MARCH 7 • 2024 | 43
festival apologized and re-invited him to
perform. In February, two tour shows, in
Arizona and New Mexico, were canceled
due to “safety concerns just before the
show,
” he says. “There were no safety
concerns. There were very few protesters;
there was security. It was antisemitism.
”
This time, the worldwide outrage has
quieted to Jewish supporters and fans.
Determined not to be silenced,
Matisyahu announced he would put
on a free show in Arizona. “
A friend in
Arizona directed me to a venue called
the Rock, legendary for reggae artists,
”
Matisyahu says. “The manager, Joe, was
incredible. I was like, ‘Make sure your
staff knows I’m pro-Israel and if they have
a problem with it, they should tell you
now.
’ No problems.
”
Boarding the tour bus, when leaving
the original venue, a protester came up
to Matisyahu’s wife and daughter and
screamed in their faces. David Draiman,
lead singer for Disturbed (who trained as
a cantor), heard about the shows being
canceled and called Matisyahu to check
on him. Matisyahu told him of the pro-
tester. Soon, Matisyahu looked at his
social media and was awestruck.
“The next thing I know, David is
raising money for security for me,”
Matisyahu says. “He’s raised $10,000
in 24 hours so he can send his security
guard on my tour bus so that my family
can feel safe. [At print time, that figure
has reached $30,000; see box for details.]
That kind of thing has never happened
to me in 20 years of doing music.
There’ve been so many people reach-
ing out and wanting to be supportive.
Mayim Bialik, Montana Tucker, Michael
Rappaport, Brett Gelman, they’re all call-
ing me. It’s pretty amazing.
“
At shows, I’m seeing a lot of Israeli
flags now,
” he says. “There are lots and
lots of Jews coming out. For a long time,
before Oct. 7, there have been some Jews
coming, but not like this. I’m feeling the
support of the Jewish community. It’s been
very special these last few days.
”
When on tour, he says, he tries not to
talk too much, feeling that the music is
more powerful than words.
“I don’t come out on stage with this
idea that I need to stand up for my
people. It’s only the fact that my fans
are being spit upon on the way into the
show that is making that happen. What
they don’t realize is that the opposition
is only strengthening the Jewishness of
Matisyahu and his shows.
“But last night during my show,
sometimes I can’t help myself,
” he says.
“Toward the end of the show, a girl kept
yelling for us to play ‘One Day.
’ I said, ‘You
know, I also want ‘one day’ — we all want
‘one day when our children will play.
’
“‘But first, I have to play another song
for you, called ‘Surrender,
’” he told the
audience. “‘It used to be a song about
spiritual surrender. But now, this is a song
of prayer for our enemies, the people who
believe that Jewish people should not be
in existence. They are our enemies.
’ Then I
dedicated the song ‘Surrender’ to Hamas.
“
And when they surrender and our
hostages come home, then we can work
toward peace,
” Matisyahu says. “Of course
we want peace. But how do we get to that
point? Obviously, there’s a lot of discrep-
ancy about how we get to peace, but one
thing we know is that there is evil in the
world, and there are people who want to
destroy us, no matter what — no matter
what we do for them or give to them, we
can give them brain surgery [referring to
Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar] and they will
come back and plan an attack like Oct. 7.
“That’s the story of the Jewish people.
It’s giving and giving and giving. But now
that it’s time to stand up for ourselves, the
world doesn’t want to see that. It’s a pain-
ful experience for all of us.
“But one thing we’re seeing is the
amount of achdut, unity, being created
among the Jewish people,
” he says. “When
Jewish people are unified, we are unstop-
pable. Up to now, we haven’t been unified.
Not just Israel and not just politics — but
the Jewish people in general. It’s the
outside force of negativity, it’s when we
get squeezed that we shine — we come
together and shine as a people.
“That’s kind of the silver lining here,
that’s what I’m seeing in my life, with
canceled concerts, is the incredible
amount of people coming to support me
and help and not being afraid.
“They canceled the shows, but they
can’t silence the Jews; our mouth is
what we have. Yaakov, our forefathers
and mothers, we’ve always had prayer
and the ability to tell stories and explain
things. That’s what we do.
“When we feel opposition, the Jewish
people, we fight against it,” Matisyahu
says. “If it means coming together to go
to a concert and dealing with protesters,
that’s not a problem. We are ready for
that.”
“IN THE EARLY DAYS, WHEN I WOULD ONLY EAT KOSHER, MY TOUR MANAGER
REACHED OUT TO CHABAD IN THE DETROIT AREA. HE SPOKE TO RABBI SHEMTOV,
AND THE REBBETZIN SHEMTOV INVITED ME TO THEIR HOUSE. I REMEMBER SHOW-
ING UP AT 8 IN THE MORNING, BEING DROPPED OFF BY THE TOUR BUS, I HAD
THIS NICE BREAKFAST WITH THESE TWO OLDER LUBAVITCHERS AND BEING ON
MY WAY,” MATISYAHU SAYS. “I DON’T THINK THEY HAD ANY IDEA WHO I WAS, JUST
A JEW PASSING THROUGH, AND THEY WERE LIKE, ‘OH, YOU NEED BREAKFAST?’”
Matisyahu performs 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 9, at El
Club, Detroit. Tickets start at
$48.95. Purchase tickets at
matisyahuworld.com/tour or
elclubdetroit.com. Note from
Matisyahu: “If you’re from Israel
and you want to see my show, I’ve
got tickets for you.” Reach out via
DM on Instagram @Matisyahu.
To contribute to David Draiman’s
GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/
the-matisyahu-defense-fund.
continued from page 41