Saturday, July 28, 2007

MATISYAHU LEAVES LUBAVITCHERS

Matisyahu: Sitting Here In Limbo? (Jewish Week)
Could it be that Matisyahu — the genre-bending poster boy for all that is cool and kosher — is off the derech? At least the Chabad derech?

It sure looks that way after the chasidic reggae star told the Miami New Times last week before a concert, “I felt boxed in.”

“My initial ties were through the Lubavitch sect. ... At this point, I don’t necessarily identify with it any more,” Matisyahu told the Miami weekly. “I’m really religious, but the more I’m learning about other types of Jews, I don’t want to exclude myself.”

The news that Matisyahu appears to be distancing himself from Chabad, the outreach-oriented group that helped transform him from a Reconstructionist-affiliated suburban kid to the chart-topping hipster he’s become, lit up the Orthodox blogosphere.

Some bloggers even expressed fear that the 28-year-old Crown Heights resident and father of two — who last year was crowned Billboard’s top reggae artist and was referenced in the hit film “Knocked Up” — would lead young people away from religious life.

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