Shmuley Boteach

Shmuley Boteach (2010)

Shmuley Boteach (born November 19, 1966 in Los Angeles as Shmuel Boteach and son of a Persian Jew from Isfahan ) is an American Chabad rabbi, writer and a well-known and colorful media personality.

Among his various books, the book Kosher Sex ( Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy , 1999) was particularly well-known, in which he openly discussed intimacy, sexual intercourse, masturbation, etc. and viewed it for the first time from a modern-orthodox perspective. In it he propagates the joy of sex and suggests rules for practice. The book received a lot of attention worldwide, was discussed controversially and was an economic success as a bestseller (sold over a million times, translated into more than 15 languages). As a result, various magazines named Boteach one of the most influential rabbis in the United States several times.

In addition, Shmuley Boteach became known as Michael Jackson's “spiritual advisor and companion” .

He and his wife Debbie have nine children.

The beginnings as Chabad-Shaliach

Shmuley Boteach is a rabbi of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and received his smicha in New York in 1988 as a student of Menachem Mendel Schneerson . The Lubavitcher sent him as Shaliach to Oxford in England, where he took special care of the students and founded the L'Chaim Society . It grew rapidly from the beginning, but it also attracted criticism because of the choice of speakers and the overly broad opening for non-Jews. After all, there were more Gentiles in society than Jews and the demand arose to expel some non-Jewish students, which Boteach rejected. Finally, he was able to win the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin as spokesman for the society, whose views were, however, in open contradiction to those of Chabad. Boteach was then asked to vacate his post as Chabad-Shaliach, which he also followed. In addition, there was later the discovery of financial irregularities within the L'Chaim Society (incorrectly declared use of funds, etc.) as well as the declaration by the British Chief Rabbinate that Boteach did not have the necessary certificates to be allowed to lead Ashkenazi services in British synagogues. Notwithstanding this, he won the “Preacher of the Year” award from The Times magazine that same year .

Michael Jackson

In the 1990s, Boteach became friends with Michael Jackson and became his unofficial "spiritual advisor". There were critical comments from the Jewish side who admitted that this fact brought Boteach into the press and made him and Judaism known, but did not make any contribution to promoting religious Jewish life. At that time, Boteach took Michael Jackson against all allegations of negative or shameful treatment of children in massive protection and said, "Not Jackson, but our society should be accused of seeing people who cared for children intensely as sick or somehow abnormal ".

Until a falling out between Jackson and Boteach in 2002, he was also involved in Jackson's "Heal the Kids" or "Time for Kids" charity.

After his death, Boteach published The Michael Jackson Tapes , recordings of conversations between him and Jackson; allegedly this corresponded to the declared will of the deceased.

Boteach as a media personality

In 2006, Boteach was a regular host of the TV series Shalom in the Home , a kind of reality show in which he advised families and couples and in particular gave advice on how to maintain good relationships. He also produced a similar regular radio show, The Shmuley Show , and was a frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and other TV formats. He writes various columns in widely read newspapers and magazines and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal . He is a frequent speaker in the United States and other countries.

Views

Boteach expressed many views that made him unpopular among his Orthodox Jewish compatriots, including in particular his positive and open attitude towards homosexuality. The blatant description of intercourse and other sexual practices in his book Kosher Sex eventually resulted in his being forced to leave the synagogue in north London.

Books

• Dreams , 1991
• The Wolf Shall Lie with the Lamb - The Messiah in Hasidic Thought , 1993
• Moses of Oxford: A Jewish Vision of a University and Its Life , 1994
• Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy , New York 1999
  • Kosher sex. A guide to passion and intimacy , Adwaita, Hohenpeissenberg 2001, ISBN 3-934281-01-X
• Confessions of a Psychic and a Rabbi , 2000
• Dating Secrets of the Ten Commandments , 2000
• Why Can't I Fall in Love: A / 2-Step Program , 2001
• The Psychic and the Rabbi: A Remarkable Correspondence , 2001
• Judaism For Everyone: Renewing Your Life Through the Vibrant Lessons of the Jewish Faith , 2002
• Kosher Adultery: Seduce and Sin with your Spouse , 2002
• The Private Adam: Becoming a Hero in a Selfish Age , 2003
• Face Your Fear: Living with Courage in an Age of Caution , 2004
• Hating Women: America's Hostile Campaign Against the Fairer Sex , 2005
• Parenting with Fire: Lighting up the Family With Passion and Inspiration , 2006
• 10 Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children , 2006
• The Broken American Male: And How to Fix Him , 2008
• The Kosher Sutra , 2009
• The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation , New York 2009
• The Blessings of Enough: Rejecting Material Greed, Embracing Spiritual Hunger , 2010
• 10 Conversations You Need to Have with Yourself: A Powerful Plan for Spiritual Growth and Self-Improvement , 2011
• Kosher Jesus , Jerusalem / New York, 2012

Web links

• www.shmuley.com, official website