Sunday, July 29, 2007

"Fair weather" friends...


Due to my trip last week, I missed a "major" headline...

According to this week's edition of the Jewish Week, Matisyahu is no longer on the Chabad-Lubavitch bandwagon. Naturally, chaos ensues.
Several people, like Chaim, express clear concerns as to where this may be headed, in terms of Matis's spot in the public eye, considering his rise to stardom in so short a time. Chaim is the first to admit that he was a huge fan of Matis, and that he no longer feels comfortable identifying with that status. THat's cool, it's understandable, and it's extremely honest of him.

However, Rabbi Levi Brackman writes a particularily nasty piece on this story on his blog. R. Brackman - whom I've never heard of until today - vilifies Matisyahu, basically equating the fact that Matis may be distancing himself from his point of origin in the religious world with the probability that he may shirk his religious beliefs altogether.
He continues to compare Matis to other "jewish, secular singers" and states that Matis no longer reflects jewish spirituality.

Now, I understand where many folks are coming from, to a degree. A year ago, when Matis suddenly broke ranks with JDub Records, simultaneously breaching his contract and turning his back on the friends who'd gotten him his start, I was very worried. Mainly, I was concerned with how this would be viewed out there in the world. The possibilty of Chillul HaShem when a frum Jew is out there in the spotlight is magnified a hundredfold, at least. I was also, naturally, concerned about Matis's well being, in a spiritual sense.
Was it possible that that was hinting at a deeper problem? Was Matis's rise too fast, and too much all at once? I didn't know, but I'd hoped not. The weight of responsibilty being a frum Jew, coupled with what I'd imagine to be an intense touring schedule, seemed to be a very dangerous thing, indeed.
Thankfully, I believe that the overall Kiddush HaShem outweighed that earlier incident. It made only a marginal splash in the news, and lasted for less than a few days.
Now, I hear yet another "scandal" involving Matis. And I must be honest: I don't see the huge deal.
So, he no longer believes that he identifies with Lubavitch? Okay. So what? I know several people who have become religious through Chabad's help. Without Chabad, who knows where they would be today? But some of them eventually felt that they no longer identified with what Chabad represented or had intended for them, and they left.
They are all still very religious, and some of them may even tell you that they are better for leaving.
Everyone continues to grow. Just because you're moving away from something doesn't necessarily mean that the direction is downward.
We have an expectation of Matisyahu that is unfair, in many respects. He is a baal Teshuva, and a relatively fresh one, at that. And yet ( and I realize that in part, he has brought it on himself, by virtue of the fact that he is representing something larger than he...), we expect him to be saintly, holding him to standards we wouldn't hold of ourselves.

Anonym00kie recently posted about judging people. How we don't realize what is going on in other's lives, and how, if we'd take a moment to relate, to understand, to help, we'd all be in a better place.

Can any of us really relate to Matis? As Rabbi Brackman writes himself: while Matis appeared to be this amazing saint, he was 100% behind him, encouraging kids to listen to him, etc. The moment we get a peek at his ( Matisyahu's) humanity, though, we see that people expect the worst. No one, not even Matis or his managers or agents, ever said he was perfect. I realize that in the spotlight, one has to be so careful, and like I said, I agree. However, I'm growing tired of all these fair weather fans.
I haven't seen Matis get arrested for possesion of drugs. He hasn't been in any tabloids. I pray that he won't, of course, but until something really bad happens, I'm gonna support him.
He's trying to be a warrior, just like the rest of us. Let's give him a chance...

Note: This post was an immediate response after reading Y-Love's post on Jewschool. I quickly read all the posted links, and was very hasty in jumping on Rabbi Brackman's back. After the initial reaction, I went back and read Rabbi B.'s post. His post isn't all that nasty, considering. I still disagree with him, though I apologize if I made him seem like a jerk...

14 comments:

Shmuel said...

Thanks; I checked it out, but I don't think I'm gonna use it, though...

Chaim said...

