Part 1

Part 2

So what’s your take on Matisyahu’s “transformation?” Is he selling out? Or is this a non-story?

No more Chassidic reggae superstar… 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.

Some have opined that Matisyahu is leaving the fold, but it’s clear that the only thing Matisyahu is leaving is Reggae. That’s right, the writing was on the wall when Yeshiva University’s clean shaven Maccabeats covered Matisyahu’s 8 Days in this holiday video:

That’s right. Matisyahu is about to announce that he is going to be joining the Maccabeats. Meet the new Litvish Modern Orthodox Superstar. You heard it here first folks.

Tickets for the event for the local community are on sale and can be purchased for $30 in advance. The concert is free for GA participants and participants of Hinene.

Hineni: Here to Serve – A Young Adult Social Action Project takes place on Sunday morning, November 6. Before the GA kicks off, join 700-1000 delegates and young Jewish professionals, give back to the community. Do a mitzvah, and help with a number of service projects across Denver, and get in to see Matisyahu for free!

Check out the Facebook event here.

Within moments of listening to the song, I was crying, eyes full of tears, streams of tears running down my face, reaching for handfuls of tissues. And every time I put on this beautiful song – the tears keep rolling down.

The history of the song is both inspiring and sad.

Matishyahu befriended a young boy with cancer named Elijah. There was something very special about this young man. He never complained and was always in good spirits. They quickly became friend and Elijah and Matisyahu would keep in constant contact. Matisyahu even surprised Elijah by showing up and performing at his bar mitzvah. For some time, Elijah had wanted them to record a song together, but Matisyahu’s schedule was very busy and they had not found an opportunity.

Late last year, Matisyahu came to Florida for a concert. Elijah came to the concert, and again asked Matisyahu about recording a song. The next morning Matisyahu got a call that Elijah was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in serious condition.

Matisyahu showed up that evening at the ICU with Adam and some recording equipment. They knew that his condition was grave, and decided that they would write and record a song then and there.

Elijah and Matisyahu started writing the song. The ideas for the music and majority of the words came from Elijah himself. The whole time they were recording, Adam worked hard to keep the noise of the machines in the ICU unit out of the recording. Adam, Matisyahu’s longtime acoustic accompanist, played along on guitar and the song took shape. They finished around midnight.

One might imagine that a song written by a dying boy would be sad and full of regret — but the song is inspiring, courageous, and shows his profound belief in God.

Never know what tomorrow brings,
don’t have the answers to tell you.
Take it one step at a time,
see where God will lead you.
I don’t have the words to say,
But a miracle happens every day.
Are you just too blind to see it?
Open your eyes I’m sure you’ll find,
That God is always behind it.

Never give up, never quit just keep moving on
Your a survivor just keep on living strong.
When you fall down just keep on moving along,
Elijah it’s the time of your song.

In the morning, Matisyahu and Adam received news that Elijah passed away a few hours after recording the song.

“I wrote and recorded this song with my friend Elijah just hours before he passed away last December,” said Matisyahu, “I’m proud to be able to share his voice and story while helping his family on their road to recovery.”

The track can be downloaded with a minimum donation of $1 and all of the proceeds go to the Elijah Memorial Fund. The download includes two versions of “Elijah’s Song”, including a special version with Elijah and Matisyahu singing together the night before Elijah passed.

Our bookstores are full of books on faith – but nothing I have read so far can match the profound faith of Elijah’s song.

Read a full letter about Elijah’s Song from Matisyahu
Listen to Elijah’s Song

Elijah’s Song w/ Elijah

Kick for Detroit today in Los Angeles will raise money for the Jewish community from former Detroiters – but is there a future?

Matisyahu stood out in front of the crowd. He had just stage-dived head first off of a 15 foot-high stack of speakers from the side of the stage. The crowd held him aloft and returned him to the stage as if rehearsed.

“Detroit,” he yelled into the microphone, “you are f—ing crazy!”

The crowd roared back.

Lights made the already stifling heat even more unbearable. How they could continue to play? Yet, an hour into the show, the pace and intensity of the music was growing. The crowd jumping up and down to the beat of the music. Rivers of sweat ran off the drummer who was shirtless by the end.

With over 1,000 people packed into the air-condition-less hall, many took turns outside on the front steps of St. Andrews. It was that hot inside.

