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June 25, 2009 | 2:14 pm

Michael Jackson a Jew?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

No, but Michael Jackson’s ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, considered herself Jewish. I’m not sure if she would be recognized by a beit din, but if so, that would make her kids with Jacko, Paris and Prince, Jewish.

Jackson, though not Jewish, once considered rockstar Rabbi Shmuley Boteach a close friend, though in recent years Jackson got in trouble for saying things like about Jews like “They suck…they’re like leeches. It’s a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose.”

Boteach, whose office has been getting overwhelmed with calls since news of Jackson’s collapse broke less than an hour ago, is in Iceland and couldn’t be reached on his cell. But here is an excerpt from a rare interview Boteach did with the SomethingJewish message board about his friendship with Jackson:

MJboard.com- What happened to Heal The Kids?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach- The initiative was only for one year. It did very good work and it had completed its mission of trying to get parents to prioritize their children. When Michael no longer had time for it there was no way it could continue so we were happy with the year it functioned and we left it at that.

MJboard.com- How do you feel about Michael right now?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach- I feel fine about him. He is a flawed man, like all of us. And he has a lot of good points, like all of us. I am, however, very disturbed at what he revealed in the Martin Bashir interview that he allows boys to sleep in his bed. That is immoral and unacceptable. I take him at his word that nothing is happening between him and the boys. But that doesn’t make a difference. It is utterly unacceptable for a grown man to sleep in a bed with a boy that is not his son. Period.

MJboard.com- Are you aware of the fact that some Michael Jackson fans feel as if you’ve let Michael down.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach- What an absurd statement. If anything, the reverse is true. But I’m not going to get into that. I have not been critical of Michael, aside from condemning his admission that he takes boys into his bed. So I’m not going to be critical of him now. Judaism commands me never to gossip, and I don’t. Many magazines offered me interviews to say bad things about Michael which I would of course never consider. Indeed, I rarely do any interviews about him at all. I am a Rabbi who believes in G-d. Hence, I stay away from the celebrity culture which makes men and women – celebrities – into gods, and that is misguided and unacceptable.

Hence, I never really comment about Michael at all because my involvement with him was not about him as a celebrity, but about the work we did together to help kids. When that ended, our relationship essentially did as well. I have no interest in having superstar friends. My interest is pleasing G-d, working to help people, being a decent husband, and raising my seven children.

But our friendship is over because I only want to be involved with Michael when we are both involved in helping children.

23 Comments — Leave your comment

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With any luck, the Michael Jackson story could become another Montauk Monster. How’s that coming along?

Comment by Ben Plonie on 6/27/09 at 6:37 pm

It was a tremendous sense of horror and anguish that overcame me upon hearing of the passing of Michael Jackson.  However, upon hearing Jackson’s alleged anti-Semitic comments, it’s like getting a knife in the gut.  Your sense of sadness turns into a feeling of betrayl.

Comment by Rosencratz on 7/03/09 at 1:24 pm

I never took Michael Jackson that personally. His death, while not specifically expected was not a shocker either in view of his other unconventional life and lifestyle.

In addition to the comments above, his lyrics to the song and video ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ from the album History go ““Jew me, Sue me” and “Kick me, Kike me”. These are more than alleged. In Jackson’s case, I allowed for the fact that although talented, Jackson was not that bright.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/03/09 at 1:39 pm

I heard Michael say in an interview that he loves people from all over the world, whether Jewish or Arab or other.  He maintains that in that song, those questionable lyrics, were to represent injustices done to minorities, including Jews.  If that is true (which I hope it is because I’ve always been an MJ fan, his Heal The World efforts, and I love that song) then he should have been more careful about making his intentions for those words clear.

I say this as a Jewish person - he was continuously attacked by some very greedy ridiculous Jews, and so I’m wondering if he was just referring to THOSE Jews (and not all of us) when he made the chopped off statements about them “doing it to themselves”.  Hell, I’ve said things about Jews being egocentric a-holes, and I’m Jewish.

I hope I learn the truth about this though I accept that I may never.

I’ll keep listening to his music though because I love it, and I’ll keep respecting his caring for children as the future, and for his philanthropy and wish for Peace on Earth.

He did start the Heal The World foundation after all, and got everyone to listen to it with his Heal The World song.

Seriously, how hateful could someone be, who wrote that song.

Comment by Lilah on 7/03/09 at 10:20 pm

What “very greedy ridiculous Jews” attacked Jackson?  I think the claim is absurd on its head.  Jackson would have never risen to the level of stardom he had, had it not been for those of us who helped put him there in the first place.  He should have been thanking Jews from the bottom of his heart and not calling us “greedy bloodsuckers.”

That being said and seeing that Jackson published anti-Semitic lyrics in his songs, you almost wonder how many Jews have been attacked, beaten, mugged or even killed by an assailant who was under the influence of those lyrics?  His estate is reportedly worth $250 million and I think the window of opportunity is running short for those who might seek justice of behalf of potential hate crime victims.

