Talk:Matisyahu

Wow, Jews are fast!

I only edited the front page like 30 seconds ago and already it's switched back. Mucho props my friends from the old country! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.41.200.60 (talk) 23:26, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Yiddish name

The opening of the article states "Matisyahu is the Yiddish and stage name of Matthew Paul Miller". Actually, "Matisyahu" is not his Yiddish name but rather the Ashkenazi pronunciation of his Hebrew name. While the two obviously employ the same accent, they are still different (as for the difference for this word between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation, the only different is the use of the "s" sound in MatiSyahu instead of a "t" sound in MatiTyahu. 71.103.147.36

True. I am going to change this to Hebrew as it is a Hebrew name, not Yiddish. Bstone 13:06, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe it would be worth including mention that the "t" in Matisyahu differs from the "s" in that the former is a tav with a dagesh (תּ), where the latter is the Ashkenazi inability to pronounce the rare phoneme which in English is "th", ie., a tav without a dagesh (ת). This phoneme occurs in English, Greek (theta - "θ", a descendent of teth -"ט", which the Ashkenazis pronounce "tace" for the same reason) and Castilian Spanish (c or z, both of which become "s" in New World Spanish, and presumably audible in OHG as in Neanderthal, whereas nowadays the "h" is, long since not pronounced, now no longer even written. Other languages? I'm not sure.This is the reason that it's Matthew in English, or Mattithias in reference to the Maccabee patriarch, ie., with an h at all. ProudPrimate (talk) 17:09, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Messianism

Its noted that matisyahu is a lubavitch chasidic, however, that sect split into to camps upon the death of the grand rebbe (the one embroiled in the crown heights riots incident wherein his driver, with him in the car, ran down two children, killing one of them), one set looking for a new rebbe, the other set considering the dead rebbe to be the messiah, who would return from the dead before long. Is it known which of these two groups matisyahu belongs to? A few of his songs mention something that sounds like 'mesh-iak', would be interesting to know if he is talking about the rebbe.

Hi, regarding Chabad-Lubavitch, although there is disagreement on some isuese like Messianism, It is all one movement, not two, and there aren't any chasidim seeking a new Rebbe. Regarding the "crown heights riot", the incident was with a driver following behind the Rebbe, not the Rebbe's car. Shlomke 18:04, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Guy's, I'm restoring my RV'd comment about Matis's Messianism. I am not accusing Matis of being a Meschichist, nor am I bashing Chabad messianism. I am simply documenting accusations, and hopefully attracting some counter-opinions. --OneTopJob6 03:36, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

As long as the comment remains on the talk page, you should be fine. --PinchasC | £€åV€ m€ å m€§§åg€ 03:38, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

If you would like to attract discussion the proper place would be here, as you can only place things in the article that are facts, not opinions. --PinchasC | £€åV€ m€ å m€§§åg€ 03:41, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Also this that you write that his songs speak about the Messiah, this has nothing to do with the Messianism that you wrote in the first sentence. --PinchasC | £€åV€ m€ å m€§§åg€ 03:43, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I've recently heard a bridge at a live concert where matisyahu sang "yechi", so he has to be a meshichist.

Too much cruft

Way too much cruft. Wikipedia is not a forum for pulicizing tour dates. Additionally, not every article that has been written about him needs to be on the website; and certainly not the same article in two different languages. Daykart 18:44, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Vladimir and Zvi

Shouldn't this information be on Jewish names? Daykart 01:53, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Any Politics ??

There seems to be a complete political and religious contradicition. Rastafarianism has nothing in common with hassidism. Has this man expressed opinions on the Middle East, Jews and Arabs, the Iraq war or smoking pot ? 74.56.192.163 22:05, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

He has performed alongside Arab rappers, said that "Substance dulls the mind" in his song WP, and sings

3,000 years with no place to be

And they want me to give up my milk and honey

Don't you see, it's not about the land or the sea

Not the country but the dwelling of his majesty

in his song Jerusalem. Milk and Honey refers to Israel, the Land of Milk and Honey (Eretz Zavat Chalav U'Dvash). That about covers all those topics. -- FeldBum 12:44, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

• Has he ever claimed to be Rasta? What's the problem?