When the band finished, and walked offstage, the crowd would not leave. They started to chant for more.

Matisyahu, already drenched head to toe, returned with his signature anthem of peace, “One Day.” He brought dozens of concert-goers on stage to accompany him. St. Andrews Hall pulsed with sweat, cheers. Across the room of outstretched arms the crowed chanted the words at the top of their lungs unmoved by the searing heat.

— — —

Earlier in the day, a few miles from the venue, I brought Matisyahu to visit the newly established Motor City Moishe House. The community and residents transformed a historic home which once housed a venerable rabbi of yesteryear into a communal home, part of the national Moishe House network.

In this blighted neighborhood, Detroit’s Jewish community is banking on this collective to be a hub of programming for young adults. Theough opened only months ago, at least fifty people showed up with just two days notice to meet the singer and enjoy a vegan feast prepared by a young kosher caterer.

When I was growing up in Detroit in the 1970’s and 80’s, the notion that Jews would return to the city — literally the areas of old Detroit that housed the core of the community for a hundred years — was a remote fantasy. The community had been moving to the suburbs since the 1950’s. By the time I was born, the Jewish community, all the synagogues and temples had moved to the suburbs. My parents choice to live in the city was never quite understood. Two small shuls stuck it out.

It’s no secret that Detroit is on the ropes. The city is a shadow if its former self, even with gorgeous new stadiums for baseball and football. Miles of the city have been razed and nature is reclaiming them. Miles of empty commercial real estate line the streets of the sprawling suburbs. Corruption and mismanagement were rampant and reached their zenith when the mayor was arrested two years ago.

However, Detroit’s Jewish community, who live almost entirely in the suburbs, is not ready to give up on a city that has such a rich and vibrant Jewish past. In addition to the new Moishe House, and a Repair the World volunteer, a landmark synagogue recently was saved. The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue was about to close its doors and sell their building after 90 years. The situation had been so bad that they needed to recruit the bartender of a nearby night club to make a minyan. A group of my contemporaries, old shul members, and younger Jews have banded together and saved the shul. The compelling saga was even covered by NPR who ran a story about it.
Detroit’s Jews are resilient and instead of closing the Downtown Synagoge, they celebrated their 90th with 300 people.

As the Motor City’s modern bard Eminem, offers, “Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity…Would you capture it or just let it slip?”

Kick for Detroit is today – you can make a donation to help the rebirth of Jewish life in Downtown Detroit.
_________________

Yonah Bookstein, a leading voice of the next generation of American Jewry, is an internationally recognized expert in Jewish innovation, founder of the Jewlicious Festival, and executive rabbi at JConnectLA. Rabbi Yonah is a frequent contributor to JewishJournal.com, Jewlicious.com and HuffingtonPost.com. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiYonah

Turns out that three of the biggest Jewish artists, a Hebrew Trifecta, will be performing on the same night, Thursday, Nov. 4th — Matisyahu in Ventura, Idan in the Valley, and Yemen at the Skirball. And each show will be packed to capacity.

Lastly, let’s not forget the Afro-pop sound of Fools Gold, led by two Israeli-Americans who sing in Hebrew, headliners at Jewlicious Festival in February, who played tonight at the Greek.

Matisyahu’s show Wednesday night in LA featured cameos by Ravid Kahalani, the leader of Yemen Blues, and Yehuda Solomon, lead singer and co-founder of the Israeli band Moshav, who are now based in LA.

All in LA, chabibi. And all the same week.

The rumors of the death of Jewish music are just fiction, and the music plays on. The crowds live on. The creative essence of Jewish peoplehood lives on.

The 1,000 people at the show Wednesday night at Club Nokia cheered as Matisyahu retrieved his yarmulka after stage diving into the crowds. They roared when Ravid’s lofty Yemenese notes pierced the night, when Yehudah’s Arabic and Hebrew chanting mesmerized, and when Matis belted out “Jerusalem if I forget you.”

The crowd Wednesday night was part Birthright reunion, part downtown LA, part hipster and part gangster, unity and diversity. Hundreds of Jews of all ages packed into the club to see the most famous orthodox Jew in the world today. Dancing, singing, and swinging his peyos at one point, Matisyahu was the convener.

