her mom insists she's a grounded, generous teen. Amber donated $5,000 of her bat mitzvah gift money to Make-A-Wish, which grants wishes to kids with life-threatening medical conditions. Amber is sponsoring a shopping spree at Dolphin Mall for a 10-year-old girl named Thalia from Miami Lakes who has a cancerous bone tumor.

The Ridingers founded Market America, an Internet marketing company that sells everything from anti-aging supplements to auto care products. Daddy, known as JR, is prez/CEO; Mommy, senior VP.

Amber's affair at The Forge made The New York Post (Nov. 10), the front of The Herald (Nov. 11), The Sun-Sentinel (Nov. 14), and The New York Times (Nov. 20), which did a piece on celebs who play private parties.

US Weekly reports on Amber's bat mitzvah gift from Jennifer Lopez -- a 30-plus-carat, $100,000-plus diamond bracelet. ''Jen is a very close friend,'' Loren says.

Amber also received a Cartier Pasha white gold watch from New York Met Mike Piazza and wife Alicia Rickter, a former Playboy playmate. They attended the Saturday night soiree. Cartier's least expensive white gold Pasha retails for $12,900.

Despite the glitz and publicity blitz, Loren insists: ``It wasn't meant to be a showy thing -- just a congratulation to Amber on what she accomplished.''

The Ridingers had help getting all that ink. They hired TARA, Ink public relations firm, which pitched the story in an effusive news release. TARA, Ink's founder is Tara Solomon, 47, The Herald's freelance ''Advice Diva'' columnist. Solomon's firm also represents The Forge.

The Ridingers got a big bang for their PR bucks. The extravaganza made MTV, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood and Geraldo At Large.

A rather tacky headline appeared on MTV.com: ``Ja Rule, Ashanti Torah The Roof Off At Girl's Bat Mitzvah.''

Actually, Amber did not read from the Torah (Biblical scroll) at the ceremony. She gave a bat mitzvah speech.