3000 years? Isn't it 1900 years? 210.84.35.104 18:29, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

• approximately 3000 years on the Hebrew calendar Rudy Breteler (talk) 21:40, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Misogyny

Allegations of sexism should be included. For example, his refusal to shake hands with women. Another incident involved refusing to share a stage with musician Eve, for fear he might come in physical contact. --AWF

Ummm, dude, according to his culture it's about respect to his wife. It's not sexism, it's just that the only woman he wishes to come into contact with his wife. Try not to be so ethnocentric...Damn, all these P.C. fags in the U.S. need to watch Star Trek to understand respect for other cultures. Keep viewing outside culture with your North American spectacles...And yes, I'm American, coming from Kentucky. Yahoo!

Hi, please sign your comments with the four tildes ~~~~ so we can know who made the comment. Shlomke 02:10, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with fear of physical contact with other women. It is a cultral respect to the wife which was agreed upon in the wedding contract. 210.84.35.104 18:31, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

actually, hasids think women are dirty. dirty, misogyny, same thing really. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.162.177.184 (talk) 02:43, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

Actually, no they don't. The practice of only coming into physical contact with your wife and immediately female family members is one based on modesty. Nothing more. You're sharing some rather intolerant views. Bstone 13:15, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, Bstone, yes they do. Consider that Leviticus 15:19-30 prohibits men from touching menstruating women, or anything a menstruating woman has touched. The verses even apply to husbands and their menstruating wives. And that's precisely because menstruating women are "dirty" and unclean in the minds of orthodox Jews.--Spiff666 (talk) 18:55, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

No, you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. The laws of purity and impurity are regarded in Orthodox Judaism as a suprarational "divine decree" completely not reflective of any lack of respect for women or anything of the sort. Perhaps next time get your information from rabbinic sources instead of hate sites. Not that this topic has anything at all to do with the content of this article about this individual, inasmuch as there are hundreds of articles on Wikipedia devoted to Orthodox Jews. Yehoishophot Oliver (talk) 20:38, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

For your reference, Matis is Shomer Negiah. It is a common practice among Chabad.

I'm not Jewish, but I kinda like the fact that he (at least tries to) stick to his principles! Isn't this what religion is about? Respect, Matis! But by the way: He DOES perform on stage with women. I saw it once when he had this female violinist beside him on stage doing "Father in the Forest".

Practices like this are common amongst many cultures for both men and women. They have nothing to do with sexism, but modesty and respect. Also, please sign your comments with four tildes ~~~~ so that we know who made them. Thanks! Rudy Breteler (talk) 21:44, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Refusing to shake the hand of another human being simply because she is a woman is the very definition of sexism, regardless of what culture informs the behavior. You should not place religious motivations for sexist behavior on a pedestal. The fact of the matter is that he does refuse to shake hands with women simply because they are women, and that has caused controversy. If you want to supply the basis to explain the behavior, then that would help wikipedia. But currently, Wikipedia has no information regarding the fact that Matisyahu is seen by some as a misogynist for this very reason, and that is misleading, as it is a nontrivial information about the artist. I will place the information in the article citing Rolling Stone, where Matisyahu himself states that he does not shake hands with women, and San Diego CityBeat Magazine on March 8, 2007 which embodies the controversy.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9309170/matisyahu_brings_kosher_vibration I am looking for input as to the phrasing of the section. Pink-thunderbolt (talk) 04:23, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

No, it's not because they are women, it's because Orthodox Judaism says not to do it (as mentioned, for reasons of modesty), and he is an adherent of Orthodox Judaism. Yehoishophot Oliver (talk) 04:17, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

I think that this information needs to be put in. Although he may not find it offensive, and although it very well may not be offensive, it still can come off as offensive, as it marks a difference between the treatment of men and women (and does so concerning an issue that many feel is a matter of respect, a handshake). Also, just because something has a religious justification, this does not mean it is not sexist. I am not saying that Matisyahu is sexist, but only that the point of Wikipedia is to present the facts so that the readers can make up their own minds. Personally, I never fully understood the reasons for his refusal to go on stage with Eve (they don't have to touch, is it because of the no singing in public thing [that the second article below mentions]?), and I was hoping to find some answers to this issue on Wikipedia. I think both an explanation of what his actions are, and why he chooses those actions would be a great addition to Wikipedia. I would add it myself, but I see there is already a discussion going on about it, and I didn't want to step on any toes, although I can do it if no one who feels more comfortable gets around to it. The following two sources discuss the issues

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9309170/matisyahu_brings_kosher_vibration - talks about his refusal to shake hands http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9363668/matisyahu_hasidic_hot_stepper - talks about his refusal to perform with Eve 74.109.11.214 (talk) 20:35, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

It's not sexism. Women are to do the same (shake hands with only women and her husband). He glady shook hands with women before he was married. 98.198.83.12 (talk) 02:47, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