It’s good to see that the music has not died, that Jewish organizations and popular venues are able to book shows which speak to our youth just fine.

——

Yemen Blues at the Skirball
Thursday, August 4, 8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
Admission:FREE; no reservations

Yemen Blues Downtown
Saturday Night,Aug 6
Grand Performances (Downtown LA) 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 90071

Matisyahu in Ventura, Anaheim, San Diego
Tickets at Matisyahuworld.com

Idan Raichel
FRI | AUG 5
MIDSUMMER NIGHT SHABBAT
bigjewishtent.com.

Enter on Facebook and Twitter to maximize your number of chances to win.

2nd Prize— 10 Runners Up will receive $20 certificates for Camp Jewlicious, Aug. 18-21, 2011.

3rd Prize— 5 Collectible Jewlicious Festival T-Shirts

All you need to do is apply – no purchase necessary.

Sweepstakes Ends
July 28, 2011 @ 12:00 am (PDT)

Start entering today to increase your chances of winning!!!

Here are two Jewlicious snippets from the 2011 Life Festival in Auschwitz, Poland:

Having been lately not only at that conference, but also, all too briefly, at the extremely cool and inspiring ROI Summit, I have compiled the following top ten list, my best shot at Imitatio dei. (Stop whining. What is Google for, if not to decipher the pretentious Latin phrasings of bloggers?)

Without further ado:

Top Ten Things I Already Love About Tomorrow(s)
(This is going to be a little long. Get coffee.)

1. Generation Z (comes after Y, rhymes with “me”) lives not only in a post-fax, post-VHS world, but also in a post-denominational one. Despite being highly individualistic (President Peres noted that today’s youth advocated not for Freedom of Expression but Freedom of Self Expression), I join those who believe that some type of united, ideological, identified, even passionate Jewish Peoplehood is truly possible via “doing Jewish” – with an emphasis on ethical behavior, social activism, Israel engagement, and the like. Lots and lots of Jewish orgs mandated with saving the Jewish tomorrow are betting the kibbutz on it, so I hope we are right.

2. It is possible to grow old and still be relevant. Nay – highly relevant. The Prez is the best (and oldest) example; he alluded to his fountain of youth strategy when long-way-around-answering a question on economics in a blogger’s session at the conference. Instead of eating three times a day, he said, read three times a day. Focus on the mind, and your mind will be vibrant. Another example: Yossi Vardi. Israel’s Godfather of hi-tech is also a funnier, more effective interviewer and moderator than Leno, Letterman, and Conan put together. At 68, he is probably just as, if not more, relevant than the insanely wealthy fetus called Zuckerberg (….Yes, I just aged myself crankily.) Stanley Fischer correctly called him our national treasure. More on the panel Vardi moderated further down this list.

3. I’m still not done talking about the brain. Well…Peres isn’t. And as a psychology major, philosophy buff, and skeptical fan of spiritual evolution, I am happy to keep talking about it. Want to know what’s in store for tomorrow’s scientists? Inner Space. Figure out why we do what we do, and then – only then – can we convert negative impulses into constructive ones. We are influenced by a bundle of cells miraculously organized to drive us to hate, love, act noble, and rot in front of the damn TV. Holding up a mirror to our minds will advance humanity beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, because most of us essentially want to do good.

4. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales echoed this sentiment: the internet is a kinder, gentler, more generous place now than it was in the 90’s not because we have grown more benevolent, but because our platforms have gotten better at more accurately creating a natural social environment, so that we can behave the way we do IRL. Wales is irritated with divisive media outlets when he knows how helpful people actually are and how diverse groups can work together. Wales is a totally great guy – humble and on the level.

5. More on virtual relationships and back to cool old people: I need to tell you that Dr. Ruth had us rolling in the aisles. No, not like that! I mean with laughter. She has a lot to say about erections (I think that is truly her favorite word) but also much wisdom on human relationships. She thinks cyber romance is a human catastrophe, hand holding and friendship the foundations of the world. Tomorrow: Go back to primarily human relationships, says Dr. Ruth. Can we all say Amen? Can you at least tweet Amen?

