Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was online with WashingtonPost.com readers on Friday, Oct. 2, at 1 p.m. ET to
\ndiscuss his book, The Michael Jackson Tapes, which is an account of his
\nrecorded conversations with the pop star as his spiritual advisor that
\ntook place in 2000 and 2001 and explore Jackson’s feelings about fame,
\nfamily and relationships. In addition, Boteach will address the latest
\nnews about the leaked L.A. coroner’s autopsy report which states that
\nJackson was a “fairly healthy” 50-year-old before he died of an
\noverdose.<\/p>\n
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Hi. It’s Rabbi Shmuley. Thank you all for
\njoining us this afternoon. It’s the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot
\nand I wish everyone a very joyous holiday. I look forward to your
\nquestions and comments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
_______________________<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh, Pa.: If you had the opportunity to talk to Michael today, what would you say to him?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: I would tell him how said I am that he died
\nso prematurely, how I believed his death was so avoidable. How tragic
\nthis is for his children who don’t have a father or a mother and for
\nall the people who loved him. And how important it was for him to
\nchange direction in life so that it did not end up in tragedy.<\/p>\n
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New York, N.Y.: Rabbi Shmuley: What is your opinion of the
\n“documentary” produced by Martin Bashir in 2003? Do you feel that
\nMichael was treated fairly in it?<\/p>\n
Also, do you still have a relationship with Uri Geller?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: I told Michael, when Bashir’s people
\ncontacted me in order to reach Michael, that the last thing he needed
\nwas to bring cameras into his life. He needed to get control of his
\nlife, to reorient his existence toward spiritual purpose and a
\nconsecration of his fame to a noble cause. He was famous enough. He
\ndidn’t need this documentary. I lament that he participated when his
\nlife was not ready to be opened to scrutiny.<\/p>\n
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Pittsburgh, Pa.: What is your response to the autopsy report that
\nwas released to the public yesterday? It stated that Michael was in
\nrelatively good health and that there were no additional drugs found in
\nhis system, which directly contradicts your claims of him being a
\nprescription drug addict.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Michael himself admitted to an addiction to
\nprescription drug medication around 1993. As has been widely reported,
\nhe sometimes resorted to painkillers in order to deal with medical
\nissues. I told him that he had to learn to live with his pain, and make
\nchanges in his life, instead of medicating the pain away. I wanted him
\nto address its root cause.
\nWe as a society are often guilty of the same. Americans consume three
\nquarters of the world’s anti-depressants because materialism will never
\nbring happiness. We have to rediscover spiritual purpose, which is
\nexactly what I told Michael throughout our friendship.<\/p>\n
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Pittsburgh, Pa.: On Dateline, you stated that you weren’t sure if
\nMichael was innocent with regards to the child molestation charges.
\nAfter spending two years taping the man–how could you possibly be
\nunsure? Certianly, something would have tipped you off if he was guilty.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: What I have consistently said is that I never
\nsaw anything that would lead me to conclude that Michael could ever
\nharm a child.<\/p>\n
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Harrisburg, Pa.: I don’t want you to break any confidences, but what
\ndo you believe Michael Jackson would have wanted the world to know
\nabout his feelings on spirituality?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: The most beautiful part of this book is
\nMichael’s depth when it comes to spirituality. He was a devout
\nJehovah’s Witness who regularly knocked on people’s doors to persuade
\nthem to believe in G-d, as he describes in the book. Michael believed
\nthat G-d was absolutely essential in people’s live and he and I talked
\nabout religion and spirituality constantly.<\/p>\n
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Lodi, Calif.: What was the purpose of the book you were going to
\nwrite with\/for Michael? Was it to be an autobiography or a self-help
\nbook?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Michael was incredibly wounded and deeply
\nsaddened at the fact that he was turned into a pariah by the media. He
\nhoped in this book to reach the public in his own voice and demonstrate
\nhis truest and deepest self so that people would know who he really was
