Michael Jackson - a 'tortured, tortured soul...'

June 30, 10:27 PMSF Marriage and Relationships ExaminerLisa Brookes Kift

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On the heels of my last posts, Michael Jackson - the man and  Michael Jackson - what's his childhood got to do with it?, I wanted to share something interesting that potentially sheds some more light onto the subject.

The following are snippets of an interview conducted by CNN's Campbell Brown of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a close friend of Jackson's for several years.  They are all quotes by Boteach.

• "Really, he had an affliction of his soul. He was extremely lonely, he was extremely unhappy."

• "I think Michael lived with a profound fear of rejection. And Michael told me once -- and this is a heartbreaking conversation between us -- 'Shmuley, I promise I'm not lying to you,' he said. 'I'm not lying to you.' He said that twice. 'But everything I've done in pursuing fame, in honing my craft' to quote his words, 'was an effort to be loved because I never felt loved.'

• ...this was a tortured, tortured soul, who from the earliest age did not know love because he felt that he had to perform to earn love. He lived in permanent insecurity. He was one of the most tortured souls I ever came across."

• ...all you parents out there, when you're sitting with your kids and they show you their report card and it's not an A, please don't say to them immediately, you could have done better. That's what happened with Michael. And so he always had to perform and that's what ultimately killed him."

Read the entire interview on CNN.com titled, Jackson rabbi-friend: Singer was 'a tortured, tortured soul.

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