Shmuley Boteach (born November 19, 1966 in Los Angeles) is an American Orthodox rabbi, radio and television host, and author, though he is without a synagogue.
Boteach received his rabbinic ordination in 1988 from the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in New York City, as a disciple of its leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In 1988, Boteach was sent as a Chabad-Lubavitch shaliach (emissary) to become its representative for a student group at Oxford in England, where he founded the L'Chaim Society. Boteach was ordained by Chabad after studying at a Chabad yeshiva in Los Angeles and for three years at the Torat Emet Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
In the 1990s, Boteach became a fixture of celebrity culture when he became a close friend, confidant and spititual advisor to Michael Jackson after the pop star used his music to lash out at the Jewish community, and in particular lawyer Larry Feldman, who had settled a child sexual abuse lawsuit against Jackson for 22 million dollars. Jackson's song "They Don't Care About Us" from the 1995 album Past, Present and Future, Book I contained lyrics which were seen by some as anti-semitic; Boteach was instrumental in helping Jackson rehabilitate his image.
Shmuley Boteach is strongly supportive of Israel, and critical of American policy towards the country. Boteach has argued that the Obama administration is "bullying" Israel, arguing that US Middle Eastern policy is "scandalous" and "disgusting".[1]
He is also supportive of Israeli settlements, including the controversial Hebron settlement, the residents of which he characterizes as marked by a particular "warmth, friendliness and hospitality" and views as being "liberated from hatred".[2]. The settlements are viewed as illegal by the UN, and most of the world barring Israel. The Hebron settlement has attracted particular criticism, especially after far-right settlers began a policy of attacking Palestinian civilians to exact a "price" for any attempt on the part of the Israeli government to dislodge them.[3][4] Israeli human rights group B'Tselem notes that "settlers in [Hebron] have routinely abused the city's Palestinian residents, sometimes using extreme violence".[5] The BBC notes that the Hebron settlers "have frequently been criticised by moderate Israelis for acting as a law unto themselves and for provoking tensions with their Palestinian neighbours. They maintain a tense relationship even with their army protectors, often denouncing as Nazis the troops sent to restrain them."[6] His support for the Hebron settlement caused Israeli journalist Bradley Burston, writing in Ha'aretz, to characterize Boteach as a "pro-occupation flack".[7]
Boteach was one of several individuals who received the 2007 Fatherhood award from The National Fatherhood Initiative. In 2007 Boteach placed ninth on Newsweek's list of the "Top 50 Rabbis in America" In 2008 Boteach was again listed on the Newsweek list at number 9, and in 2009 was listed at number 7. In late 1999, Boteach won the "Preacher of the Year" Award from The Times.
Boteach has four siblings, Sara, Bar Kochva, Chaim and Ateret. He lives in Englewood, New Jersey with his Australian-born wife Debbie. They have nine children.
He is the uncle of convicted arms dealer Efraim Diveroli.
