Every lover of Judaism has a special moment when the love reaches a certain peak and can give you goosebumps. For me, I got the goosebumps when I saw a video of Matisyahu performing his hit song “Jerusalem” at a Spanish music festival in August 2015.
The song wasn’t new. Like millions of others, I had heard it plenty of times. What was new was that Matisyahu was singing in front of Jew haters. These haters came to heckle him and wave large Palestinian flags during his performance.
I remember thinking: How does an artist expressing his love perform in front of people expressing their hate? That must take some love, some courage.
Some of you may remember the context. As you’ll read in our cover story this week by Kylie Ora Lobell, “In 2015, [Matisyahu] stood up to festival organizers in Spain, who, bowing to BDS pressure, told him he needed to sign a letter saying he supported a Palestinian state and wouldn’t bring up Israeli politics while performing. He refused, and eventually, the festival was forced to apologize to him and let him play.”
That tension accompanied Matisyahu to the stage, especially when he sang “Jerusalem.” Since that moment is so attached to my memory, I decided this week to rewatch the clip.
Yes, the goosebumps came back, but this time, the scene hit me differently.
Maybe it’s because of October 7 and its aftermath. Since that horrific day, anti-Israel protestors around the world have never been louder and angrier. The venom that has been unleashed against Jews has been bewildering.
That same venom confronted Matisyahu as he sang “Jerusalem” in 2015. In that concert setting, however, the haters couldn’t make much noise. All they could do was swing big flags back and forth. Their venom was silenced. Matisyahu’s poignant singing had drowned and diminished them.
Had those protestors been on a street corner or on a college campus, they would have screamed their Jew hatred over loud-speakers, as they are doing now. But on that fateful day in Spain, the big sound came not from the haters in the audience but from the lover on stage.
Which got me thinking: Wasn’t Matisyahu modeling one of the core ideals of Judaism, the ideal of sharing good things with the world?
No one would pay a penny to see haters on stage express their anger. Anger is not a gift or an art or an accomplishment. Beautiful music is an accomplishment that people will come to see.
Matisyahu is following in a long tradition of Jews who feel naturally compelled to share something of value with the world. Since Jews have landed on these blessed shores, an endless list of Jewish writers, thinkers, artists, entertainers, social activists, scientists, builders, spiritual voices and civic leaders have gratefully given back to America.
The fact that many of us are now in “fighting” mode against a sea of hatred is a reality that has been forced on us. We fight when we must fight, just as Israel fights when it must fight, but we’d much rather play music, dance, read, connect, laugh, rejoice, pray, learn, hike, do yoga, volunteer or hang out with friends.
“Tonight was difficult but special,” Matisyahu wrote on his Facebook page after the 2015 concert. “Thank you to everyone who made it possible! Every chance to make music is a blessing.”
Matisyahu is still blessed to make his music and is connecting even more deeply to his Jewish roots. After Oct. 7, he says, “there is this strange pull back to being Jewish and feeling Jewish, of wanting to be connected to other Jews and Israel and speaking out about what’s happening and writing songs about it.”
His new album, which comes out this week, is titled “Hold The Fire.” For an artist who loves his art and is moved to spread light, it’s hard to think of a better title. In spreading some of that light on his upcoming U.S. tour, he says he’s “thinking about how he’ll incorporate messages about Israel into his shows.”
If Jew haters show up again to spread their anger, let’s remember one thing: When the music starts, the joy will come not from the angry haters but from the proud Jew singing on stage. At a time when those haters are making so much noise, that idea alone gives me goosebumps.
