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.

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