Matisyahu

A prominent Reggae star bordering on alternative, Matisyahu is a refreshing burst of light in the reggae genre.:For the 2nd century Jewish high priest of the Maccabees, see Mattathias.

Matisyahu is the Hebrew and stage name of Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30 1979), a popular American Jewish reggae artist.

Biography
Matisyahu is a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Matisyahu was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and his family eventually settled in White Plains, New York. He was brought up a Reconstructionist Jew, and sometimes performed under the alias MC Truth for MC Mystic's Soulfari band. At 16, Matisyahu took part in a semester-long program that offers students first-hand exploration of Jewish heritage at Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon, Israel. His experiences there significantly affected his feelings towards Judaism. He eventually turned to Orthodox Judaism, becoming a baal teshuva around 2001 through Chabad of Washington Square and began playing with the Jewish band Pey Dalid.

Matisyahu studied Torah seriously in Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva for returnees to Judaism, and he wrote and recorded his first album while still a student there. He counts Bob Marley, Phish, God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations and gives credit to Rabbi Simon Jacobson's book Toward A Meaningful Life for the lyrical inspiration to Youth's title track. Matisyahu does not perform in concert on Friday nights in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.

In November 2005 Matisyahu was among the top 5 members in the American Jewish community in The Forward The Top 5 The Forward, No