Michael Jackson Plan to 'Heal the Children'

ByABC News
March 8, 2001, 9:58 PM

March 8, 2001 — -- There was a time when Michael Jackson was accused of being more of a child feeler than a child healer, but now the King of Pop has two tykes of his own, and he wants to teach the world all about parenthood.

Jackson brings his Heal The Kids program to England's Oxford University with two unlikely friends Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who has become an international talk show celebrity by expounding upon the virtues of kosher sex, and Uri Geller, a self-proclaimed psychic who claims he can bend spoons with his mind.

Jackson hopes his March 6 speech at Oxford will jump-start a campaign to spread the word about the importance of parenthood. His Heal The World charitable foundation is planning star-studded public service announcements, book clubs, and events at his "Neverland" ranch.

Jackson recently broke his foot, but he won't delay the event. "The message of Heal The Kids is far too important," he said in a written statement.

Jackson Goes to Temple

Believe it or not, this reporter was present at one of the first meetings of this unlikely trio at a Manhattan temple on Oct. 1, 1999, when Jackson had the urge to experience Jewish services. As one of the two reporters invited to the event, I witnessed the man who sang, "I'm bad, I'm bad, You know it," praying among 150 of New York's most religious Jews.

Sure, it was strange. But there he was, in the third pew of the Carlebach Shul with his dark sun glasses, black fedora, red silk shirt and iridescent tie.

To be sure, Jackson looked as bizarre up close as he does on TV. For one thing, he was the whitest man in temple, and his lips glowed unnaturally red, much like the greasepaint of a clown.

But Jackson had found an ally in Boteach. "We all have eccentricities," said the rabbi. "If you judge Michael by his acts of charity and his compassion, you will see that he is truly an admirable person and a great father." Jackson has two children, Prince Michael and Paris Michael Katherine, from his brief marriage to Deborah Rowe. The couple never lived together and separated a year after Paris' birth.