If you had read the discussion, you would see that first, these are "allegations" of sexism. Wikipedia is not meant for taking stances, but reporting what is said. Part of what is said are these allegations. Second, you would see that this does not only refer to his not shaking hands with women, but also things such as his refusal to take the stage with female performers, at least in some instances. Third, you would have read that these allegations are not about your opinion. Whether or not you find it sexist is not the point. And neither is whether some religion finds it sexist. Although useful to note, it has already been noted many times, and is really pointless to keep repeating. Just because a religion condones the practice does not mean that others are not entitled to see it as sexist, and certainly it does not mean others cannot allege that it may be sexist.129.133.141.39 (talk) 17:17, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Oy, sh'miras negiah is Hebrew for guarding the touch. It's a stringency to avoid inappropriate touching between the sexes. A man can't shake a woman's hand and vice a versa at the most stringent level. More liberal views are that handshaking is so common place that it's not a "sexual" act. You can't look at it from a sexually desensitized world where posters in the city have barely clothed people. What many of the people here posted derogatorily is a double standard. When Muslims won't do the same practice it's always wow, what a wonderful culture, but when it's Jews it's an affront on women. When I was at a Matisyahu concert in the Spring of '05in Gun Wavin' New Haven, there was a girl crowd surfing, and she fell to the ground when she was pushed towards the Jewish guys.

Not touching women--"shomer negiah"--is generally prohibited in Orthodox Judaism; it's not regarded as a stringency. Now, although there are some Modern Orthodox rabbis who say it's permitted when not done with affection, that leniency is only binding on those who have taken upon themselves to follow the rulings of Modern Orthodox rabbis. And since this article identifies Matisyahu as "Hassidic", and all Chassidic groups hold that returning a handshake is strictly forbidden, as the article on negiah states, for Matisyahu and anyone else "Hassidic", this practice of refusing to shake hands is not a stringency but a strict prohibition. I hope that's clear. Yehoishophot Oliver (talk) 13:39, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Another issue is kol isha, a the singing voice of a woman is considered her nakedness. So he wouldn't be allowed to be on stage where a female singer could potentially sing.Saxophonemn (talk) 19:45, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

So instead of just repeating the same "it's not sexist" line and making random accusations about double standards (who mentioned Muslims?), why doesn't someone who understands the Jewish perspective of the issue add this to the page. I would attempt to, but I fear it would end up rather badly since I do not know much about Judaism, especially Orthodox.138.88.90.167 (talk) 01:48, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

To clarify, the strict definition of the prohibition of kol isha is not that one may not be in the room when a woman is singing, but that one may not consciously listen to a woman singing. Now, obviously it is completely not ideal to put oneself in that situation, and it is standard for G-d-fearing Jews to leave the room when a woman starts singing. However, if a person happens to be standing somewhere and a woman starts to sing, if he is able to ignore the singing and distract himself somehow, he has not technically violated the prohibition. Yehoishophot Oliver (talk) 13:39, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Corrupted?

Seems like just a mean spirited way to say "changed", by someone who wanted a slight anti-christian tone to the paragraph. At the bottom, about the name being "Corrupted" into the Christian form of Matthew.

"Corrupted" is the proper term. It's the word linguists use to describe the changing of a word through gradual re-pronunciation. It has nothing to do with judgement in this context.Flourdustedhazzn 22:12, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

per Flourdustedhazzn. Rudy Breteler (talk) 21:46, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with a slight anti-Christian tone. Please read what corrupted means: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_(linguistics) . 98.198.83.12 (talk) 02:51, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Mishkan Tefila

Can anyone give a source to the fact that "Matisyahu belongs to Congregation Miskan (Mishkan) Tefila" ?

a google search for "Mishkan Tefila" brought up a Conservative synagogue in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, however Matisyahu is an orthodox jew living in Brooklyn. Shlomke 20:06, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

I saw that addition a couple of days ago when scanning my watchlist. If I'm not mistaken, it was an uncommented insertion. It looked suspicious to me at the time, but I didn't mess with it. I suspect that your inclination is correct. If it is true, or was true, someone will come along and reinsert the fact with an appropriate cite. Dick Clark 22:33, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

It is more then likely that there is more then one congregation which goes by this name. Rudy Breteler (talk) 21:47, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

MC Truth

hey, to the wikipedian who removed the amazon link [1] with no further explanation: it is NOT advertising for the company or artist, especially since MC Truth aka Matisyahu is not even featured on that album in question. however, that link is crucial because the "About the Artist" paragraph contains a band line-up written by MC Mystic - and it is the only place besides of archive.org and the jdub board that info can be found at all.

my point is, many articles have that nice "article lacks sources citing" tag; but when you add sources, someone comes along and removes them all? I dont get it. feel free to enlighten me! who-am-i 21:52, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Matisyahu has actualy spoken about himself as MC Truth in the Rolling Stone article by Evan Serpick, February 24, 2006 [2]

good find. I removed the part about MC Mystic's complaint but added that rolling stone article. I think someone should rephrase everthing now who-am-i 17:07, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Who-am-i, that is in fact what I did, I inserted the link to the rolling stone article and i refrased the MC Truth info, as well as blend it in together with his bio. it seems you did not read my edit, or is there a problem with it? Shlomke 21:28, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

sorry my bad, i really didnt see it, thought it was completely removed and so reverted it. who-am-i 22:19, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

OK, thanks Shlomke 03:44, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

West Chester or Westchester?

Which one was he born in, West Chester, Pennsylvania or Westchester, New York? The biography and the photo caption conflict.

Acording to his own website its West Chester, Pennsylvania. Shlomke 02:50, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

hahaaha the same place as bam margera --71.107.11.206 (talk) 19:56, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

White Plains, NY is in Westchester County New York, not West Chester, PA! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.61.180.38 (talk) 22:09, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

minor change

should be Hasidic Jew not Jewish Hasidic

• Hi, please sign your comments with the four tildes ~~~~ so we can know who made the comment. He is "Jewish" first then "Hasidic". IZAK 21:07, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
  • "Jewish Hassidic" is not a phrase that is normally used in conversation or print; the accepted term is "Hassidic Jewish." There's not necessarily a logical reason for this, but that's English for you. Would you say "Catholic Irish" when you meant "Irish Catholic"? Flourdustedhazzn 22:16, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

• • i am wondering why the genre post-rock is added. In my opinion the music matisyahu makes normally isnt categorised as post-rock. Machina82 13:12, 26 July 2006

Some of his songs can be considered post rock due to long sections of instrumentals without any vocals, for one. However, I would not really consider him post-rock, his music may be liked by post-rock fans due to many similarities of styles. Its a giant argument of semantics in the first place, and there really isnt much of a reason to get bent and start an edit war over 2 words.

Unitepunx (talk) 14:36, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Needs citation

Needs citation -

The otherwise critical New York Times' Kelefa Sanneh has compared him to "early dancehall reggae stars like Barrington Levy and Eek-a-Mouse." The Chicago Tribune's Kevin Pang has described a Matisyahu performance as "soul-shaking brand of dancehall reggae, a show that captures both the jam band vibe of Phish and the ska-punk of Sublime." Reviewers generally agree that Matisyahu may disappoint reggae purists, but acknowledge the unique blend of musical traditions that Matisyahu harnesses generally please the people who see his performances.

The New York Times quote is from a concert review that ran on March 8, 2006. Cites on Wiki usually have links to the source, but I'm not sure what the policy is when the article is in a pay archive (you have to be a subscriber to the physical NYT or a paying user of their TimesSelect service to access articles that are more than 30 days old). Calling Sanneh "otherwise critical" is almost an understatememt: The concert reviewed here was played the day after Youth hit stores and, in Sanneh's words, "The record is dull, and the concert was often worse." That's one of the nicer things he says.Andrewjnyc 14:26, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Chart positions

Chart positions in the Singles section do not agree with the King Without a Crown article. Cite some sources for the info?—mjb 23:47, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps there is a difference between the studio version from Shake Off the Dust...Arise and the live version from Live at Stubb's (plus ANOTHER version on Youth - how much mileage can you get from one song!) I only recently discovered the Billboard database and I'm not sure if the distinction is made on this page which corresponds to the Singles section. If this data is for the studio version, then the King Without a Crown article is out dated. Can anybody crack the code? Hoof Hearted 19:31, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Oops, I read the article too fast and didn't realize King Without a Crown covers all three versions. I'll be bold and update. Hoof Hearted 19:40, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Other Hasidic artists??

Am curious to what other popular ones there are, and if there could be any linking to them in the article? Mathmo 10:15, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

• Lipa Schmeltzer
• Curly Oxide
• DeScribe —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ortho (talk • contribs) 21:37, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

JDUB

someone should write down something about Matis' cutting ties with JDUB! --80.134.180.183 16:32, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

hes a rap artist not a reggae artist right?

