Matisyahu ROCKS

Just a brief comment on Matisyahu, the quasi-Rastafarian-turned-ba'al teshuva-turned-hasidic reggae master extraordinaire. I heard him on campus in a Chabad-sponsored appearance two years ago and wasn't overly impressed, mostly because I'm not huge on reggae.

The other night, however, as I was channel surfing at whatever ungodly hour, I saw a mind-blowing thing: there, on MTV, was Matisyahu, crooning about Hashem and Mashiach in an uber-cool video featuring the artist himself bouncing in a billboard as the lyrics danced around him and--yes--a kiruv-y scene at the very end. And the music wasn't half bad, either.

I sort of squinted at the TV, wondering if I had stumbled upon a rerun of the Chabad telethon. But no -- MTV it was.

I've since seen the video of "King Without a Crown" twice more and have visited Matisyahu's page on MTV.com, which features a nice bio that describes his music as a cross between Bob Marley and Reb Shlomele and makes reference to the Carlebach Shul on the Upper West Side.

Now, I don't often get emotional, and certainly never over a music video. But as I watched this video, I felt as if I was about to tear up. This guy is a walking, beat boxing kiddush Hashem. The fact that he can dance around in full Lubavitch garb on a channel that is not particularly known for its divrei Torah, is staggering.

Kol ha-kavod, Matisyahu. You've got yourself a fan.