Comment by Rosencratz on 7/04/09 at 4:40 am

Lilah, you’re ridiculous. You’re just ridiculous, and sad, and a Michael Jackson celebrity-cultist. Please, grow up.

Comment by Jonathan on 7/09/09 at 3:59 pm

Lilah, I respect you for not being like some other Jew who don’t repend but keep blaming other people and do whatever it takes to cover up for other sinnful Jew, we all understand there are surly some ‘good fruits’ and ‘bad fruits’ in every people. but when someone trying to cover the truth of having bad fruits then he/she must will be corrupted gradually and eventually. If you are a believer, be a TRUE one!

Comment by jennifer Isabelle on 7/27/09 at 8:11 am

It probably goes without saying that when a Jew hating bigot calls you a good Jew, it’s a signal for some serious introspection.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/27/09 at 6:03 pm

again, I don’t understand…does everything that a Jew do is definitely correct? and saying others who does not go his way a bigot? I really don’t get it. Should we say Bernard Madoff has done the right thing? We all have brians, please don’t fool us.

Comment by kathy on 7/30/09 at 2:18 pm

hahaha wooow ! welll this rabbi scmuley is kind of very funny guy! Why don´t u just tell the truth about why u and mj were not friends???? Cause u stole money from heal the kids foundation and u have the nerv to call u a rabbi a gods man??? And knoooooow u want to write a boook about him and u have been taped mj and intrerviwed him! so don´t speak rubb rabbi ok!Dissrespectuful! He belived that we all humans could be good but he was rong! They dont really care about us is a song about that nobody cares about ppl like black jews ect ect is not to hateful song to claim it on jews is on ppl how are hateful!!

Comment by haha on 9/22/09 at 2:24 am

BLOODY JEWS I REALLY HATE THEM !!!! ESPECIALLT THIS STUOID BASTARDS URLI WHATEVER HIS NAME IS AND THIS SHMULEY!!!! THEY HAD BETRAYED MICHAEL JACKSON WHEN TO COMES TO MONEY THEY ARE FUCKING THE SAME HUNGRY FOR MONEY!!! MJ HATED THE JEWS!!!!  YOU NEVER BEEN CLOSE FRIENDS OF MICHAEL JACKSON!!! NOW I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY THE HITLER WANTED TO KILL ALL JEWS!!!! GO TO HELL ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by manuela on 9/24/09 at 4:19 am

manuela,
I know you mean well and have a pure heart but when you’re dead it’s like being on an elevator and every time one of my fans says something bad about Jews it’s like my elevator goes down and after your last post my elevator went down so far that my shoes started smoking on the elevator floor which is really hot right now so could you please just stop insulting God’s favorite special holy people you puta estupida

Love and peace,
Michael

Comment by Ben Plonie on 9/24/09 at 6:34 pm

Shmuley (I refused to call you a ‘rabbi’ for that means ‘teacher’ and you clearly only ‘teach’ for your own selfish gain),

What sort of person publishes hours worth of interviews that were done for counselling purposes and which were not supposed to be released to the public at all.  Michael came to you in confidence and you, like all the other leeches and parasites around him, have abused that trust.  I hope that the Jackson Family Trust (the latter word you will surely not recognise) sue you for every penny you have, for abusing someone’s trust in order to sell books.  No real fan is going to buy your book.  As for all those on here who have posted about Michael being anti-Semetic, maybe it’s time for you to look at his real character and not simply go along with the media and the Shmuley’s of this world.  You will find his real character in his songs.  Start with Heal The World and Man in the Mirror and whilst you’re at it, let’s pray that Shmuley listens to the songs too whilst taking a good long look at the face of a traitor in his own mirror.

Comment by Dee on 10/14/09 at 1:27 am

Do you know the terms under which those discussions were held, and whether Michael Jackson signed a release or other indication of the terms of the discussions? I don’t, but no publisher would release protected and confidential counseling sessions. If there is no lawsuit, we can bet there is no basis for one.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 10/14/09 at 2:16 am

It is clear that Michael did not want this material released publicly.  If he had wanted that, this book would have been released years ago.  We all know of Shmuley’s addiction to and craving for attention, so why would this book not have been released at the time? Since the tapes were obviously not done for public consumption, then the only other reason would be for counselling purposes.  He trusted this ‘rabbi’ and once again, he is being maligned and taken advantage of for greed. Why else would Shmuley be publishing this now?  I don’t have the terms of their agreement, no.  Neither have I seen a letter or document from Michael to the effect that he authorises the release of this most personal and confidential information to the public at large.

