Matisyahu Image by yfrog

By Debra Nussbaum Cohen December 13, 2011

Reggae star Matisyahu has shaved his long beard, posted photos of his startling new look on Twitter, and is now saying that he is disavowing the Hasidic life he has led for the past decade.

Tuesday morning, with the photos, he tweeted a somewhat cryptic line that seemed to explain at least part of his new look:

At the break of day I look for you at sunrise, when the tide comes in I lose my disguise.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Later in the day he posted on his blog a statement indicating the magnitude of the change:

This morning I posted a photo of myself on Twitter. No more Chassidic reggae superstar.

When I interviewed Matisyahu (nee Mathew Paul Miller) four years ago for a profile for The Jewish Week I walked away thinking that he was a spiritual seeker who might never feel satisfied with what he found. By the time Jordana Horn wrote this profile for the Forward three years ago, it seemed that because he was by then married and a father, he was beginning to feel more personally rooted.

Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias. When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality — not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.

Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry…you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.

• Matisyahu

This was shortly after Matis had departed Crown Heights for Boro Park, where he was hanging out with a different Hasidic community than the Lubavitchers who had brought him into Orthodox life.

It seems not to have been enough.

Matisyahu is a brilliant, captivating performer. It will be interesting to see what his next chapter brings, for him and for those in the Lubavitch and general Orthodox community who were so proud of his success.

I just hope that for Matis’ sake and that of his family, that he reaches a place of stability and personal contentment.

There’s no word yet on what the change means for his planned Chanukah shows, which are booked for the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount