Hey Hesh,
Been loving your responses to some of the “fan mail” you get and I was wondering if you might have any insight into whether or not Matisyahu’s music is kosher. You’ve mentioned before that many frum people consider goyishe music to be treife because since they put their soul into it, goyishe music may be considered avodah zarah. Then again, my yeshiva Rebbe’s considered Metalish and Piamenta to be goyishe and if that’s the case, surely they would consider Matisyahu to be so. Maybe you can shed some light on the situation, now that we know for sure that he isn’t a chassidic reggae star anymore and just a regular goyishe Jew who dabbled in religion for a little while.
To be honest, I haven’t give Matisyahu much thought since “beard gate” and the picture of him without a yarmulke that pissed everyone off. I have a feeling that some folks were happy because it allowed them to do the whole “I told you so” to everyone who thought that someone with such exposure could remain frum. If I were a Rebbe I would allow my talmidim to listen to the older Matisyahu that was recorded when he was frum, that way we don’t have to deal with the avodah zarah that he is surely taking part in now. Besides, his older music was better, but we should be strict as not to listen to older songs that were recorded at shows that he wasn’t wearing a yarmulke at.
There are stringent opinions that hold all Matisyahu music should be publicly burned to acknowledge that we do not tolerate sinners in our midst. Even chabadnicks felt burned by him and have apparently added him to the shit list along with David Berger, the folks from Uri Letzedek, and Shmuely Boteach.
To put it frank, Matisyahu is now considered a goyishe-Jewish musician like Bob Dylan, Kiss, or Billy Joel, and is considered treife by most of the frum world.
Find out more p’sak din’s concerning Matisyahu on 4torah.com
Your friend Rabbi Fink wrote the following on his bog when Matisyahu first shaved.
“When Matisyahu announced he had shaved, I was actually proud of him. To me, it meant that he was thinking critically about his Judaism and felt a beard was not necessary or integral to his love and service of God. I agree.”
So it’s now two years later and we all know what’s happened to Matisyahu. I’m wondering if he’s still actually proud of him? Those old old men collectively known as Chazal were so right when they said “eizehu chocham haroeh es hanolad” so what does that make Rabbi fink?
It is generally not wise to draw grand conclusions about how people will behave based on one situation with one person. Just because Matisyahu shaved off his beard does not necessarily mean that every person who grew a beard for religious reasons and then dispensed with it will abandon other religious observances. It only means he has done so.
“but we should be strict as not to listen to older songs that were recorded at shows that he wasn’t wearing a yarmulke at.”
Enough of this nonsense. This is so trivial.
No hand holding, but I’m glad people took something that was so fake, so seriously.
Man I haven’t visited this site in a while, and you still get these comments!
I’ve never understood the whole “Mattisyahu-thang.” It may because I am indifferent. What is it about the guy that inspires such fanboy-hateboy reactions?
Well now he has pissed off the liberal Jews as well:
(from BBYO Ohio Northern Region)
This past weekend at Fall Kickoff 2013, BBYO ONR brought in guest speaker and Jewish musician Matisyahu. Matisyahu’s music has inspired many Jews and non-Jews alike with his powerful lyrics that reflect Jewish and spiritual themes. Recently, Matisyahu has undergone a transformation in his Jewish identity, and with Kickoff 2013 coinciding with his visit to Cleveland to play at the House of Blues, ONR was presented with the opportunity to provide our teens with a unique experience. By bringing Matisyahu into our community for a speaking engagement, we hoped to explore the theme of the individual Jewish journeys that make up our Jewish identities, as well as the concept of transformative Jewish experiences. The goal was to illustrate to our teens that no matter what you look like on the outside, exploring your personal Jewish journey is a critical piece of understanding your own Jewish identity. Furthermore, the expression of your Jewish identity can come in many forms, including creative expression and popular music.
Unfortunately, however, our guest speaker’s behavior and responses during our program did not reflect our original intent. We were disappointed by the way Matisyahu chose to conduct himself while visiting our community. His references to drugs and his blatant disrespect for the questions presented to him by our teens and staff do not reflect the values of our organization. We were impressed by the maturity of our teens and volunteers who persistently attempted to redirect the conversation in order to gain value from the experience.
Immediately after the speaking engagement with Matisyahu, we provided the participants with the opportunity to hear about the Jewish journeys of others in our community and teens were given the opportunity to share their transformative Jewish experiences. They were also given a forum to reflect and provide feedback about the experience. There was certainly a learning opportunity that presented itself in this situation and again, we were impressed by the maturity and insight of our teens. We hope that through this experience our teens came away with new lessons on integrity, leadership and managing expectations.