Comment by Dee on 10/14/09 at 2:28 am

When it comes to addiction to and craving for attention, I doubt that Shmuley could top Michael Jackson. MJ had some brilliant musical ideas in his day, but his career for the last twenty five years had nothing to do with music and consisted of just publicy being Paris Hilton Michael Jackson, an exaggerated and larger-than-life figure. Fans can dwell if they wish on the fragments of PR that Jackson gave out from time to time, but others are entitled to try to comprehend the human factors in a personality like his, and ideally take lessons from insights into what became a wasted life.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 10/14/09 at 2:55 am

Ben, we can argue about this until the cows come home, but it seems neither of us will change our minds.  However, there is only one truth, so both of us cannot be right. Did you ever meet the man that you condemn so freely and willingly?  I did, many times. So I figure that I have a little more insight into his character than you do.  He never craved attention but was thrust into the limelight at an early age, before he even had time to make the decision for himself. As an adult, he could have bragged about all the many people he had helped - the children, the needy, the lonely, the poor, the persecuted - but much of his work was done in private so that people like yourself, who only see the PR machine at work, wouldn’t notice.  His humanitarian work went virtually unnoticed because much of it was done in secret and without the need for public recognition. Yes, he had his own PR machine, as does your friend Shmuley, as does everyone in the public eye. Michael’s life was not wasted - his legacy will live on forever.  That legacy is a legacy of love and not one of judgement which seems to cloak each one of your posts about him, from suggesting that he was ‘not that bright’ to comparisons with Paris Hilton and…Montauk Monster? God says, do not judge lest ye are judged, so if you are a Jew, maybe it’s time to start brushing up on your character rather than persecuting someone else’s, especially when that person is no longer here to defend himself.  On that note, I am done here, since I cannot see anything constructive coming from trying to reason with someone who clearly has no interest in learning about the real Michael Jackson.

Comment by Dee on 10/14/09 at 3:22 am

Too bad you are done here, because I am going to respond to your comment. My reference to the Montauk Monster was to Brad, who in my opinion squeezed a silly story about a ‘Montauk Monster’ dry to gain blog hits and internet ratings. I ventured that the Michael Jackson story and not the person is similar the the Montauk Monster story from the point of view of a religion blog in a Jewish publication.

Furthermore, Mr. Humanitarian Love And Not Judgment had plenty of time to defend himself regarding “...saying things like about Jews like “They suck…they’re like leeches. It’s a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose.” My opinion about that is unchange since that time, and my opinion about Jackson as a dumbass for singing “Jew me, Sue me” and “Kick me, Kike me” is charitable, and Rabbi Boteach’s futile efforts to befriend Jackson was even more charitable than I would have been. Since you have such insight into his character, what the hell was the real Michael Jackson trying to communicate? This is from someone who went to Saudi Arabia and donned a burqa.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 10/14/09 at 5:58 pm

@ Dee on 10/14/09 at 3.22 am. You are so right not to further discuss with “loser” Ben Plonie ‘cause this “dumbass’still doesn’t get the message that “kick me, Kike me” is MJ’s protest to all kinds of injustice happening to minority groups. And maybe when Mj said “they suck.. the’re like leeches” he was referring to the kind Plonie belongs to. Plonie calling MJ an overrated artist is showing how ignorant HE is. If musician of fame call Michael a “musical genius” then who the Hell is Plonie? Exactly…...a DUMB LOSER as opposed to THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER of THEM ALL MICHAEL JACKSON!!

Comment by kathy40 on 12/10/09 at 7:49 am

Well said, Kathy!

Comment by Dee on 12/10/09 at 8:39 am

I didn’t say Jackson was an overrated artist. Just that he didn’t produce anything for the last twenty five years. So maybe he used to be a musical genius. So anybody who loves his music firsthand is probably an old bag by now.

If Jackson wanted to protest all kinds of injustice to minority groups, maybe he should have said “ruin me, coon me”. Or “foul me, towelhead me”. But he didn’t. Maybe he was a coward.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 12/10/09 at 8:55 pm

Ben, please come back when you’ve done your homework.  Or even better, maybe butt out of things you clearly know nothing about. Anyone who knows about Michael and has followed his career, and many who don’t, will be very much aware that his History album was released in 1995. Anyone with a few brain cells will thus be able to calculate that’s 14 years ago - clearly not twenty five years ago.  So maybe it’s you who’s the ‘old bag’ (a very ageist term coming from someone who professes to be against discrimination). Amazing how many seek to criticise Michael for the very things that they are.  You have said that Michael was maybe ‘not that bright’ and alleged that he practiced discrimination, among other things.  Maybe it’s time for you to take a look at the man in your mirror.

Comment by Dee on 12/11/09 at 3:14 am

Oops, forteen years intead of twenty five. Sorry, I just caught up on my homework tonight. The History album was a double set consisting of old stuff and new stuff. The new stuff was angry responses to the child-molestation charges and also included the antisemitism. ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Thriller’ it wasn’t. Let’s just say it made him no new fans. It was ditched and the album was re-released as ‘Vol. 1-Greatest Hits History’ where all the people who didn’t bother with it in 1995 could now buy it.

Don’t worry about the ‘old bag’ comment. I am probably older than you, so I qualify to say it. Just like MJ could have referred to something in his own experience rather that ‘Jew me’ and ‘Kike me’.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 12/12/09 at 4:04 pm

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