6. Let us talk about another tomorrow-y subject: cloning. Because I would like to clone (UK Chief Rabbi) Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, asap. To my mind, there is no better advocate for a human, committed, dignified, unapologetic, cosmopolitan Judaism. LR Sacks had an interesting take on the new anti-Semitism – comparing it to a virus that lives on by continuously adapting its strain, which is does by latching onto the prevailing philosophy in every generation. During the middle ages, it took a religious guise; when science was king, in the early 20th century, anti-Semitism grew scientific with Nazi racial science. Today, in our humanitarian age, it takes the form of a twisted kind of human rights advocacy. You heard it folks – unequivocally: anti-Zionism IS today’s anti-Semitism, expressed in a language modified to appease the modern ear…and must be combatted as such. I can go on. But this is getting long and we’re only 60% through.

7. Neither Lord Rabbi Sacks, nor Natan Sharansky, could answer my question: How do you explain, in our enlightened, egalitarian times, the Jewish trilogy – Nation, Land, Torah (Religion) – to ourselves, and to others? How can we accept that we are both a nation and a place? Both a people and a religion? Isn’t this too weird, too particular, too MUCH? Sharansky told us that he has written several books developing the essential element in this linkage between Nation and Land, but agrees that it is a hard thing to try to sell to those who don’t feel it in their gut. Rabbi Sacks told us, simply, when I asked about selling it to other Jews: The impossible will take a little longer.

8. Back to Vardi’s panel: It was on fathers and sons. One pair: Molecular biologist Howard Cedar and his son Joseph, recently awarded Best Screenplay at Cannes for the truly excellent Footnote. One interesting…um…footnote… from this enormously entertaining and enlightening session, in which the dialogue between science and art, and empathy vs. methodological response, were explored – - something the younger Cedar said: Progress requires rebellion. No matter how valuable and desired continuity, offspring will always, to a certain extent, buck the parameters of the parent generation in order to evolve, in order to create its own contribution. With the caveat that it is actually evolution and not simply rebellion for its own sake, I think this view of tomorrow(s) is actually a positive one, improving on the design of the human spirit with each successive tweak, while still rooted in the same spiritual DNA. Wow. I’m getting tired.

9. Israeli men are Adonises. This is the view of one Sarah Silverman, who referred to American Jewish men as “human sneezes.” The Adonis line drew huge crowd response, and I hope got her a hookup with a swarthy, cut-abbed Jewish boy who will rid her of the notion that being Jewish is completely individual, without any communal or generational significance. Sometimes you just need to sleep on that idea.

10. How do you make Jewish identity sexy? Matisyahu: You just need to BE sexy… you’re Jewish. I think that kind of confidence would do much for the human sneezes and sneezettes. It may be the thing Silverman identifies as Olympian in Sabras – the unapologetic knowledge of who you are. Peres said that the greatest thing the Jews gave to the world is dissatisfaction (love that!!!) but I think it has become, rather than dissatisfaction with a problem in need of solving, dissatisfaction with the self. Introspection is good; constant apology for existing feeds those who wish you didn’t. Silverman says we need better PR out of Israel . I say we need better self esteem in the Diaspora.

Good night. My clock says tomorrow is almost here.

“One day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down with the hate
one day we’ll all be free
and proud to be
under the same sun
singing songs of freedom”

“One Day,” a world-wide anthem of peace, was NBC’s official song of the Winter Olympics, and played at the World Cup concluding ceremonies.

Matisyahu’s performance in Oświęcim, the Polish city renamed Auschwitz in 1939 by the Nazis, is the brainchild of Darek Maciborek, a radio DJ for Poland’s most popular station for young adults. Maciborek has built a three-day music and camping festival to promote tolerance called Life Festival, which attracted 15,000 young Poles last summer. The Festival is dedicated to battling anti-Semitism, racism, and other forms of xenophobia and to send a message of peace and tolerance from Auschwitz/Oświęcim.

This mega-music Festival is the latest incarnation of efforts to offset the immense evil perpetrated there. Oświęcim is home to a German educational center. Young Germans who choose to perform their national service at the Auschwitz State Museum reside and study there. The Auschwitz Jewish Center is also located there. This precious museum, built by American Jews, the Polish Government, and the city of Oświęcim, resides in the ancestral home of the Kornreich family to commemorate hundreds of years of Jewish life in Oświęcim before the war.

There are some that feel that Auschwitz should be condemned forever as a place of evil, and that efforts to bring a festival, a tolerance center, or visitors’ center are misplaced, if not sacrilegious.

