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Matisyahu Shaves Beard, Is No Longer Hasidic

Reggae star promises new ‘music of rebirth’

by
Marc Tracy
December 13, 2011
Self-portrait, post-shave.(@Matisyahu)
Self-portrait, post-shave.(@Matisyahu)

The famously observant Matisyahu (born Matthew Paul Miller) has shaved his beard and declared, both modestly and immodestly, “No more Hasidic reggae superstar.” He continues:

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.

Hopefully he did not have a Samsonite relationship to said hair.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.