Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is considered one of the most influential rabbis in America. The host of TLC's "Shalom in the House," Michael Jackson's spiritual advisor, and a prolific writer, Shmuley recently published his 23rd book, "Renewal - A Guide To The Values-Filled Life".

TheCelebrityCafe's John Neal spoke with the rabbi about renewing values, the controversy surrounding the Islamic cultural center in New York, a year without Michael Jackson, and how Mel Gibson can make amends.

TheCelebrityCafe: You have a new book out: "Renewal."

Shmuley Boteach: "Renewal" is about the seven values in which we can renew our lives. A lot of people get to a point where they feel their best years are behind them and they don't know how to renew their passion, they don't know how to continue to develop their potential. My argument is because they have the wrong values.

I offer up some revolutionary values that run against the grain and what we believe to be important in America. Take perfection versus struggle, for example. The United States highlights perfection in terms of its history. It tells us that all the great men who created this country like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were perfect. We see strong, perfect bodies on magazine covers. We read about perfect investments and perfect investors who never make a mistake. The result is we all punish ourselves for not being perfect. I reject that categorically and I believe in struggle. I believe that when you wrestle with yourself to do the right thing that's real value.

TCC: We're always hearing how Americans are losing their values. Are we losing our values, are we not putting as much importance on them or is this just political speak?

SB: I wouldn't say we're losing our values. I'd say we have some erroneous values, and the purpose of the book is to help us modify them.

TCC: You put a lot of emphasis on the Hebrew Bible.

SB: I think that Jewish wisdom and Jewish values have a lot with which to enrich America. That's a part of my argument. Jews have never believed in perfection. If you look at Christianity, Jesus is portrayed as being perfect. If you look at Judaism, Moses, Abraham and Joseph are looked at as highly imperfect. We don't believe in perfect people.

TCC: You wrote in The Washington Post about the Islamic cultural center that's being built near ground zero, and that the victims' families should have been given their say. Would the community center in that area help America's relationship with Islam, or would it hinder it even more?

SB: It depends. Right now I think it's going to hinder it because right now it's creating so much tension, so much division. They're going about it completely the wrong way. The argument is America has freedom of worship so we can build our mosque anywhere we want. The answer to that is of course you can. But the big argument here isn't what could be done, but what should be done. It's a free country and you can do whatever you want, but if your purpose is to bring people together and you go build an Islamic cultural center in the shadow of the worst terror attack in American history, whose site is still a cemetery, and you don't even consult the people whose family members are buried there, that's highly insensitive.

By the way, it doesn't only apply to an Islamic cultural center. Imagine a cemetery anywhere on Main Street, USA, and Walmart decides to open a giant branch adjoining the cemetery. One would think they would first go to the local community and consult with them. You know, it's right next to a cemetery could you move that couple blocks away. I think Walmart, in its best interests, would do the right thing and follow the wishes of the community. How much worse is it when the cemetery is the site of an Islamist terrorist attack? The cultural center organizers should first go to the victims' families and say how comfortable are you with this? How can we create an Islamic cultural center that is acceptable to you? No one is disputing that Islam is a great world religion, it's a sensitive religion, it's a humane religion, but I think the only opinion that really matters here is the opinion of the families.

TCC: We're going on nine years and two wars. Do you think there will ever be reconciliation between the United States and Islam?

SB: Of course. I don't think there is any real issue between the U.S. and Islam. The U.S. has no dispute with Islam. The United States is an incredibly generous, loving, free country, and that the people who kill Americans in the name of Islam do not represent Islam. They represent their hateful version of Islam. I do think that it is incumbent on moderate Muslims—and the vast majority of Muslims are moderate, peace-loving people—to repudiate and speak up forcefully against the haters. I don't think we've seen enough of that.

TCC: You hosted "Shalom in the House" on TLC for a couple of seasons. Any plans on returning to TV?

SB: I loved doing "Shalom." It was a wonderful show and it continues to air even though we're not making new episodes, and it brought healing to millions of Americans. I do plan on returning to TV. It's not my decision to make, obviously, but I am in discussion with several projects, all of which revolve around relationship healing.

TCC: It's been a little more than a year since Michael Jackson's death.

SB: I'm saddened every day that Michael is not with us and that he died so young and so tragically.

TCC: What are your thoughts on the current case against Dr. Conrad Murray?

SB: I don't know Dr. Conrad Murray but I will say that it is not the job of a doctor to be a pusher and the fact that he could load Michael up with so many drugs that he knew were very dangerous and not good for him is very troubling.

TCC: Mel Gibson has been going through a nasty, public separation and it looks to be affecting his professional life. As someone who is considered an expert in relationships, what advice do you have for the actor, and anybody going through something similar?

SB: Mel Gibson is, unfortunately, a rancid anti-Semitic racist and misogynist. He's a thoroughly nasty human being. He had ample opportunity to apologize for his disgusting behavior the past few years including making a movie suggesting that Jews killed God. My suggestion for Mel Gibson is to come clean and admit his serious anger, inner turmoil and personal torment. He needs a wise spiritual counselor, not someone who shares his belief that the purpose of religion is to attack people. He needs serious counseling toward his anger issues and start having a loving heart. Finally he must apologize to all the people that he hurt, from Jews to blacks to his [recent ex-wife], and finally to his wife of 28 years who he abandoned for a younger woman.