Kosher reggae for the masses? Matisyahu's music has religious theme that rings with youth

MORRISTOWN, N.J. - Moshe Herson seemed perplexed. Never before had the 72-year-old Orthodox rabbi been asked to listen to reggae to see whether he could hear Talmudic overtones. Of course, until three months ago, no Hasidic Jew had ever been crowned Best New Entertainer at the International Reggae and World Music Awards.

So one recent morning in his office, Herson, dean of the Rabbinical College of America, listened on a borrowed iPod to the 27-year-old Hasidic music sensation known as Matisyahu, whose mix of reggae, rap and rock has won gold status for two recent albums, "Live at Stubb's" and "Youth." Orthodox youth generally avoid pop music, but since 2004, Matisyahu's religious-themed reggae has become familiar to many young people across the Orthodox world, which includes the leafy campus of the rabbinical college.

Matisyahu is part of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Judaism. He wears black religious garb while performing. And his songs, which have sold more than a million albums, draw lyrics from prayers, psalms and Jewish themes on God, messianism and nationhood. Herson had never heard the music. But as Matisyahu's popularity has surged, Herson -- like most Lubavitch Jews -- has come to know who the singer is.

"He seems to have transcended the Jewish community," Herson said. Herson chuckled at a few lyrics, set to reggae beats, with themes he recognized from Jewish teachings collected in the Talmud. And he later found it simple to connect those lyrics to specific prayers and psalms.

For example, he mentioned the Matisyahu line "Without you there is no me" -- which comes from "King Without a Crown," a song about striving to be close to God. "That's from a concept elucidated by Hasidic philosophy," Herson said. "We are totally and constantly dependent on `the being,' on the source of energy coming from above, so, `Without you, there's no me.' "

He stressed that while he feels Matisyahu's message is positive, he doesn't endorse his music. Many Lubavitchers don't want their children listening to Matisyahu, fearing the line is too thin between his and other popular music. And clearly, while Matisyahu doesn't sing about sex or drugs, some of his lyrics, at least taken in isolation, can seem better suited for a 1960s protest chant than for the iPods and CD players of Hasidic teens. For example, there's the chorus to "Youth": "Young man, the power's in your hands. Slam your fist on the table and make your demands."

But as several Orthodox fans of Matisyahu noted in interviews, the song is meant to encourage young people, urging them to overcome their vanities, to "focus ...energy into a laser beam." Youth, Matisyahu sings, is "the engine of the world." That message is why Chana Solomon of Morristown, a Lubavitcher whose 9-year-old daughter attends the rabbinical college's summer camp, said she lets her children listen.

"In this day and age, there's too many occasions of kids that want to do right but are afraid to get up and stand up there," she said. "A lot of songs teach what's wrong. Here's a song saying, `Don't! Stand up and be strong!' ... `Slam your fist down and say, I'm gonna do what's right.' "

• He was born Matthew Miller in 1977 and grew up in a non-Orthodox Jewish home.

• Now living in Brooklyn with his wife and son, he has cited an eclectic mix of influences for his music: the late Lubavitch leader Menachem Schneerson, Bob Marley, the deceased Orthodox rabbi/musician Shlomo Carlebach, the band Phish and his growing knowledge of the Torah, ancient writings that provide the basis for Jewish law.

"King Without A Crown"

[Chorus:]
What's this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being
Sing to my G-d all these songs of love and healing
Want Moshiach now so it's time we start revealing

You're all that I have and you're all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I want to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry
You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there's no me
You're the air that I breathe
Sometimes the world is dark and I just can't see
With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
I'll stand on my own two feet
Won't be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights
Crown Heights burnin' up all through till twilight
Said, thank you to my G-d, now I finally got it right
And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]

Me no want no sinsemilla.
That would only bring me down
Burn away my brain no way my brain is to compound
Torah food for my brain let it rain till I drown
Thunder!
Let the blessings come down

Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Got to give yourself up and then you become whole
You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know
You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you're trying to stay high then you're bound to stay low
You want G-d but you can't deflate your ego
If you're already there then there's nowhere to go
If you're cup's already full then its bound to overflow
If you're drowning in the water's and you can't stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope
You're looking for help from G-d you say he couldn't be found
Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground
Like a King without His Crown
Yes, you keep fallin' down
You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown
Tried to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground
Given up your pride and the you heard a sound
Out of night comes day and out of day comes light
Nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray,
Makin' room for his love and a fire gone blaze

[Chorus]

Reelin' him in
Where ya been
Where ya been
Where ya been for so long
It's hard to stay strong been livin' in galus (exile) for 2000 years strong
Where ya been for so long
Been livin in this exile for too long

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