Others believe that the way to prevent another Auschwitz is to draw the world’s attention to what happened here, and use this as a means of teaching tolerance.

One thing is certain: Saturday night’s concert will be one of the most emotional performances of this young musician’s life. Last year during his performance in Krakow, Matisyahu was overwhelmed by his audience. “During my show in Krakow last year, I kind of lost it,” said Matisyahu, “I got very emotional, and had to leave and the come back. There were a lot of Survivors at the concert and it was very emotional.”

This Saturday night, just a few miles from where a million Jews were murdered, Matisyahu will sing his anthem of a peaceful future for tens of thousands of young Poles. “All my life I’ve been waiting for, I’ve been praying for,” sings Matisyahu in “One Day”, “for the people to say, that we don’t wanna fight no more, they’ll be no more wars, and our children will play.”

And while we will not know how the message of “One Day” will influence these young people right away, we can appreciate what it represents. Matisyahu is writing a new chapter in Polish-Jewish relations with his music.

Shabbat Shalom

Wow. Yet another Jewlicious Festival is now history. There hasn’t been much time to reflect – Sunday after the Festival was spent cleaning up, Monday was spent packing up and Tuesday was taken up with the inevitable meetings. Wednsday and Thursday saw me battling a cold. Now I could go on and on talking about how amazing and pluralistic and fun the Festival was but I’m biased. So let’s see what the press had to say? I know y’all hate reading so we’ll begin with a great Jewish Journal of LA video:

Nice right? The Jewish Journal wrote about Jewlicious:

Now in its seventh year, Jewlicious uses the Coachella Music and Arts Festival as inspiration, offering an extensive lineup of talent and places for attendees to sleep overnight. Organizers keep the recession economy in mind, offering reasonable ticket prices for students — $40 to $50 for full-time undergraduates, which covers all three days as well as meals — and they aim for inclusivity for Jews of all denominations… Attendees came from as far away as Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; and Louisville, Kentucky… Other colleges represented at the festival were Occidental College and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

Obviously, I’m cherry picking quotes and all – but do feel free to read the whole article.

Cal State Long Beach’s Daily 49er provided an intriguing title – Jewlicious: kosher, but still rowdy to an interesting article, one our, uh… “PR people” probably hate, but one that is still pretty fair.

There wasn’t a moment to rest for those who were looking to immerse themselves in the culture of the event. There were at least three events happening every hour on the hour all weekend long, as well as delicious complimentary meals and desserts worthy of being dubbed kosher by any rabbi… Melissa Behramann, a student visiting from Cal State Northridge and third time Jewlicious veteran said, “I’ve been pounding Rockstar energy drinks just so I can just keep going. There has not been a moment to rest since I got here and I don’t want to miss out on anything.” … The weekend was not only filled with entertainment, but there were also tons of educational seminars like urban Jewish gardening, oil sustainability, Zionism, sex in the text, and more…

But it wasn’t all picture perfect. For instance, ROI alum and rocker Naomi Less took us to task on both her blog and on the pages of EJewish Philanthropy for not having a properly gender balanced lineup of musicians at Jewlicious. Naomi stated her position as follows:

If Jewlicious is a pluralistic Jewish event, then women should be represented in the HEADLINERS!
If the issue is Kol Isha (not wanting to hear women’s voices for fear that men’s thoughts will turn to sexual content and not be focused on prayer) – then label it that and call the festival an ORTHODOX gathering. Don’t hide the agenda behind a seemingly pluralistic event.

She restated it again in the comments section of her post on eJewish Philanthropy despite the fact that I had demonstrated that much of what goes on at Jewlicious, ie many female performers, non-Orthodox services, mixed events etc. can hardly be characterized as typically Orthodox. It seems my initial comment on her original post about gender imbalance in the Jewish community yet targeted directly at us, titled “Hey Rabbi (Jewlicious) Yonah…Where the women at???” went unread:

…we’ve had the following female artists and bands with female singers perform: The Hoodios, The Makkabbees, Jewdysee, Rinat Gutman, Electro Morocco, Basya Schechter, Chana Rothman, Sarah Nadav, Golem, Leerone, Inbar Bakal, Yael Meyer – even SoCalled came with a female Gospel singer. We also have Jewish female comedians who would not be considered exactly Orthodox…. Kol Isha is not an issue. Anyone offended or unduly turned on by a female voice can walk out, or not attend. Besides, many people hold that if the sound is transmitted via microphone, it isn’t considered kol isha.

