metro
Music superstar
Matisyahu turned
to Judaism to turn
life around
The Jewish Vote
Jewish Republicans increase ranks,
but majority of Jews vote for Obama.
By Russ Olwell
Matisyahu, born Matthew Miller,
experienced a troubled adolescence
and dropped out of high school.
He soon entered the drug scene as a
rebellion against his upbringing.
But, at age 16, he turned to Judaism
as a way of turning his life around,
spending time in Israel to reconnect to
his spiritual identity.
On return to the United States in 2004, he began a musical
career in Brooklyn, starting his self-titled current group as the
lead singer. Matisyahu performed Nov. 8 at Ann Arbor's Blind
Pig in a concert sponsored by Hillel at EMU, UM Hillel, and
the Blind Pig.
For those who have never heard one of Matisyahu's tracks,
the group's blend of reggae, electronic and dance music will
come as a revelation. It blends many different musical traditions,
but retains a focus on the themes of Judaism that make it unique.
"All of my songs are influenced and inspired by the teachings
that inspire me," he said. "I want my music to have meaning,
to be able to touch people and make them think. Chasidism
teaches that music is 'the quill of the soul. Music taps into a very
deep place and speaks to us in a way that regular words can't."
Matisyahu is touring in support of his most recent recording,
"Spark Seeker."
"While it's true at one point it would've been pretty accurate
to describe me as Hasidic reggae, for most of my career my
music has been a blend, a mixture," he said.
Matisyahu's early work drew its inspiration from such
divergent sources as Bob Marley, Phish, God Street Wine and
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
"Spark Seeker," however, represents an extraordinary musical
and lyrical leap forward, brilliantly fusing ancient traditional
sounds with futuristic electro beats, rapping with singing, songs
of the spirit with songs of the body.
"Spark Seeker digs for truth and meaning and is willing to
let go of everything to find it," Matisyahu said. "He's honest and
authentic with himself and lives life from the inside out. He
creates music from the depths and doesn't worry about what
category it — or he — fits into."
Russ Olwell is an Eastern Michigan University professor of history
and director of the Gear Up Program.
EMU
ADVERTISEMENT
1779170
18
November 15 • 2012
I
Jackie Headapohl
Managing Editor
T
he percentage of American
Jews who voted Republican
this election ticked up com-
pared with 2008, but the overwhelming
majority of American Jews, 69 percent
according to a CNN exit poll, gave
their vote to President Barack Obama.
Still, the president's Jewish support
eroded nearly 10 points from the 78
percent of the Jewish vote he garnered
in 2008.
Do those results mean a substantial
drop in Jewish support for Obama?
National Jewish Democratic Council
(NJDC) President and CEO David A.
Harris says no.
"We now know that
the Jewish commu-
nity today was once
again solidly behind
President Barack
Obama, and that
the only so-called
`Jewish problem
David A.
he has is that there
Harris
aren't more Jewish
voters in America,
given the overwhelming support for
the President in our community:'
Harris said in a statement.
The Republican
Jewish Coalition dis-
agrees. Matt Brooks,
the executive direc-
tor of the RJC, said,
"The results demon-
strate that President
Barack Obama and
Matt Brooks
the Democrats saw a
significant erosion of
support from 2008, while Republicans
continued their trend of the last sev-
eral decades of making inroads in the
Jewish community:'
According to the RJC exit poll-
ing data, the Republican share of the
Jewish vote jumped nationally from 22
percent to 32 percent — an increase
of almost 50 percent — and is part
of a trend in which Republicans have
gained market share among Jewish
voters in five of the last six national
elections. The 10-point gain is the
largest gain since 1972.
The change in the Jewish vote might
have kept the race closer than it oth-
erwise would have been, but that's
about it. Richard Baehr, chief political
correspondent for the conservative
American Thinker website, told JNS.
org, "As best I can tell, the shift in the
Jewish vote didn't shift any states:'
Baehr added: "Even though there
was a decline in the number [of Jewish
votes for Obama], that it didn't come
into play in shifting any states is not a
good sign for those who try to create
an image that it was a very important
part of the overall electorate:'
Brooks told JTA.org that the RJC's
investment in increasing the share of
Jewish Republican voters was "not in
the outcome of a single election. It's
ultimately about broadening the base
of the Republican Party in the Jewish
community:'
Time To Come Together
Now that the election is over, both
sides of the aisle must find ways to
work together to move the country
forward.
"There are challenging times ahead
for America's leaders, who must
address the stagnant economy, the
need to create more jobs and the
threat of a nuclear Iran. All of us must
come together to craft real solutions to
the very serious problems our country
faces today:' Brooks said. "It's impor-
tant that the president be successful:'
Sharon Lipton,
president of
the local Jewish
Community
Relations Council,
underscores Brooks'
comments.
"The closeness
Sharon Lipton of the popular vote
shows how divided
we are as a nation and underlines the
importance of efforts such as JCRC's
new civility initiative to bring us
together; said Lipton. "We hope the
president and members of Congress of
both parties can find common ground
to begin to address our nation's most
pressing problems.
"Solving problems together will
require compromise and respectful
conversation on all sides, as President
Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip
O'Neill achieved despite their strong
political differences back in the 1980s;
Lipton added. "Instead of followers
reflecting the incivility within the elec-
torate, our political leaders should lead
— setting the example of how people
who disagree can work together for the
common good:'
❑
Jewish Vote on page 20