Thanks for your nice words about my views. Even though you disagree. I just wanted to clear one thing up. The fact the he's left Lubavitch has very little to do with my new stance.

It just seems that this is another thing in a very long line of things that he gets very into and then drops. I get the whole free spirit thing, but being a religious Jew is about having strong roots and a strong foundation. Without that there are a huge problems.

I have no ill will towards Matis, and I hope he DOES find some stable ground to land his spiritual feet on. But just like that weird, slightly off Uncle, who goes from job to job and one oddball thing to the next. You're happy to have him at a shabbas meal, but you don't want him sleeping on your couch. :-)

It's a weird analogy, but I think you get what I mean.

Shmuel said...

Chaim - I get what you mean, a hundred percent.
I wasn't taking issue with what you said, per se. It was more with the other responses I'd seen. I just really believe that we shouldn't be so quick to write him off. I don't know if you read the original article from the paper's site, but it was pretty innocuous, considering...
Thanks again...

Anonymous said...

being able to admit a mistake is all important to being an adult.

Anonymous said...

Live and let live. That's the rule. It's a simple rule. If you can't let live, you can't live. Period, no exceptions. Listen to the music if you want, don't listen if you don't want. Agree with Matis (or anyone else in the world for that matter) or don't. I don't care. But never under any circumstances should you try to spew your negativities onto other people. If you don't like it, I apologize but I don't make the rules.

Shmuel said...

JJL - I hear that.
Karma Dude - Um...who is that aimed at? Me?

Anonymous said...

JM, you're letting live so your okay. It's aimed at those you linked to in your post who won't let live.

Anonymous said...

he linked me, so i hope you didnt mean me - im all for live and let live :) and honestly i find this whole matisyahu bashing so disturbing. i know some baal teshuvas just find their way in one shot and stick with it for the rest of their life.. but it is very very very common for a bt to keep searching and never ever feel rooted. i have friends who have been bt's for dozens+ of years, married with teenage kids.. and still searching, still not belonging.
it's a living torah, and as long as you are keeping by the main principles, the rest really is much more open. some poeple fit into a lil box and feel comfortable in the safety of those walls, and others never will fit in and never will enjoy it. accusing someone of wanting to leave torah because he is choosing a different TORAH path is the exact thing that turns poeple off and pushes them away!

Shmuel said...

Who linked you, m00k?

Anonymous said...

my blog is linked in this post.. this your blog.. remember? :)

Shmuel said...

Oh...I didn't get what you meant, because you switched from "he" to "you"...

fashionista cat in a zero gravity shoe-store said...

Hi Jewmaican,

I've found your blog through David_on_the_lake's.

I can't help but wondering if Chabad doesn't have any more serious matters to be concerned about, namely drug abuse and homosexual intercourse among young frum bochurim, prostitution of some young frum people hoping to get a kick - or money - out of it, the spreading of STDs among kids that have never had any proper sex ed, anorexia and bulimia among frum girls, the lack of job qualifications that make many depend on welfare but to name a few. I've never read about Matisyahu promoting any of the above, yet they happen.
Is a father not supposed to support his family as much as he can? Can anybody really blame this young man for signing a deal with a major record label? Does anybody get blamed for bargain shopping at goyishe Macy's one-day sale as opposed to paying the full retail price at a 'Jewish' store?
I'm not much of a reggae fan, but I have to admit Matisyahu does have a catching personality different fom many Chabadnicks I've experienced. Let me think . . . What might it be that makes him so different? . . . Ah, yes! He smiles! He smiles a lot! I watched recordings of the Lubavitcher rebbe, he smiled a lot, too! Maybe if Chabad wants to make sure people connect and stay connected with them, they should smile more often (a positive side effect being that regular smiling and laughing makes for a higher life expectancy as various studies have proven).

smb said...

Jewmaican, I agree that chabad is not the only path and there are other Torah paths.

the dreamer said...

though i personally don't go for matisyahu's style, i agree that the bashing isn't called for.

though live and let live is not a good thing all the time, cuz it shows a lack of caring, i believe it holds true over here.