Matthew Miller’s parents sent him to Hebrew School a couple of times a week, but like many kids, he resisted the additional school hours and was frequently threatened with expulsion for disrupting the lessons.  Matthew could have been a kid in any one of our Hebrew Schools.  Matthew, it turns out, is Matisyahu, who became a Hasidic Jew and a reggae-rap singer who is hotter than hot on the music scene (just ask your kids). 

His lyrics fuse the religious and mystical with the rhythm and beat of a good hip-hop rap song – Kosher style.  For example:

“Torah food for my brain let it rain til I drown, Thunder!  Let the blessings come down!” —From “King Without a Crown” by Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller)

I have been obsessing over Matisyahu, the phenomenon and his music, for some time now.  But I am looking at it through a different lens than the media or my contemporaries who have kids who actually listen to this stuff.  

I am looking at Matisyahu through the lens of a Jewish educator.  I am looking at Matisyahu as someone who has been “in the trenches” and who had dozens of “Matisyahu types” in his classroom year after year.  I reflect back on those years and I wonder, did I stifle the Jewish growth of these students because I didn’t understand their need to express themselves differently?  Did I turn them off because I didn’t take them seriously?  

Assuming they left the Jewish people, will they return as did Matisyahu?  What will bring them back to fold?  Will it be Matisyahu?  I guess what I have been struggling with is this:  Is Matisyahu good for Jewish education?

From all that I have read, Matisyahu is serious about his music.  Early in his career he decided that he didn't want to be put in a religious box, playing at local JCCs. There was easy money to be made performing for Jewish organizations; instead, he chose performing at secular clubs for "100 bucks a night." It hurt his pocket, but that was the way it had to be if he were to be taken seriously as a musician.

Matisyahu is equally serious about his Judaism.  He is Shomer Mitzvot, he doesn’t perform on Shabbat, and his message is one of getting closer to Hashem.  He exudes a sense of Jewish pride, which is the most powerful tool that our students need in order to build a positive Jewish identity.  He can be a powerful role model for our students of how one can live life as an observant Jew and be respected by Jews and non-Jews alike for being a person of belief and a spiritual individual - even if we don’t understand all of the lyrics.

Alan Rusonik is the executive director of the Agency for Jewish Education of San Diego County. This article originally appeared in that organization's "Tidings" for April, May and June 2006.