I mean you’d have to be blind or stupid to not notice the gaping gender inequality in the organized Jewish community where most of the workers are female but the leadership is predominantly male. I’m cool with fixing that. But unfairly picking on our Festival in order to make your point is just not nice.

Gordon Haber, the “Arty Semite” blogger over at the Forward also took us to task. He stated that branding Judaism was a bad idea because our brand of Judaism is essentially conservative:

Both Jewlicious and Tribefest are essentially conservative. They want you to support Israel, to hang out with other Jews, and to marry a Jew. Which makes them just like your parents. And even though your parents know what’s good for you, that doesn’t make them cool… More important: branding cheapens Judaism. It’s not a lifestyle or a product. It’s a faith, a culture, a tribe — however you want to define it, it’s something infinitely more precious and complex. Granted, these organizations need to promote themselves somehow. But maybe there’s a better way than sex and Matisyahu

Matisyahu’s support of Jewlicious is well known, but sex? Yes. Apparently our Unofficial Guide to Sex on Birthright Israel can be boiled down to being simply “blatantly supportive of sex between Zionists.” Because everyone that goes on Birthright is an ardent Zionist. And Wendy’s post was hardly what could be described as a big booty call for Zayin, err… Zion. So to speak. Aint nothin’ like sweet talk about nonoxynol-9 and morning after pills to get that ol’ shwing action goin’ on! Woowoo! But yeah Gordon. Faith? We had Orthodox, Conservative and Reform minyans. Culture? Comedy, music, art, speakers … we had all that. A tribe? That implies some kind of, what’s the word I’m looking for? Might it be… unity? Yeah, yeah. I know that last year, when you attended, you said that Jewlicious was inordinately speckled with kippahs and long swishy skirts. But you also said “…next year, you can bet your life I’ll be back at Jewlicious, if they’ll let me.” Gordon, you’re always welcome back. As for the cheap branding thing? Jewlicious has to compete with a lot of stuff. MTV, video games, bars and a veritable nearly unstoppable juggernaut of branding. I’m just happy that for about 900 young Jews, our branding beat all the others. I think that’s pretty cool.

Now before I go I just wanted to thank all our staff, volunteers, presenters, musicians and sponsors. Special thanks to Rachel Kaplan and Tahli Miller who, despite being impossibly pregnant still managed to totally contribute to the Festival without reservation or quarter. I’m amazed. Thanks to Matthew Mausner and Leia Weil who came down from Jerusalem to present and help out and make me feel less homesick – extra special thanks to Leia’s Mom and Dad for being SUCH awesome people (you know why). Thanks to George from Ant Moving Los Angeles for being my hero. Thanks also to the staff at the Alpert JCC for helping everything run so smoothly. Thanks to Rabbi Yonah and Rachel’s kids for letting us borrow your Ma and Ta. Thanks to Sasha and her crew for working so hard in the kitchen and saving me a rice krispie treat. And thanks to everyone in Long Beach for once again pulling off an event that in 7 years, no other Jewish community in North America could pull off. Special thanks to our patrons the Alevys, the Breslauers and the Alperts. Y’all helped us create something really special. Again! I know I missed a lot of people – but you all know who you are – It’s 5 am and I have to get on a plane to Vegas. Forgive me ok?

Our annual Jewlicious Festival is just a few days away and the Jewlicious crew is hard at work getting everything ready for the arrival of hundreds of Festival goers from across the US and California. Last minute prep involves putting together the schedule – which is available both online and, if you follow the instructions, on your fave smartphone! Well… ok on your iPhone for sure, I don’t know about those others… Yeah, that’s a messed up, world’s colliding collection of speakers if ever I saw one, if’n you know what I mean… check it out. We also have a great collection of Festival swag, all printed on the finest sweatshop free, made in LA American Apparel cotton. You just can’t beat that stuff. Starting tomorrow folks are going to start rolling in at a greater and greater pace. Thank goodnesss our intern has a Mercedes. Our other intern has a Lexus. I have a mountain bike. I fucking hate LA.