He mostly sings, but can rap. ~~Iamvery~~

Live at Stubb's (live)

In the albums section, the album "Live at Stubb's" has a bracket after it saying (live). I think the fact that the article is called LIVE at Stubb's sought of implies that the album is live. In fact, the bracket just makes the article seem stupid, almost scremer at the reader "I assume that you are a total idiot, so I will continue to point out the obvious to you". (And yes i actually have heard an article say that to me.) --Will James 02:53, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

3 Albums, 1 Live Album and 2 Remix Albums?

I'm not sure if this is accurate. Shouldn't it be 2 studio albums ("Shake Off the Dust" and "Youth"), 1 live album ("Live At Stubbs") and 1 remix album ("No Place to Be")? Is the Youth Dub even considered an album when it's more of a bonus disc? It's not a huge issue but I'm a little confused.203.131.167.26 09:17, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

• Thats a good question, I'm not sure either. I know I got the Youth Dub disc separate from Youth, but you're right, it was supposed to just come with Youth. I think it could go either way. -- Chabuk ^{[ T • C ]} 16:34, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
  • Yes, it is accurate. Youth is actually his second proper studio album, not Live at Stubb's. A user named Lcnhop is reverting my changes, claming that Live at Stubb's was his second album, but it's not. Social Distortion also had a live album, but would you call it a follow-up to a studio album, as well? Alex 00:40, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Internet Archive/Taper-friendly

I re-added the Internet Archive link, which someone had removed (possibly under the misapprehension that it was some sort of link spam). It is, in fact, the only documentation, so far, that he belongs in the Category:Taper-friendly musicians. If you're going to remove the link, you either also have to remove the category (which would be inappropriate, since he clearly qualifies), or you need to expand the article to document his taping policies (which would be better, but I don't have the time to do it right now). The Internet Archive is a library—an official member of the American Library Association, in fact—and is funded by the Smithsonian, among others. There should be no problems with linking to it. Xtifr _tälk 09:57, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

• Sorry about that! I wasn't aware of all that, nor did I have any idea what "taper-friendly" was. Thanks for re-adding it. --Chabuk ^{[ T • C ]} 14:37, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

No problem. I probably would have done the same in your shoes. As I say, I'd rather see the phenomenon covered in the body of the article, and since you're trying to take this to good article status, I'll try to do some better research in the next few days or so. I think it probably helped contribute to his popularity—although I'd never make that claim in the article without a reliable source to quote. But I think it's significant enough and interesting enough to deserve to be documented as well as it can be. Cheers. --Xtifr _tälk 22:02, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Better picture?

One day I looked at Matisyahu's page and thought that there was something missing. As it turned out, I thought that Matisyahu's picture was not so great. I do, however, have some very good, full, face forward pictures of Matisyahu that would look much better. So, I will allow others to debate on whether there should be a change of picture before I do change the current one. I also thought I should say something about my idea before I went off changing things so.... And also while we're at it, I heard on the Jay Leno Show only about a week or so ago that, when Matisyahu was on his show, that Matisyahu is, in fact, from Philly....???Lana lang 17:11, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

• I absolutely agree - as long as you know the copyright status of the other images, feel free to add them!

GA Fail

I am failing this due to several things

• it has a trivia section, remove it or incorporate it into the body
• It is POV, Popular is used six times
• Weasel words and Peacock terms Contrary to popular belief, According to Matisyahu, of their respective songs, significant departure from Matisyahu's previous work.
• This 'paragraph' Matisyahu is married to Tahlia Miller, the couple have a son, Laivy.[4]
• Don't wikilink solo years, 2001
• You wikilink New York twice in the first two paragraphs
• He counts Bob Marley, Phish,[3]God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations, counts?
• In 2006, Matisyahu appeared once again at Bonnaroo, this time performing a solo set in front of an estimated crowd of over 80,000 people. reference?
• References come after punctuation, ex . [9] should be .[9]
• last third of the article is just lists and tables
• too many external links
• References are missing details such as, date retrieved, publisher, check {{cite web}} for more information. Some references also have the same name but lead to other sites, change the name
• The image fails WP:FUC #1
• external link in the text # Soundcheck, WNYC, New York, NY, (December 11, 2006) Listen
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Genre Categorization

I noticed that under genre in the musician template it says "neo-psychadelia" and "dancehall". I think both of these can be heavily contested, especially neo-psychadelia. Matisyahu does not seem to have any direct influence at all from musicians like Hendrix or the Beatles. Also, the main tenet of dancehall is the use of digitally-produced riddims, which Matisyahu doesn't, at least ususally use (He might use one on the song "Indestructible", but that is all I can think of). He does have his own, rock-oriented band. I think that the genres he can be classified as most definately are reggae, rock, and hip-hop, and I guess to a lesser extent, ska, based on his bands' use of the distinctive reggae offbeat guitar in most of his songs (such as "Unique is My Dove", "King Without a Crown", "Close My Eyes", "Exaltation", etc.), and the use of guitar distortion and guitar solos as well. Obviously, Matisyahu has a very "fusion-ish" sound that has charateristics of multiple genres, but I really doubt neo-psychadelia is a direct influence. Also, Matisyahu has stated himself that he listened to reggae as a kid, and that reggae is his largest influence. I am going to remove neo-psychadelia and dancehall (dancehall might be alright), if anyone thinks different, say on this talk page. Arnesh 10:31, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Homosexuality

I'd like to know what are Matisyahu's views on homosexuality. I already asked it on the reference desk, but no-one could answer. Does anyone know it? Has he ever talked about it during an interview? A.Z. 07:45, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Why would anyone ask him that in an interview? He's a singer not a politician or religious leader... --Chabuk ^{[ T • C ]} 15:56, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

No, no. Only birds sing without any sort of political campaigning. And Matisyahu seems to acknowledge this when he says: "All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings that inspire me. I want my music to have meaning, to be able to touch people and make them think. Chasidism teaches that music is 'the quill of the soul.' Music taps into a very deep place and speaks to us in a way that regular words can't." He obviously wants to be a role model for young people, as his lyrics reveal. So, I think he would be more than pleased to answer what are his views on homosexuality and whether his songs can be interpreted by gay teenagers to mean that they should fight for their freedom to express their sexuality, especially when he says: "Young man control in your hand / Slam your fist on the table / And make your demand / Take a stand / Fan a fire for the flame of the youth / Got the freedom to choose" and things like that. A.Z. 21:25, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Sounds more like an entreaty to resist masturbation, which would be in keeping with observant Judaism. I'm not an expert on Matisyahu, but I sincerly doubt that he's ever going to speak out in support of homosexuality. Anchoress 04:09, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

That's quite disappointing, but at least it was funny. I had never thought of that particular interpretation for the lyrics. I think someone needs to ask him that in an interview (what is his view on homosexuality), so he says once and for all "I am against homosexuality" or "I choose not to answer that question", so gay teenagers and those who are not against homosexuality stop buying his CDs altogether. A.Z. 20:03, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Seeing as he is a Hasidic Jew and they are known to be extremely conservative on many issues, I'm going to say that the chances are overwhelming he not approving of it. Personally, I must say that that is very refreshing and that I applaud him for it.

Honestly, though, I don't see why that matters. That has nothing to do with his songs at all. Especially "Youth" which isn't about sex at all. What's wrong with you people? Not everything is about sex! Sion 03:59, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

What is "Youth" about? A.Z. 03:45, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Have you even read the lyrics or heard the song? It's about being in control of your life and making the right choices. Sion 11:09, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

It is absolutely not alright to speculate on his political views on this matter without any knowledge as to the truth. There are many progressive Chasidim and there are many homosexual Chasidim. Under no circumstance should these speculative allegations make it into the article without proper citations. Rudy Breteler (talk) 21:54, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that has to do with anger and control... 98.198.83.12 (talk) 02

54, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

The Torah is pretty against Homosexuality, it's considered to'eiva a disgrace. Eating pork is only liable for lashes, but sodomy is death.

Youth is to me is about standing up to the older people who have lived in a empty society. The aspect is that we all need some sort of spirituality and the consequences of what happens how a spiritual void is filled. It all clicked for me when I had to deal with the anti-religious Jewish establishment that ran the Hillel at the University of South Florida and I was working to do quality Jewish programming. Saxophonemn (talk) 19:53, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Straight Edge?

Could someone please tell me where he has mentioned that he is Straight Edge? Sion 04:04, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

I can't imagine Matisyahu ever said that he is Straight Edge. Can you be Straight Edge AND Hasidic Jewish? I don't know! Straight Edge is a lifestyle, Judaism is a religion, and I don't think these two go together. --Elomas 23:22, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I highly doubt that Matisyahu is straight edge. One of the defining characteristics of his cult is the prevalence of alcoholism. [3] —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]])

An open minded fellow if I've ever seen one! Bstone (talk) 06:38, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Matisyahu is not "straight edge" because he smokes cigarettes. To be straight edge you have to abstain from smoking. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.136.215.80 (talk) 19:15, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Exactly. And you can be both in a religion and a lifestyle. There are gay Christians, Jews, etc, as there are Christian and jewish straight edgers. Ha, and that poster called him part of a cult. What a nice guy! As far as Matisyahu goes, I'm pretty sure cigartte smoking cancels out the straight edge lifestyle. 98.198.83.12 (talk) 02:57, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

