With Neither Religion Nor Anger at Religion, Mattisyahu Has Lost His Inspiration

When I first became aware of the recording artist Matthew Miller, better known as Mattisyahu, I heard him described as a “hasidic reggae superstar,” and that is the apt phrase employed here by Akiva Schick in his examination of Mattisyahu’s career. Exposed to Judaism as a young adult via Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidism, Mattisyahu became a full-fledged member of that denomination while enjoying his greatest musical and commercial success. He later publicly left Chabad and Orthodoxy, although hasidic ideas continue to inform his lyrics. Schick writes: