Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach (born November 19, 1966) is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, TV host and public speaker.
Among other books, Boteach wrote Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999, which openly discusses intimacy and sexual intercourse. 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 seventh in 2009.
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach received his rabbinic ordination in 1988 from the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in New York City, and was sent as a Chabad-Lubavitch shaliach (emissary) to become its representative for a student group in the city of Oxford in England, where he founded the L'Chaim Society.
While growing the organization considerably, he received criticism for his tactics, choices of speakers, and decision to open up the forum to non-Jews, who eventually constituted more than half of the members. A serious row was sparked when Boteach was asked to remove some non-Jewish students from the society, but refused. After inviting Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, whose views clashed with those of the Chabad leadership, to speak, he was asked to leave his posting as shaliach.
In 1999, the British Charity Commission for England and Wales investigated the L'Chaim Society for possible misallocation of funds. Following the investigation, The Guardian reported, a spokesman for the London Chief Rabbi said Boteach "did not possess the appropriate United Synagogue rabbinical 'practice certificate'" for presiding over services in Orthodox Ashkenazic synagogues in Britain. Later that year Boteach won the "Preacher of the Year" Award from The Times.
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 counselled families and gave advice about relationships. Boteach also hosted a weekly radio show on WABC called The Shmuley Show, and has made numerous guest appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show and other television programs. He writes two syndicated columns, and is a frequent op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers. He speaks extensively in the United States and other countries.
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.
At the time, 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.
Following Michael Jackson's death, Boteach published The Michael Jackson Tapes, a series of taped conversations he had with Jackson. Boteach himself said in the book that it was Jackson's own 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.
Boteach has espoused many views that have made him unpopular with his Orthodox compatriots. He has espoused an accepting view of homosexuality: "Homosexuality is akin to the prohibition against lighting fire on the Sabbath or eating bread during Passover; there is nothing immoral about it, but it violates the divine will... I am in favor of gay civil unions rather than marriage," he wrote in an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal His books often openly discuss sex and sexual practices, to the chagrin of many in the Orthodox community. According to an article in The Slate, the descriptions of intercourse in his book Kosher Sex were one of the reasons he was forced to leave his north London synagogue.
In 2008 he debated with Messianic Jewish leader Michael L. Brown on whether belief in Jesus is compatible with Judaism. Boteach said his objective was to return to the fold Jews who had converted to Christianity, but the debate raised the ire of many British Jewish leaders. Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, a leading British orthodox rabbi, said Boteach's attempts to reach out to Messianic Jews were "self-delusional. Indeed, I question whether Rabbi Boteach has brought even one Jew involved in Christianity back to their roots through his debates, and suggest that it is little more than image and soundbite. I would urge the community to avoid any such debates."
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'."
In 2010 he attended the Chabad convention of Shlichim. Boteach wrote that he felt "like being reborn. Like coming home and having a central riddle of one’s life make sense again."
In 2007 Boteach placed ninth on Newsweek's list of the "Top 50 Rabbis in America". In 2008 Boteach was listed on the Newsweek list at number 9, and in 2009 was listed at number 7.
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