But I do love the Jewlicious Festival! Once again, Matisyahu will be in attendance, along with indie folk rockster Leerone, Soulfarm, Acharit Hayamim, the comedy stylings of the Sklar Brothers and even Kosha Dillz will be performing with a camera in tow. Interesting, eh?

But what really makes it all worthwhile is working with all the different people that make Jewlicious what it is. Y’all know who you are, our secret arsenal that make creating the impossible seem easy. I am humbled. Jewlicious is going to rock… tickets are still available. Be there

Even with a busy schedule, Matisyahu and Tahli Miller are serious about Jewlicious Festival, putting their time and energy into what has come to define what a Jewish Festival in America can be.

OK, now that it’s here, maybe it’s not SO exclusive anymore, but still! JewishJournal.com is great. Go there every day! As for this video… how can you not love it? Sure to be a holiday classic, it started off with an open casting call on Nov. 11th on Matisyahu’s blog where Matis fans were urged to show up to a skating rink in LA with skates and a costume. Fans were told to expect “Matisyahu+ice capades+nutcracker+LSD=my new channukah video. It’s gonna be ludicrous!” That promise was definitely kept… enjoy this Chanukah awesomeness:

The always excellent Jewish Journal also noted the following raison d’etre by Matisyahu for this video:

There’s so many Christmas songs out there, I wanted to give the Jewish kids something to be proud of. We’ve got Adam Sandler’s song which is hilarious but I wanted to try to get across some of the depth and spirituality inherent in the holiday—in a fun, celebratory song. My boy Kojak was in town so at the last minute we went into the studio in the spirit of miracles and underdogs and this is what we came up with. Happy Hannukah!!

Please don’t send Brad Greenberg over to kick my ass…

*

Or enter this interesting video-based contest for your chance to win special VIP tickets!

What? How? Are you anywhere near UMD? Then start by watching this video:

Now all you have to do is E-mail seemarketing@umd.edu with the correct names of 5 of the 6 Matisyahu songs used in the video to be entered into a raffle! 3 lucky winners will have access to the floor of Cole Field House and get the chance to see Matisyahu up close! Winners will be contacted by 11/17.

Fun right? But if you don’t want to take a chance, just go to the ticket information page, register and then buy a ticket. There’s less than a week left so get going! And by the way, kudos to the crazy kids at JSU and UMD Hillel for making this happen SO quickly! The awesomely ridiculous video was made by the JSU and Ryan Solomon and the poor guy in the bear costume is Sam Blum. Seriously good effort guys. I’m a send Rabbi Yonah down there with some free Jewlicious t-shirts for y’all.

Yeah I know! Tikkun Olam is not actually a really badly named blog by a crabby Israel hater in Seattle. It’s also a concept in Judaism whereby one is urged to perfect the world by fulfilling God’s commandments and pursuing social justice. The Repair The World blog recently noted:

…Shalom Sesame has returned for the first time in 20 years with a DVD collection slated for release this Chanukah. The new series follows our familiar friend Grover to Israel, where he joins the cast of Rechov Sumsum, as well as Jewish celebrities like Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ben Stiller, Natalie Portman and Matisyahu, in learning about Jewish and Israeli culture.

Neat right? I know this is ostensibly for kids, but Natalie Portman? Maggie Gyllenhaal? Yum. But never mind that. This isn’t about horndogging. It’s about the children. And Shalom Sesame teaches kids about all kinds of important things like the concept of Tikkun Olam. Enjoy the video below:

Shalom Sesame: The Tikkun Olam Song from Repair the World on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Jillian Kornsweig at Repair the World, who uhm… neglected to mention that embedding is restricted to their domain. Doh. See the video by clicking here

Germany vs England: 4 – 1

The Jewlicious link you ask?
When the players were leaving the pitch after the match, Matisyahu’s “One Day” was being played over the speakers at the stadium.

Argentina, I’ve got my vuvuzela ready as well as my World Cup tee from 1990. And my 2006 World Cup cap.
Just mentioning.

Comedian Lizzy Cooperman at Jewlicious 6.0 (photo by David Miller in The Forward)

Yonah and their gang had a very good time at Jewlicious 6.0 held in Long Beach last week. The LA Jewish Journal has covered it, and included an interesting clip of WBC world welterweight boxing champion (and rabbinical student?) Yuri Foreman giving a brief boxing lesson to the tall and fit Matisyahu at this year’s festival.

