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Before rushing to judgment on his new look, his latest twitter states “I went to shul and Mikva today, just like I did yesterday and the day before”….
Thank you for including this. B’H.
Kol hakavod.
Personally I don’t care what he does. I am NOT a fan!
So what?? I think this will cause a lot of things to happen in the Jewish music world.
Since we’re talking about peoples’ morning religious practices, here’s a rundown.
Matisyahu went to shul and mikvah but also shaved.
Aryeh Leib went to shul and mikvah this morning but also shaved.
Avromi went to neither shul or mikvah this morning and didn’t shave.
Yossi went to shul this morning but did go to mikvah, and did shave.
Dovid went to shul, no mikvah, no shave.
Mordechai went to shul, mikvah and no shave.
A different Yossi did shul, mikvah, shave.
Reuven went to shul, mikvah and didn’t shave.
Zecharya went to shul, no mikvah and did shave.
I went to shul, but no mikvah, and and no shave.
I know I’m being a bit facetious here but I could never bring myself to care much about celebrities even when I like their work, and in this case I’m not much of a fan.
It does not matter if someone goes to mikva and to shul 3 times a day!!!!!!!! It is just a cover up for other things that are done in secret. come one look at his music. It can be an amazing piece of art but it”s still something that can tear a person away from Yiddeshkiet .
This person is Jewish, and whether we like hs music, heard his music, don’t like his music, or agree or disagree with his shaving his beard or any other “transformations” he’s going through, when we hear that a person (who we think might be struggling) is still keeping those mitzvah, we should be happy. We are all here to serve H’ together and individually, and when one part of the “body” “ails” the whole “body” “ails”.
Personally I don’t think he’s good for yiddishkeit to begin with (there actually was a story that I was walking with a friend and someone ran out of a club up to us and said “you know every Wednesday night we have reggae…and its free” to which we smiled confused looks and said ooookkkkkkaaaaayyyy. I realized later it was because he thought all jews must like reggae if mattisyahu sings it
Coffee
What is the relevance of that story?
to how Mattisyahu has made frum yidden look like reggae loving hippies
coffee addict-“Personally I don’t think he’s good for yiddishkeit to begin with (there actually was a story…”
Coffee-you are usually such a positive person that this post seems out of character.
There was a national nightly show that had Mattisyahu as a guest and they asked him about shabbos, and when he told them emphatically that he would not do a performance on shabbos they asked him what if the contract was for $1,000,000,000 and he said he still wouldn’t, and I think that was a kiddush Hashem.
If his shaving his beard is not symbolic of where the rest of his yiddishkeit is going and he is still shomer torah umitzvos, then he is to be commended, because I believe he serves an important purpose.
I like his music. I have no thoughts about him personally.
When I eat a good omelette, I do not wish to meet the chicken who layed the egg, so I can evaluate her personality.
ill put it this way: lots of ppl are struggeling his problem is that hes a celeb. So evryone sees the changes. and his music…well since its the closest to goyish music possible and still somehow considered jewish music im sure its good for those who try to stop listening to goyish stuff
we gotta learn how to chill. what’s all the “raash” about? just because the guy is famous you care more about what he does then what the guy down the street does? oh, maybe you also make nasty comments about the man down the block… well, then i can’t help you.
shaving a beard isn’t the end of the world, and this guy is a little confused = it happens to many many BT’s and geirim, and they jump around… so he’s just being a normal BT.
besides, what will happen if you find out that this whole thing wasn’t true, and it was all a make believe just for the attention? oh, how embaressing…
REALLY???
you should have seen me when I heard the news…. I cried.
I cried because Matisyahu has been such a role model to thousands of kids (including me), and made thousands so proud to be Jews. I don’t think that it’s right to go on MTV and such, but he was making a statement loud and clear- I am Jewish, I am proud of it.
and now—??
That’s why I cried. I feel so hurt, so stabbed in the back that he did this to himself and to us. I am confused about his going to the mikveh and davening cuz yesterday he wrote clearly, no more chassidish reggae superstar and basically denounced his religiosity. Still this really makes me happy. Matisyahu- i understand you are going thru hard times, and it’s a hurculean effort to maintain chassidish standards amidst superstardom fame, so yasher koach for what you have done thus far- but understand sheva yipol tzadik v’kam and please do get up because I can’t bare listening to your music now that i once cherished.
you know how sad that is??
mommamia22: +1
and, if I may add, what world do you people live in? in my city (which I will not name here) singers are entertainers. they’re not our rav and certainly not a rolemodel!? yes we all enjoy what they do but does that mean we should learn from them, look up to them? I don’t know, is that how you people view singers where you live?
mattisyahu is struggling with yiddishkeit, and instead of some of us frum jews being SAD and krechtzing, you condemn and curse??
you don’t have to like his music, style or standard of yiddishkeit, but he is still our brother.
