The letters of our thoughts are the ideas present in our mind before they come to realization . . . Thoughts that are, yet not felt . . . The words of the subconscious . . . of the soul . . .

These are the LETTERS OF MY THOUGHTS.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

On Ethiopian Travel, Matisyahu, and Popes

After seeing the deal on Dan's Deals I thought about going to Ethiopia the other day -unfortunately the deal went dead before I could take any action . . . Next time.

In other news, I recently heard these covers of Matisyahu . . .
Is it just me or do these covers, besides -possibly - being superior to Matis's own work, seem rather inspiring . . .





(Source)

If Matisyahu's music is meant for the general Orthodox public is subject to debate. I personally feel, as mentioned elsewhere on this blog, that in theory only chassidishe nigunim are ideal -but if one listens to Jewish Pop (MBD, Avraham Fried, Lipa et al) who have songs taken directly from non-Jewish sources (see my post from the other day), and in general a style based on modern music, then Matisyahu is no worse.


But in any event, to see a group of non-Jews (or perhaps secular Jews, in the case of the first clip), singing "We Want Moshiach Now" and the like, is frankly . . . inspiring.

It could be Lustiger syndrome -a term I coined while in Israel, for my admiration for the State of Israel (as opposed to the Holy Land).

As many know Jean-Marie Lustiger was a Jewish man, who due to the tumultuous years of Holocaust made decisions that ultimately led him to be the Archbishop of Paris, and was at one time considered to be the potential successor for the papacy . . .

On one hand, what could be worse the a Jewish Pope? A Jew should be a Jew, not a catholic, especially not a priest, and even more so, a pope . . .

But, if for some reason he had become Pope, G-d forbid . . . Then he would be a Jewish Pope -"Our Pope" as it were.

In other words, Lustiger Syndrome is when something shouldn't be, but if it is . . . It's our boy up there.

Seeing these guys sing the music of our boy . . .


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5 comments:

Kosher Foodie said...

My fathr lived there for a few months, he got sick and when he went to the pharmacy all he could find is soap...
It is indeed inspiring, therefore I don't see why is it syndromatic about seeing goyim sing matis's wwmn...btw I call it the yoshke syndrome.

Sef said...

i agree...it's inspiring

Mottel said...

If Matisyahu is doing something wrong (which could be) I never the less find the idea (and in this case, the effect he has on others) inspiring. I see no pride in Yushka, whatsoever (In truth, I doubt if he ever truly existed -and have no doubt that the character known today as JC is an amalgamation of several historical personalities and prominent cults/myths of the time.

yitz said...

@mottel,

i would have thought hearing "hashem" on the lips of secular Jews would be the exciting part.

Mottel said...

You're right, in truth, I don't recall now if this song even mentions Moshiach . . . My comment was from past observations where he had people in concerts shout out "Moshiach Now."

I do wonder though -As a Lubavitcher people are quick to criticize if we make comments about Moshiach and Rebbe . . . "What about hashem they say?"

But if a Litvak were to say that, say, Shlomole had yidden sing about Shabbos, or some other song prompted people to sing about Torah . . . would anyone bat an eye and ask "What's Shabbos with out Hashem?"