‘Kosher Sex’ Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s Curious Relationship With Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner Image by Getty Images
By Sam Kestenbaum September 28, 2017
Celebrity rabbi Shmuley Boteach took to Twitter to comment on the passing of Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner — and recall the strange relationship that the rabbi had with the famed porno magazine.
“What is Hugh Hefner’s legacy?” Boteach asked on Twitter. “Pamela Anderson told me @Playboy could empower women. I think it exploited them. What do you think?”
What is Hugh Hefner’s legacy? Pamela Anderson told me @Playboy could empower women. I think it exploited them. What do you think?
— Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) September 28, 2017
Boteach is a spiritual mentor to Anderson, and the two have recently teamed up to campaign against what they call pornography’s pernicious effect on society. But Boteach’s relationship with Playboy is a little more complicated. In 1998, the media-savvy rabbi sold an extended extract from his book “Kosher Sex” to Playboy for a reported $200,000.
“Kosher Sex” is Boteach’s manifesto on the power of sex within a marriage. His decision to publish parts of it in Playboy was met with criticism at the time, but the rabbi defended the move. “Where am I going to put this, the synagogue newsletter?” he said. “I’m going to put this in the place where it’s most important to be read.”
On Twitter, Boteach said that even though he was invited to Playboy’s 30th anniversary party, he didn’t go because his wife forbade him.
Didn’t meet Hef at Playboy 30th anniversary party even as magazine chose Kosher Sex as main excerpt. Debbie said no. No bunnies. Yes Ma’am!
— Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) September 28, 2017
Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
