Matisyahu’s Performance in Tel Aviv: A Defiant Stand for Israel

2024-04-04 11:10:38

A Jewish-American reggae singer, several of whose performances were canceled due to his (allegedly) support for Israel, so instead he chose to end his tour of performances precisely in Tel Aviv – and for that alone he deserves a few credit points with us • Although he went on stage with a joint and a beer, despite The “neighborhood” atmosphere that enveloped everything – it was a successful evening Performance review

Matisyahu, Zappa Park 2024, Tel Aviv | Photo: Shlomi Pinto

While we here in Israel are going through a period the likes of which we have not known since the establishment of the state, the Jews of the Diaspora and those who support us are also facing complex situations and feel the rise of anti-Semitism – whether directly or not, the atmosphere is reminiscent of dark days, who believed that we would ever return to them?

Unlike many artists and influencers in the world who prefer to keep their positions low for fear of harming their public relations, there are also virtuous individuals who stand by us despite the consequences. Matthew Paul Miller, who you know better as the Jewish-American reggae singer Mattisyahu, is one of them.

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Matisyahu lives in Brooklyn, New York, but his heart and soul are deeply connected to Israel and Judaism: he repented, belonged to Chabad Hassidism, and in 2011 chose to take off his beard and cap, not before declaring that he is not “a Hasidic reggae superstar anymore”.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Matisyahu appeared at Zappa Park Tel Aviv, after the previous evening he did so in Jerusalem. These are not his first appearances in Israel since the war began, as back in January he appeared here and donated all the proceeds to the families of the kidnapped. During that visit, by the way, he also had time to visit soldiers and meet with survivors of that black Sabbath.

The public support he expressed in Israel, in the midst of his concert tour, brought with it a wave of criticism against him – until he was forced to cancel some of his concerts, among others in Arizona, Chicago and Santa Fe. Yesterday, on the Zappa stage, he ended his concert tour as a winner – and there is nothing symbolic about it.

Supports Israel unreservedly. Inhale, thank you Photo: Shlomi Pinto

The show was opened by none other than Matisyahu’s son, Levi Miller, who made aliyah a few years ago and since then has been working with some of the biggest names in Israeli music (like Yishai Rivo, for example). The very fact that “The Son of” was given such a stage felt a bit like an end-of-the-year show at school, but Miller’s stage presence definitely refuted that feeling, and in the short time he appeared, he completely proved that he deserved this stage.

Matisyahu went on stage at 8:50 p.m., even though the ticket sales website stated that the show would start at 9:00 p.m. Already then we understood that Matthias has his own rules. He opened the show with a joint in hand and a glass of beer, and started performing a few songs from his new album “Hold The Fire”, which coincidentally feels like it was written in the spirit of the times. In the first songs it was evident that the audience was still warming up, learning the phenomenon of Matisyahu live, but when the performance of one of his biggest hits, “Jerusalem” came, everyone was already on their feet and started dancing non-stop.

You see that the stage is his natural place. Matisyahu felt too comfortable and allowed himself to do only what he wanted (as part of his unique personality). We already talked about the joint and the beer, but the singer managed the photographers on the spot more than once, while whispering to his musicians what was going to happen. Personally, I connect to shows where everything is already prepared in advance, but in this case something worked. How and why? Maybe because it’s part of Matisyahu’s character, or maybe thanks to the fact that his musicians already know him very well and go along with all his requests.

Here he is holding a microphone, but there was also a joint and a beer Photo: Shlomi Pinto

Matisyahu hosted a number of Israeli artists who come from the same genre that moves on the axis between reggae and rap, and they managed to introduce an interesting twist to the performance. The first of them was Jimbo J who sang the song “Ba Hazerat Ha’ah”, and together with Matisyahu he also performed “Fireproof”, the most successful song on the new album. The combination of the two was not clear, and it seems that Jimbo was mostly excited to sing alongside the singer he admires so much.

They also arrived: the rapper Peled, who surprised and integrated precisely with rap sections in Hebrew to Matisyahu’s original songs; Omri Glickman (soloist of the Hatikva 6 band) also arrived, and when he went on stage he hugged Matisyahu tightly and thanked him for supporting us throughout this period. The two performed Glickman’s “If I Meet God” together in a performance that brought the whole audience to their feet, and later also paid a lot of respect to “King Without a Crown”.

with Jimbo J | Photo: Shlomi Pinto

The much-anticipated encore included three songs: the well-known and insanely successful “Sunshine”, the new “Ascent” which brings a very strong message about the rising anti-Semitism and “One Day”, the optimistic hit that closed the evening, in which the audience simply went out of their way and screamed the song at the top of their voices.

Between the encore performances, Matisyahu’s son returned to the stage alongside three survivors from the Nova festival, and they all waved the Israeli flag and danced with him on stage, in what was one of the most chilling moments of the evening. When it was all over, they sang “Am Yisrael Chai”, and something in that simplicity – especially in light of this shocking time – moved us especially.

With Omri Glickman, minus the hope 6 | Photo: Shlomi Pinto

Despite the long transitions between songs, the lighting that was not particularly impressive and some tiring moments due to the fact that we did not know all the songs, we left smiling and excited. Matisyahu came to enjoy himself and brought with him the special character that he takes to the stage with, with behind him the journey he went through during his life and his enormous support for Israel. It goes without saying, and we give him a huge thank you for that.

“You start a song with Matisyahu, you don’t know how it will end,” said Glickman on stage. He said and he was right, as this was the feeling throughout the entire evening. In general, sometimes I felt like I was sitting in a circle of jamjums in India or watching a dress rehearsal, and everything had a “neighborhood” atmosphere – but it was definitely an experience.