His works

On the German Wikipedia, there's a list of his works, including Live at Stubb's etc. But there are also some titles I have never heard of, and they are not listed on this article. Does anybody know something about these two:

• The So Called Seder: A Hip Hop Haggadah
• Abayudaya - Music from the Jewish People of Uganda

--Elomas 17:29, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• He performed on one track (The Third Cup) of The SoCalled Seder. But he is most certainly not on Abayudaya. I have that CD, it's produced by the Smithsonian and it's a collection of songs and chants sung by the Jewish people of Uganda. Matis is definitely not on it. -- Chabuk ^{[ T • C ]} 22:39, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that! Then I'm gonna try to change that on the other Wikipedia! --Elomas 00:34, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Hockey Career

When I first heard about Matisyahu on MTV, they said something about him trying out for the NHL at some point. Does anybody know anything more about this, because I haven't heard any more about it since. It sounds very unusual, given what we know about his life.

This is what I know about Matisyahu's hockey career, here are some quotes

• "I loved ice hockey. I used to play ice hockey. So, you know I wanted to be a hockey player" Matisyahu says. [4]
• ... his big dream was to play professional ice hockey ... [5]
• A la edad de 12 uno de sus primeros sueños era convertirse en jugador profesional de hockey para la NHL. [6]

He still plays hockey from time to time. Here some pics where he plays in Crown Heights [www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=2050]

--Elomas 23:50, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Shlomo Carlebach

Does anyone else feel that there is too much information about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (not 'Shlomo' as he is called many times) on this page? It is not really relevant. More importantly, can anyone verify this statement? "Shlomo became the first rabbi in history to play a guitar". It doesn't seem very likely to me (I mean, King David played a lyre. Wasn't he a Rabbi?) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Commontater (talk • contribs) 10:50, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

King David was not a rabbi, he was a king. The whole "rabbi" thing developed way after he died, although he had a rabbi whose name was Ahitophel. (Avot 6:3) 76.161.223.186 (talk) 20:07, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Matisyahu on House?

Last night's House episode featured a Hasid couple, and the husband looked a lot like Matisyahu, or maybe it's just me. I tried to figure out who it was but I wasn't able to see the credits or anything and I can't find anything online. Maybe someone could find out...? Rurouniyuudai85 (talk) 15:40, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

No. It was another actor named Eyal Podell. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.13.217.21 (talk) 14:14, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Belarus?

I've looked all over and I can't find anything about this discussion article which relates to Belarus. I have therefore removed it from Wikiproject Belarus, as well as removed the Belarus related categories, assuming this to be (admittedly odd) vandalism. If I am wrong, please explain why below and revert my changes. Rudy Breteler (talk) 22:00, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes. That is quite strange and was almost certianly vandalism. Matisyahu has no connections to Belarus and it's almost entirely likely that he has never even performed there. Doc Strange^MailboxLogbook 19:47, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Plagiarism?

The example I found:

from "Matisyahu" Wikipedia entry, 1st paragraph

Known for blending traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip hop sounds, Matisyahu is most recognizable for his single "King Without a Crown", which was a surprise Top 40 hit, and for being an Orthodox Jew.

from Google search page description for "Matisyahu" search result #1: www.matisyahuworld.com

Known for blending traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip hop sounds, Matisyahu is most recognizable for being a hasidic Jew. --from Google search page description for "Matisyahu" @ www.matisyahuworld.com 67.238.137.94 (talk) 04:11, 12 February 2009 (UTC)Vicki S.

He is no longer Chabad-Lubavitch

As you can see in this interview, he is no longer Chabad-Lubavitch and this might then affect some of the more controversial issues of his conservatism. From that page:

And on the other hand it was a very, like, dark experience as well, because I really sort of got into, almost into this whole loss, really, the line of where you draw when you’re trying to kind of lose yourself as to where it’s healthy and where it’s you start to become schizophrenic, you know, or totally lose your mind almost. I was really walking that line very, very much, and then I found, basically, I started doing my music. I had some people who really believed in me early on and kind of got me started doing my music, basically, and then I found this really amazing therapist, and we started really talking, who is the guy who became the co-writer with me on this record and stuff. Later we became just good friends, and I started to reevaluate everything that I had taken as ultimate truth, you know, and to pull back and say okay, that it’s time to start now reevaluating everything, questioning everything and not accepting everything as blanket—really reevaluate all the decisions I had made and to kind of reemerge, bring myself back into the picture and make decisions for myself based on what seemed right and what was wrong, and I was lucky to have this friend and guide to really help me to do that, and that process has continued, that balancing process of when you are dealing with religion and when you are dealing with ultimate truth, the idea of ultimate truth, or an ultimate idea is like such a little bit shady, dangerous place to be, and on the other hand you see in, like, American society, you know, in Western society, the total rejection of that based on history with whatever it was, Communism, Nazism, whatever it was. Anytime there was an ultimate idea it usually ended up not working. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Reagle (talk • contribs) 17:14, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Hey...

On May 12, 2010, He was on Spicks and Specks, and australian game show. Just a heads up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.53.135.31 (talk) 11:08, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Arab-Israeli Conflict

What are his view on the Palestine Question? Is he a zionist or does he support the ultra-othrodox no Israel position or his he a Jewish nationalist or none of the above? I would think and hope he supports the Israeli peace movement and the self-determination of the Palestinian people. cheers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.49.68.160 (talk) 12:24, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

In what sense is the Hebrew name "legal"?

If no one can provide a answer, backed with applicable U.S. law, this assertion must be deleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.127.128.28 (talk) 13:20, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

•  Done The word had a Jewish meaning, but in the context it was misleading, and works better without it. --Dweller (talk) 13:47, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Cleanup, PLEASE???

The following paragraphs are syntactically and grammatically deficient. I would clean them up, but seeing the hackles that get raised by newcomers attempting to edit this page, I am keeping my hands off and just noting that without some cleanup, the page looks like a high school essay

Matisyahu then began playing with the Jewish band Pey Dalid.[5] At the age of 19 Miller converted to the Lubavitch school of Hasidic Judaism and renamed himself Matisyahu.

From 2001 through July 2007, Matisyahu was affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. However, as of July 17, 2007, he told the Miami New Times in an interview that he no longer "necessarily" identifies with the Lubavitch movement. In the interview, he stated that "...the more I'm learning about other types of Jews, I don't want to exclude myself. I felt boxed in."[6] Additionally, in the fall of 2007, while on a family vacation spent primarily in Jerusalem's Nachlaot neighborhood, he expressed interest in another Hasidic sect, that of Karlin.[7] As of November 2007 he has confirmed a preference to pray at the Karliner synagogue in Boro Park where the custom is to ecstatically scream prayers; however he continues to reside in Crown Heights because of his wife's affinity for the community.[8]

Soon after his adoption of hasidism, Matisyahu began studying Torah at Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva for returnees to Judaism where he wrote and recorded his first album. He counts Bob Marley, Phish,[9] God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations and gives credit to Rabbi Simon Jacobson's book Toward a Meaningful Life for the lyrical inspiration to Youth's title track. As part of his faith, he does not perform in concert on Friday nights in observance of the Jewish Sabbath. An exception to this occurred at a 2007 concert in Fairbanks, Alaska, which was allowed because the sun did not set until 2:00 a.m.[10]

Below are my suggested revisions. Do with them what you will....

"Matisyahu then began playing with the Jewish band Pey Dalid.[5] At the age of 19 Miller associated himself with the Lubavitch movement of Haredi Judaism and began using his Hebrew name "Matisyahu". From 2001 through July 2007, Matisyahu was active in the Chabad-Lubavitch community in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn; however, in 2007, he told the Miami New Times in an interview that he no longer "necessarily" identifies with the Lubavitch movement. In the interview, he stated that "...the more I'm learning about other types of Jews, I don't want to exclude myself. I felt boxed in."[6] Additionally, in the fall of 2007, while on a family vacation spent primarily in Jerusalem's Nachlaot neighborhood, he expressed interest in the Karliner Hasidic sect.[7] he has since confirmed his preference to for the Karliner synagogue in Boro Park where the custom is to pray ecstatically; however, he continues to reside in Crown Heights because of his wife's affinity for the community.[8]

Soon after his adoption of Hasidic practice, Matisyahu began study at Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva which serves the baal teshuva movement. Here is where he wrote and recorded his first album. He counts Bob Marley, Phish,[9] God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations, and gives credit to Rabbi Simon Jacobson's book Toward a Meaningful Life for the lyrical inspiration to Youth's title track. As part of his faith, he does not perform in concert on from sundown on Friday nights through sundown Saturdays in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.

there ya go...

Sesesq (talk) 20:30, 28 November 2011 (UTC)