From Ryan Torok’s Jewish Journal article:

His [Matisyahu's] 45-minute set was the final performance of the festival, though he had made surprise appearances over the weekend. On Saturday, he joined comedian Smooth-E for a parody of “King Without a Crown.” He could also be seen walking with his family in the main hallway, gym, auditorium and the several event rooms of the JCC.

During the concert, one of Matisyahu’s children, dressed in a Superman costume, went up to the stage and said, “Hi, Daddy.” To which his famous father replied: “Hi, Superman,” a simple, normal exchange that captured the spirit of the weekend.

Adam Weinberg, music director for the festival, reinforced that there should be no preaching at the festival—that attention, instead, should be on the music. “I think music should speak for music’s sake,” Weinberg said.

Weinberg, also a musician, accompanied Matisyahu on acoustic guitar, as did Dave Holmes, a member of Matisyahu’s band.

Matisyahu spoke afterward about how strongly the performance resonated with him. “When you have an audience listening, taking the journey with you, it’s pretty special,” he said. “For some reason, we seem to be having these kinds of performances at Jewlicious shows.”

There’s also some more coverage in The Forward, where Gordon Haber finds some flaws with the festival, but still asks to be invited back next year…which perhaps tells us a little about just how flawed it really was. Our own Rabbi Yonah, co-founder of Jewlicious Festivals, responded to and corrected some of Haber’s assumptions, but I found Yonah’s report on the survey of the people attending Jewlicious 6.0 more fascinating. Here are the details he provided about the make-up of the 900 or so people in attendance:

How do you define your Jewish affiliation?

Unaffiliated 8.3%
Other 9.7%
Reform 30.6%
Conservative 34.7%
Orthodox 16.7%

Seems fairly representative of the Jewish community at large, if one excludes the unaffiliated which make up about half of American Jewry these days.

UPDATE: More Jewlicious 6.0 videos from Jewish Journal

Adam Weinberg and Matisyahu at the Night of Unity

OK so really? I was totally overwhelmed and tux or no tux I felt completely out of my element. Everyone was all fancy and dressed up! The one thing that stood out in my mind though was that none of this would have happened, none of it, without the support and imagination of the Jewish community of modest little Long Beach, CA. Both on a communal and individual level, the Jewlicious Festival has benefited from the sort of support for innovation that many talk about endlessly, but few actually bring to fruition. Except for those guys down in the ELBEE.

It’s no secret that we’ve always wanted to do a Festival on the East Coast. I’ve even managed to start basic discussion on the issue with some communal leaders here and there, but after 6 years, the Jewlicious Festival is still available only in Long Beach. This despite many requests from young Jews around the country. Only modest lil’ Long Beach has been able to pull this off year in year out, both in times of plenty and times of economic distress. So yeah, big ups to the Alevys and the Alperts and the Booksteins and the inumerable volunteers who help make our Festival happen and prosper.

The Night of Unity provided an opportunity for the Jewish Community of Los Angeles to step up and put in their 2 cents, so to speak. Truth is we didn’t make a massive amount of cash, but we did increase our local profile significantly. That’s been a problem as even after 6 years, many people still think we’re some kind of Chabad program.

Seriously. I mean do I fucking look like a Chabadnik?

I know Rabbi Yonah is well, a Rabbi. And that’s been obvious in all the publicity he’s been getting of late, from being featured in Vanity Fair, to being a Jewish Heroes Finalist to his selection in the Forward 50. But message to secular Jewish America: NOT ALL RABBIS ARE LUBAVITCHERS, ok? And the Jewlicious Festival is the only gathering in the world where you will find everything from Breslav Chassidim to Lesbian Peace Activists. OK? OK! Now give us some money so that we can help spread the love!

So, back to the original point of the post. Our fundraiser. It was an old skool affair featuring an honoree, VIP tables, big donations, sponsors and all that. But it wasn’t stuffy. People mingled, shmoozed and rocked out. All our student and young adult leaders were in attendance and rubbed shoulders with the attendees. It really was an old skool meets new skool kind of thing and please shoot me if I use the term “skool” one more time. Whatever, it was fun. Now we’re in full Festival prep mode. Oh what fun awaits. Yay. Stay tuned!