Maybe part of his struggle has been with being associated with the genre? Maybe this is what he felt he had to do in order to break free from it and start over, maybe exploring another kind of music? Why can’t we just wait and see where he goes with this?
Music is a personal taste, I personally like his music and dont really like Chazzanut (Frankly many dont, many times when a Chazzan will go in front of the Amud, I hear Groans – I am sure you have too)
He did NOT denounce his religiousity, He said he wasnt Chassidic anymore.
What makes me sad about this is maybe he couldnt be a singer and religious, Have we gone so chumarism that people are forced to make the wrong choices . People here have condemed him for his choice of career and music, but thats what he was given a gift of, If he is condemed in our community, He might leave (Dr Laura Left , Dave Draiman also left)
I am not sure what to make of this. But it is not up to me to take his chesbon.
All I can say is he is a very special yid who, through the realm of his awesome music, inspired such a strong ahavas yisroel in me, which influenced a greater kavana in doing mitzvos. I am grateful to Matisyahu for this.
If all he did was to give up chabad; kol hakavod.
personally i wrote him off when he started performing for goyim. to me that was utterly unacceptable. i used to like his stuff…but i stopped listening when he released “live at stubbs.” so i really dont care what hes doing with himself now beause as far as im concerned he was rotten a year after he started this mishegass
The secular entertainment industry is more incompatible with a frum lifestyle than most others, one is almost constantly put in a position of being over on “b’moshav laitzim lo yashav.” I would not be so quick to judge him. It takes years of learning to make up for what is missed out on by not being raised and educated in frum Yiddishkeit, Every FFB out there should take the lesson Appreciate what you got because it is priceless!!
He gave up Chabad a while ago, he was a Karliner recently
In response to tzaddiq:
obviously I am not regarding (the old, I might add) matisyahu as someone to emulate. what i meant as a role model is seeing someone embrace his judaism and be proud of it. that’s inspiring to me. look at it as someone who was in the business ALREADY and then adding the frumkeit, not that he was frum and then subsequently entered that society, do you hear the difference?
well, now it has been proven that it does not go together so…
also- i don’t understand, is he frum or not? is he shomer shabbos? i’d like to think yes, and if his tweets are true, than Thank G-d
In the picture of him he looks like a druggie and the picture he posts of himself is meant to represent what he stands for and who he is. He also mentioned that he took on too many restrictions-which,without clarification, sounds like prikas ohl. Then he mentions going to daven and the mikvah. He should be transparent about where he stands. Transparency has to do with honesty and whether he is on or off the derech I’m sure he can agree that we must all be honest and unambiguous about where we stand.
He is going to be on radio station WNYC at 2PM est today and discuss what his statement means
It seems to me that the obsession with this man’s commitment to yiddishkeit says more about the posters than it says about him. Many here have almost idolized him, or at least saw him as “one of us who made it to the top”. But the top of what? The goyishe pop charts?
Many posters have fallen into a trap that they themselves set. Those who ignored Matisyahu till now don’t have to waste their energy on whether he really means it when he goes to the mikvah. Those who wasted their time on this type of dubious entertainment till now should use their energy a bit more wisely next time.
He has put up a new picture of himself without the beard AND he IS wearing a kippah
While I didn’t care for his music at all, he was Mekarev kids, which is more than I can say for myself. So my hope is that he finds a home in MO as opposed to Chassidish.
For all those who are following his tweets, I need to know how frum he still is. So we know he went to the mikvah yesterday. Did he say Asher Yatzar today?
Shame on you! The worst chillul Hashem is when you talk like this in front of other jews. What do all of you think, when Matisyahu will read all of the shameful comments that the frum jews are writing about him? Why do you think he will want to remain frum when he sees how frum jews behave toward other jews?
midwesterner: Did anyone ask you if you said asher yatzar today?