\nrather that what the newspapers said he was.<\/p>\n
_______________________<\/p>\n
Anonymous: Was Michael Jackson ever baptized?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Michael sent me to interview his mother
\nKatherine for the book. It’s one of the most interesting chapters. In
\nit she describes how Michael was raised as a devout Jehovah’s Witness
\nfrom a very early age. She deeply laments that Michael decided to
\ndisfellowship himself from the Church. I lamented the same and
\nendeavored greatly to reconnect him to the Church which I believe had
\nkept him humble and grounded.<\/p>\n
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Eagle Rock, Calif. : Rabbi–Do you think anyone could have saved
\nMichael? He had a large family and millions who loved him (myself
\nincluded), but it doesn’t seem he was really close to anyone. It just
\nmakes me so sad, and wish I could have been in his life.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: What will always puzzle me is why Michael’s
\nlove for his own children, Prince, Paris, and Blanket, was not enough
\nto keep him alive. He was an exemplary father and loved his children
\nvery deeply. Sadly, he had indeed become isolated from the many others
\nwho loved him.<\/p>\n
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Los Angeles, Calif.: In the Catholic Church, In the Baptist Church,
\nin the Mormon Church, and in most Christian organizations I know, when
\na person talks privately to his spiritual leader that is consider
\nsacred and absolutely confidential. A Father\/Priest\/Minister is
\nsupposed to keep it a secret until his death. Is that different in
\nRabbi Boteach’s faith? Why is a spiritual leader exposing to the whole
\nworld tapes of private conversations, giving interviews on TV, and
\npublishing a book to promote himself using a dead person’s intimacy? Is
\nthat OK?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: There is nothing in this book that breaks any
\nconfidences. These tapes were made not only with Michael’s approval but
\nat his behest in order that a book be published. This is exactly why
\nMichael sent me even to his mother for her inclusion in the book, as
\nyou’ll discover in the book. It was his desperate wish to make his
\nheart known to the public. And indeed, we have already received
\nthousands of emails from people the world over saying that the book,
\nand indeed my interviews, have completely altered their perception of
\nMichael. People never knew just how much he suffered and the loneliness
\nhe experienced. Please read the book and I believe you’ll feel the same.<\/p>\n
_______________________<\/p>\n
Springhill, Fla.: Why did Michael think he was ugly?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: What I write in the book is that all of us
\nliving in this culture have somehow been conditioned to believe that we
\nare not attractive. There is too much self-loathing with regards to
\nappearance in America. Michael was guilty of it, as are so many of us.
\nIn his case, he referenced the fact that his father made hurtful
\ncomments. But there can be no question that a culture that promotes
\nexternal appearance over internal beauty is going to produce a
\nglorification of youth over wisdom and Michael relates in the book that
\nhe desperately feared growing old.<\/p>\n
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Knocking on doors: How in the world could Michael knock on anybody’s door unnoticed? Was this as a kid or adult?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: He relates that he would disguise himself.
\nThe adults, he says, would not know whom he was. But the kids always
\nfigured it out. Michael says he was missionizing even after the release
\nof the Thriller album.<\/p>\n
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Richmond, Va.: I loved your TV show, I was able to learn something
\nimportant about myself everytime I watch the couple on each episode try
\nto work things out.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Thank you. One of the things through which
\nMichael and I connected was a broken childhood. My parents divorced
\nwhen I was a boy and I have since devoted my life to healing families,
\nwhich is what my TV show ‘Shalom in the Home’ is all about. I see this
\nbook about Michael in the same light. It is a deep book of healing and
\nMichael is incredibly courageous in sharing his pain so that parents
\nmight learn to always prioritize their children.<\/p>\n
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Ashburn, Va.: You had plenty of time to publish the book before the
\n2003 arrest. It could have saved his life to get his message out to the
\npublic. Why didn’t you publish this book in 2002? It feels that you are
\njust another one in a long line of people who exploited Michael Jackson
\nfor your own personal fame and fortune.<\/p>\n