When he celebrated his bar mitzvah in New Jersey, David Seth Kotkin was already an accomplished magician who probably had dreams of becoming another Houdini. A short stint in college was followed by huge success on the stage. The name evolved into David Copperfield, and through larger-than-life illusions performed around the world in front of millions of awestruck spectators and generous contributions to worthy causes, the image of the man was sterling and the magic remained intact until this month. Suddenly, rumors sparked by allegations and government investigations threaten to collapse Copperfield’s world like a house of cards in an earthquake.

Some cable news networks are rushing to judgment and jumping for joy. Just when Anna Nicole stories are cooling down and people are getting bored with Paris and Britney, TV’s legal eagles, paparazzi and pundits have found their

new nirvana - the dark side of David Copperfield, if it even exists. With nothing concrete to base anything on, it’s all premature.

Copperfield has done wonderful work for numerous charities including Jeans for Genes and Children’s Medical Research Institute, organizations that are unlocking the secrets behind birth defects, cancer, and epilepsy. He also started Project Magic, a program that brings occupational therapists and magicians together to help heal physically challenged patients during rehabilitation.

Is Copperfield a Jekyll-and-Hyde character, a good-and-evil guy? It’s definitely too soon to ruin his otherwise stellar reputation by speculating. For all of the good he has done, the least we can do is give the guy a fair break. Whether he is still a mensch or has turned into a menace has yet to be determined.
For more about Copperfield’s good deeds, go to http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17177