Please, leave him alone. He and for that matter, all of us will have to answer for all our actions and decisions (positively, neutrally and negatively) to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Apparently he is joining the maccabeats and becoming a YU boy.
Apparently Leitzim123 didn’t even understand who I was making fun of. I was not poking fun of him; rather at those who were over analyzing his every little step.
I just hope he didnt shave with a razor, and I also have serious doubts if he knows that he doesnt have what is Halachically required for payos. Something tells me there is a lot left to be desired in his knowledge of our Halachik practices.
leitzim, “Shame on you! The worst chillul Hashem is when you talk like this in front of other jews. What do all of you think, when Matisyahu will read all of the shameful comments that the frum jews are writing about him? Why do you think he will want to remain frum when he sees how frum jews behave toward other jews?
midwesterner: Did anyone ask you if you said asher yatzar today”?
Beautiful answer!
How appropriate to have a discussion about Matisyahu when chanuka is just around the corner! 😉
it is extremely hard to make a parnossa in the jewish Music sector
Yes Avaraham Fried does, but I think thats because he does weddings and Bar Mitzvahs because thats where the easiest money is
I know someone fairly big in this sector and he told me most of his concerts he does are “Benefits” meaning the promotor expects him to do it for free or much cheaper. Look at Fried, Lipa & MBD most if not all you see are Benefits and not For-Profit concerts.
Look what happend to Lipa Schmeltzer and the Big event. You have these issues as well
How many CD’s do you think these guys sell.
At some point Matisyahu realized there was just not enough business in the solely jewish. His Youth Album sold more than 600,000 copies. If you add up all the Fried, MBD, Lipa, etc COMBINED it does not equal anywhere near that. He had to leave his J-Dub label because they could not handle the volume
He is playing a weeks worth of concerts next week in Brooklyn at larger venues than Fried could get. and I dont think Fried can play often on a Tuesday Night and get paying customers.
AZOI.IS
Your comment makes no sense. A BT is no different than an ffb after a few years. He should know all the pertinent Halachos and have a good grasp of Hashkafos Hatorah. If a BT will go back off because of what a few people think of him then he is no different than if an ffb goes off because someone insulted him or whatever. We aren’t frum because people are nice to ue. That’s so KRUM. We are frum because we know it is the Emes. If you know it is the emes, if you believe in Hashem and His Torah then some random peoples comments can’t affect you. If someone’s mistreatment (I don’t mean extreme abuse, molestation…) of an adult can send them off the derech then they are hardly on the derech in the first place because their entire understanding of the religion is deeply flawed. We aren’t practicing Jews because of how others treat us. Get that clear.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said this because you will get insulted and go off the derech now…
daxy: yeah! mi l’Hashem eilai!
WIY:
Then why is it forbidden to make a chillul Hashem in front of other jews, and it’s even worse than in front of a a non jew? It can turn them off.
And what about all the non-jews and the non-frum who are doubtlessly looking at what we frum jews have to say about it? What kind of message are we portraying to them? That someone does something like this (takes off his beard…), and suddenly he’s not one of us anymore?
And part of being a practicing jew is to watch the words we say.
This is ridiculous. I dont know what the story is with Matisyahu’s personal life, and it is certainly not for me to judge.
All this mochlokes about BT’s and FFB’s and who is OTD or whatnot is, to me, just gossip and has no constructive purpose. I know BT’s who take liberties, and I know FFB’s who talk and schmuz loudly during laining of the Torah like they are at the gym socializing. So, what is the point of me making a judgement on anyone’s total, overall standing as a Jew?
I like Matisyahu. He is a precious soul. His music has inspired me to greater kavana in mitzvos. I dont like him being judged like this. Let him do his thing. He is a highly creative and intelligent person, and hope the best for him and every other yid, as well.
Al tivtichu vindivim!
I think Matisyahu should do a combined concert with the Moshav band, and they could call it Moshav Matisyahu.
funny 🙂 Moshav Matisyahu is across the road from my sister’s yishuv
I hate to break your bubble zahavasdad, but Avrom Fried does not do concerts for free. Take the HASC concerts, he get in excess of $10K each year. Good for him, he has a talent and he exploits it. So what if he does weddings on Tuesday nights? A guy gotta make a living.
The beard for Matisyahu was part of his persona. It’ll be back –or they won’t let him in the mikva!
“exploits”
pardon?
When does the public finally hear if its only his beard that disappeared or his frumkeit?
Some equate the two, I dont.
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