Shmuley Boteach


Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach is an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, author, TV host and public speaker. Boteach is the author of 30 books, including Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, and Kosher Jesus. His outspokenness has earned him praise and criticism; Newsweek magazine named him one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the United States three years in a row, including sixth in 2010. He resides in Englewood, New Jersey.

Early life

Boteach attended and graduated from Hebrew Academy.

Rabbinic career

In 1988, Boteach was sent at age 22 by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson as a Chabad-Lubavitch shaliach to Oxford, England, where he served as rabbi to Oxford's students for 11 years and during that time founded the L'Chaim Society. Under Boteach's leadership the Oxford L'Chaim Society grew to be the second-largest student organization in Oxford's history, with a membership that included over 5,000 non-Jews. A dispute erupted when Boteach was asked to remove some non-Jewish students from the society, including future senator Cory Booker, but refused. Later that year Boteach won the "Preacher of the Year" Award from the London Times.
In 2008, Boteach was named ninth on Newsweeks list of the "Top 50 Rabbis in America", and in 2009 he was named seventh. In 2010, Boteach was listed on the Newsweek list at number six.
Boteach has faced widespread criticism from fellow rabbis during his career, especially following the release of his book Kosher Jesus. It was denounced as "heresy" by some rabbis. Jacob Immanuel Schochet, a Canadian rabbi, stated that the book "poses a tremendous threat to the Jewish community." In 1999, then Chief Rabbi of United Hebrew Congregations, Jonathan Sacks, banned Boteach from speaking at the New West End Synagogue in Bayswater, London.

Media career

In 2006, Boteach hosted the television series Shalom in the Home. The series, which ran for two seasons on the TLC network, was a reality show in which Boteach counseled families and gave advice about relationships. In 2007, he was honored by the National Fatherhood Initiative with their most prestigious award for his efforts on Shalom in the Home and promoting the importance of a caring father in the contemporary family. He writes two syndicated columns, and is a frequent op-ed contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Jerusalem Post and other newspapers. He speaks extensively in the United States, Israel, and other countries.
Boteach hosted a weekly radio show on WABC called The Shmuley Show. He has made numerous guest appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and other television programs, including The Dr. Phil Show, The Dr. Oz Show, and others. Boteach hosted his own show on the Oprah XM Satellite Radio Network and his writings and quotes are published on the Oprah.com website.
In 2014, Boteach was a featured cast member in an episode for the Sundance Channel's Dream School series.
He is founder of This World: The Values Network, an international organization dedicated to advancing universal Jewish values in the media and culture, and to affirming the Jewish people as a "light unto the nations". It has been reported by that in 2016, the network received over $1 million from Sheldon Adelson.

Michael Jackson

In the 1990s, Boteach became a friend and unofficial spiritual advisor to Michael Jackson. Some Jewish commentators were critical. "Consorting with Michael Jackson might get Shmuley's name in the papers, but it's doubtful it will really encourage Jews to go to synagogue on Friday night", wrote Benjamin Soskis in Slate. Boteach was a vocal supporter of Jackson and "dismissive of suggestions that Jackson's relationships with children have been anything other than wholesome. Why would anyone believe those charges? They said anyone who spends that amount of time with kids has to be sick. Well, that's not an indictment of Michael Jackson, that's an indictment of our society!" He further stated: "I was friendly with Michael for a year before anyone knew about it. I did my own investigation. He never had sex with the child he made the settlement with, and there are no others."
In 2001, Boteach was involved in "Heal the Kids" or "Time for Kids", a charity founded by Jackson to encourage parents to spend more time with their children. Jackson and Boteach had a falling-out in 2002.
After Michael Jackson died, Boteach published The Michael Jackson Tapes, a series of taped conversations he had with Jackson. Boteach said it was Jackson's wish that the conversations be published: "This book is being published because it was Michael Jackson's desperate wish that it be so," he wrote in the prologue to the book.
A second book was published in 2010: Honoring the Child Spirit: Inspiration and Learning from Our Children, in conversation with Michael Jackson.

Views and opinions

Boteach wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed column on homosexuality that it is "akin to the prohibition against lighting fire on the Sabbath or eating bread during Passover;" but contends that the Bible is not vague with regard to homosexuality—it stands in contravention to the divine will. He believes that the biggest threat to marriage doesn't come from gay marriage, but heterosexual divorce. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach opposes the government's involvement in recognizing marriage, but supports state-sanctioned civil unions for all.
Boteach has opened a dialogue with Christians, and specifically with Messianic Jews, who are considered to be apostates by most Jews. In 2008, he debated Douglas Jacoby and Shabir Ally, on The True Legacy of Abraham, and the next year he debated Douglas Jacoby on "Judaism & Christianity: Which is the Religion of Peace?" In 2008, he debated with Michael Brown, a leader of the Messianic Jews, on whether belief in Jesus is compatible with Judaism, and in his book Kosher Jesus he depicts Jesus as "a Jewish patriot murdered by Rome for his struggle on behalf of his people." These positions have drawn opposition from many in the orthodox establishment, particularly from within the Chabad sect to which Boteach belongs. Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, a leading British rabbi and a rival of Boteach's, called Boteach's attempts to reach out to Messianic Jews "self-delusional", and Rabbi Immanuel Schochet of Toronto, Yitzchak Schochet's father, banned the book to Orthodox Jewish readers. "It is forbidden for anyone to buy or read this book," he said in an interview.
Boteach is known for his flamboyance and self-promotion. In a comment he later described as only having been sarcastic, he was reported as saying "God gave 10 commandments at Sinai, and the 11th commandment, which they expunged but which has come down orally, is 'Thou shalt do anything for publicity and recognition.'"
Boteach is supportive of Israel, and critical of American policy towards the country. Boteach has argued that the Obama administration "bullied" Israel, arguing that U.S. Middle Eastern policy is "scandalous" and "disgusting". He is also supportive of Israeli settlements, including the Hebron settlement, the residents of which he characterizes as marked by a particular "warmth, friendliness and hospitality" and views as being "liberated from hatred."
Boteach was criticized by Jewish organizations for an ad placed in The New York Times which read "Susan Rice has a blind spot: Genocide", and that her action has "injected a degree of partisanship" that is "destructive of the fabric of the relationship" between the US and Israel. Rice had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for agreeing to speak to Congress about Iran's nuclear program without coordinating with the Obama administration. Boteach apologized quoting that the disagreement was over policy and he did not intend a personal attack. Speaking to CNN, Boteach said the purpose of the ad was to bring attention to his perception that the United States government has ignored genocides in the past, and continues to do so.

2012 Congressional run

Boteach ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2012 elections. He supported making family counseling tax deductible. He received the endorsement of then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in April. Boteach won the Republican primary for New Jersey's 9th congressional district seat on June 5, and lost to 8th District Representative Bill Pascrell in the November election, by a margin of 73.6% to 25.4%.

Published works

DVDs
Books