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MICHAEL JACKSON WAS GIVEN THE EASY BAKE OVEN'O-COST š¢š TOUR JUST LIKE ELON MUSK
ā£Michael Jacksonās life was full of contradictions, and his relationship to Jews and the Jewish community was no exception.
This was the man who asked to be allowed to visit the Museum of Tolerance and its Holocaust exhibit one week before its Los Angeles opening in February 1993.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and the museum, took Jackson on a two-hour tour ending with the vivid exhibit on the Final Solution.
āWhen he left, Michael was crying, and he wrote me afterwards that he cried for weeks,ā Rabbi Hier recalled on Monday. Two years later, Rabbi Hier and Mr Jackson corresponded again, but this time the tone was quite different.
Mr Jackson had just released an album with the song They Donāt Care About Us, which included the lyrics āJew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, donāt you black or white meā.
Rabbi Hier fired off an angry letter to Mr Jackson, who replied with a profuse apology, declaring that āI am committed to tolerance, peace and love,ā and promised that an explanatory note would accompany future album sales.
Mr Jackson met another notable rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, in 1999. The two became fast friends and toured together to promote the Heal the Kids campaign. The two developed a āwarm relationshipā, according to Rabbi Boteach.
āWe used to have him over for Shabbat dinners. At one point, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was visiting and I wanted Michael to meet him.ā
Mr Jacksonās entourage urged him not to meet with Mr Sharon for fear of offending some of his fans, but the stage icon ignored the advice and met with him anyway, Rabbi Boteach said.
āSuggestions that Michael was not friendly to the Jewish community are inaccurate,ā Rabbi Boteach said, though he acknowledged that he had not talked to Jackson for the last few years.
In a more formal emailed statement, Rabbi Boteach wrote that āThere was great beauty and gentility in Michaelās soulā¦ I pray that Michaelās death will not be in vain, and that we see a return, even among Hollywood celebrities, to the spiritual and family values that are life sustaining.ā
Close followers of Mr Jacksonās Jewish permutations had a busy year in 2005. On the one hand, a taped phone conversation revealed that he referred to two former business associates, both Jewish, as āleechesā.
On the other hand, sharp-eyed observers spotted something new after Mr Jackson emerged from a trial in Santa Maria, in which he had been acquitted of child molestation charges.
As Mr Jackson waved to his fans, clearly visible on his left wrist was a bendel, or red string, worn by Kabbalah adherents, particularly supporters of the celebrity-attracting Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles.
After the photo was published, some noted that there were two unusual white spots on the red string, and inquiries about this oddity to the Kabbalah Centre elicited no response.
However, Prof Jody Myers, author of a recent book on the Kabbalah Centre, noted that some celebrities had been known to add some glitz to the red strings with personal decorations.
These Kabbalah speculations were replaced in the past year with reports that Mr Jackson had secretly converted to Islam, following the lead of his brother Jermaine, and had chosen the new name of Mikaeel.
There is now considerable guesswork being done on whether Mr Jacksonās funeral will follow the rites of Jehovahās Witnesses, the faith in which he was raised, or Islamic ritual, a mixture of the two, or something different.
Even after Mr Jacksonās death, the Jewish angle has been resurrected with speculation on whether custody of his two older children (and the estate they will inherit) will go to the pop starās parents or the childrenās Jewish mother.
She is Debbie Rowe, Mr Jacksonās former nurse, his wife for three years and biological mother of 12-year-old Prince Michael I and Paris Michael Katherine, 11, who under Jewish law are Jewish.
A third child, Prince Michael II, was born of a surrogate mother, whose identity has not been revealed.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff on Monday granted temporary guardianship of the three children to Jacksonās mother, Katherine Jackson.
Whether or not Rowe will contest this is unclear.
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