Gwyneth Paltrow cries after learning of ancestor’s miracle

Gwyneth Paltrow wept on a television show when she discovered that her great-great-great grandfather was "a miracle worker" who apparently saved a town from being consumed by a fire.

In a voice breaking with emotion, the actress read an extract from a book paying tribute to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Pelterowicz, reports the Daily Express.

She read: “Once, a great fire erupted outside the town and, as it approached the Jewish neighbourhood, a great panic ensued.

“However, Rabbi Hirsch went out to the balcony of his home, waved his handkerchief towards the fire and it was extinguished.

“Since then, they say that if a fire erupts in the town, it will not spread very much because the blessing of Rabbi Hirsch protects us,” she further read.

In an astonishing twist, the actress also learned that Rabbi Hirsch was a master of Kabbalah, an ancient mystical offshoot of Judaism, of which she is a devout follower, along with one-time best friend Madonna.

After reading about his “miracle” in the town of Novogrod, now part of Russia, she declared: “This is a very special holy man in our family line; a master of Kabbalah and, by this account, a miracle worker.”

Gwyneth, 38, made her discovery on the genealogy show, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, due to be shown in Britain later this year.